Coup d'état

Have you ever seen this movie or read the book?

Basically, the military establishment decides that the newly elected President is going to ruin the country's defense and open us up to attack, so they decide to launch a coup d'etat. I won't tell you the end, because it's actually a decent book.

OK, some facts for you to digest:

A coup d'état also known as a coup, a putsch, or an overthrow, is the sudden, illegal deposition of a government.
Coups d'état are common in Africa; between 1952 and 2000, thirty-three countries experienced 85 such depositions.
In 1889, Brazil became a republic via bloodless coup.
General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the Consulate. This occurred on 9 November 1799.
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England.
Then there's this:

RT @martin_dempsey: Today marks the 57th time that a President has stood before the American people to take the oath: on.fb.me/WhVt7P
— The Joint Staff (@thejointstaff) January 22, 2013

See where I'm going? Many people fail to realize one of the most amazing things about this republic that we call The United States of America: the uncontested assumption of power by the elected individual. Since George Washington took the very first oath of office on April 30, 1789, it has gone off without a hitch. No one went to bed the night after the election worried about tanks rolling down the street, the President-elect doesn't have to go into hiding, none of the stuff that has happened so regularly throughout history, and in some cases, still today.

You may not like Barack Obama. You may disagree with his politics. (I do.) You may not like his personality or attitude. (I don't.) BUT he is the President of the United States, and deserves to be treated and thought of as such if only for respect for the office. It irks me when professional news organizations refer to him as just "Obama" (it did when they did it with Mr. Bush, too.) Our country was born a few months over 236 years ago, and only 44 people have been President.

Let's keep that in mind when we discuss politics.