A Myanmar-style coup might not be unimaginable in US any more
“No reason, I mean, it should happen here. No reason. That’s right,” Michael Flynn, former US president Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, said on Monday during a Memorial Day weekend conference organized by adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, suggesting that a Myanmar-style coup is needed in the US. He made the statement in response to an audience question, “I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can’t happen here.”
The statement drew criticism and Flynn quickly denied it in a post on Telegram, saying that his words were twisted. He said he loves his country as many patriotic Americans at the event. But apparently, he believes, deep in his heart, that such a coup can possibly take place in the US, but it was clearly not a politically correct suggestion in the US.
Most US politicians don’t want to see a coup in their country. For example, US Congress Representative Liz Cheney said on Twitter, “No American should advocate or support the violent overthrow of the United States.”
Ironically, it is also the US politicians who support and promote coups in other countries that the US sees as its rivals. They clearly know a coup will bring nothing but pain and chaos, and they claim that coups pursue the “justice” and express the “people’s wish.”
Applying double standards in various international practices has been a characteristic of the US, which is condemned by many countries. The recent statements over the idea of a coup in the US have added a new form of expression to the US-style double standards.
Flynn’s remarks were applauded during the event. This means there are grounds for such thoughts, and the grounds are expanding. Due to the political polarization in the US, politicians are prone to use extreme words to steal the spotlight. Such being the case, US politics can hardly avoid being dragged into turmoil. And political chaos is the cradle of unstable factors.
US evil actions in foreign countries are backfiring. But the US cannot blame anyone else for its sufferings. The country has severe problems, and if Washington fails to focus on addressing domestic problems but continues to wreak havoc around the world using its double standards, the US will probably eventually have to pay a huge price by swallowing the bitter fruits it has planted.
According to a New York Times report on Tuesday, a recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core found that 14 percent of Americans, including about one in four Republicans, believe in three central tenets of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
One of the theories is that “American patriots may have to resort to violence” to get rid of the cabal that is running the US. Isn’t this supposedly the goal of many countries’ coups the US has supported? Is this a coincidence? Have US tricks against foreign countries been deeply rooted in the hearts of Americans?
The conspiracy theory has existed in the US for a while. But now the number of people believing in it is rapidly growing. This shows that the dark side of American society is spreading, and more Americans are becoming dissatisfied with their current situation.
Li Haidong, a professor with the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday, “The Capitol Hill riots that aimed to overthrow existing systems have shown some omen of a ‘color revolution.’ When the US has been spreading ‘color revolutions’ in other countries, it has failed to introspect over its own deep-rooted problems. This has widened the estrangement between the US elites and the ordinary Americans. As a result, populists in the US have gathered strength to revolt against the elites,” said Li Haidong , a Chinese professor.
The ill politics, sick society, and the dangerous ideas generated by them are destructive to the US, Li noted.
