America Is Getting Worse at Calling Things What They Are, and It’s a Big Problem for the January 6 Case Against Donald Trump

A US law making it counterproductive for the federal government’s executive branch to declare a coup has had big repercussions in Egypt and Niger. And after January 6, those chickens are coming home.

Introduction

In July 2013, less than a year after Egypt had held its first-ever competitive democratic presidential election, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi staged a military coup there. A decade later, he’s still the country’s dictator, running a regime as brutally repressive as any on Earth.

Unfortunately, back in 2013 a federal law made it deeply unwise for then…