Calling for a Coup?

Who would have thought that the Left would call for a military take-over of the country? There's no other way to interpret this entry at Huffington. Martin Lewis asks that General Pace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, arrest President Bush and relieve him of his powers as commander in chief. Lewis dances around what he is asking for. He only wants Bush arrested and tried as commander in chief, not as president. He is unclear about how Bush would execute his duties as president while under arrest to say nothing of what would happen if he was court-marshaled.

The first commenter pointed out that this would be a coup. Lewis responded

As my post says - I am absolutely not advocating a de facto military coup. I am simply advising General Pace that he should relieve President Bush of his command of the military - pending a court martial.

It is an interesting question as to who would then become Commander-In-Chief. I'm not sure that it would be the Vice President. But if it was - the same course of action could be taken if the Vice President acted with "Conduct Unbecoming"

Sorry, but there is no way of separating the two. If the president is arrested and court-marshaled then the military will have circumvented the Constitution. Further problems - the president is a civilian commander. He cannot be tried as an officer. The Constitution lays out who can try a sitting president - Congress.

Lewis doesn't address what happens next. Would the Joint Chiefs direct themselves? Would the Vice-President? Then there is the precedent. This would have a chilling effect on all future presidents. I"m sure that Lewis thinks that this will make future presidents less likely to go to war but the opposite could as easily happen. The Joint Chiefs could advocate military action and threaten to arrest a president who does not agree.

This is really a sign of desperation. It is obvious that Congress is not going to end the war and many parties agree that the Surge is going well. When all legitimate avenues are closed, the the desperate turn to the illegal.

Of course, this is one single nut-job but he is writing for one of the most prominent political blogs.