Daydreaming About a Coup

Imagine if you will..

This From the NY Post:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to undergo cancer surgery and temporarily hand over power to a hardline former federal police chief, according to a new report.”

That story led me to speculate about Vlad the Inhaler. Also to write some crazy imaginings here instead of writing a fantasy intrigue novel that no one will read. It’s what I do on a day of perpetual rain when there’s nothing else to do. I make stuff up and you get to ignore it or snicker about my mental condition. As Rod Serling might say, “Imagine if you will.”

Suppose that you were high up the power chain in a country that is in the middle of disintegration because of a megalomaniacal dictator who is attacking a nearby country. It’s not going well.

Suppose that he is quite physically ill as well as mentally ill. Suppose he has dementia of some kind, perhaps Parkinson’s disease? He also has cancer. Then suppose that you and some confederates have designs on deposing him. Suppose you get together with them and whisper plans to oust him and grab power for yourselves.

Then suppose you want to do it in a way that won’t look like a coup at all. Suppose you decide that the war he is engaging in will essentially be lost. Or perhaps lead to a world ending thermonuclear exchange with another country that also has a demented leader who is surrounded by imbecilic toadies grasping at their rapidly waning power.

What would be the best way to accomplish the coup in a way that will still save face for the country while avoiding the embarrassment of the lost war and crumbling economy? Could you do it in a way that looks like a normal transfer of power?

Maybe he could enter the hospital for cancer surgery and temporarily hand over power to you and confederates. Then he could be either be declared dead from the surgery or perhaps unable to continue his leadership of the ill-fated country. If he is removed, or steps down, you could proclaim him a hero and you could retain the power he turned over to you “temporarily.” He might even agree to such a plan. Especially if he had a gun to his head.

At that point, you could unwind from the war and set a new course of your own choosing. All is well, the world is saved, your oligarch cronies resume the plunder and on to the next thing.

Is this just wishful thinking about how things really are? Or might be? Maybe the persistent rain has washed out my brain. Or maybe I’ve been taking too much hopium. Maybe I’m just looking for a way out of this nightmare using my imagination. There was nothing else to do, so I wrote this fantasy.

You can resume reality now.