Coups

Merriam-W3bster defines coup as, variously:

• accomplishment
• achievement
• attainment
• brilliant, sudden, successful act
• triumph

It's doubtful that Donald Trump meant any of those when he referred to the Mueller Investigation as a coup.

Speaking today to the National Rifle Association, Trump, with his usual mangling of words and and semantics, said They tried for a coup, it didn't work out so well. And I didn't need a gun for that one, did I?

Two things make me nervous about this.  First, (so what else is new?),  Mr. Trump (he of I know words; I have the best words.) clearly doesn't understand the first thing about the proper use of language.  He sees it as a tool, not to illuminate or inform, but rather to confuse and obfuscate.  That, in combination with one other factor, makes me doubly afraid.  Trump's declaration - I didn't need a gun for that one - smacks of wink-wink-nod-nod implicitly advocating the use of guns to accomplish political ends.

Nothing in our recent history can reassure me that Mr. Trump's careless, and uncaring, use of words will not cause something horrific  And if those are his best words, one shudders to think what some of his lesser sabda or mot or neno  might be.