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Who really said it

When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can't help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup

Written by Thomas Sowell b. 1930 · American economist, Hoover Institution senior fellow & syndicated columnist
Verified In copyright

Sowell wrote this exact sentence as one item in his syndicated “Random thoughts” column of May 1, 2007 (Creators Syndicate). National Review Online ran the column as “Don’t Get Weak”, and Townhall and Jewish World Review ran it as “Random thoughts”. All three archived copies contain the wording word for word.

Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can't help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup” Thomas Sowell, “Random thoughts” column, Creators Syndicate, May 1, 2007

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Thomas Sowell / Creators Syndicate, Inc.). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Thomas Sowell — American economist, author & syndicated columnist. Theme: "When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can't help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Column
Random thoughts (“Random thoughts on the passing scene”)
Syndicate
Creators Syndicate, © 2007
Date
May 1, 2007
Also ran as
“Don’t Get Weak”, National Review Online

When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup.

This is one stand-alone item in a list of unconnected one-line “random thoughts”. It comes right after a quip about Suze Orman and before an item about Alan Reynolds’s book Income and Wealth. Earlier in the same column, another item complains that “our education system, our media, and our intelligentsia” have been undermining the country’s values for generations.

Archived column: National Review Online, May 1, 2007
Don’t Get Weak, by Thomas Sowell (Wayback Machine)
Sowell, Random thoughts, Townhall, May 1, 2007 (archived copy)

How we traced it

In copyright

The sentence comes from a newspaper column first published on May 1, 2007, and the National Review copy carries the line “© 2007 Creators Syndicate, Inc.” The column is well inside the US copyright term. Quoting this single sentence with attribution is ordinary commentary use.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Context

Why it drew fire

The line was one of a couple of dozen unconnected one-liners in a routine “Random thoughts” column. Other items in the same column joked about Suze Orman and Babe Ruth’s World Series record. Because it sat in a list, nothing in the column itself explains it or adds a caveat, and that left readers to decide how literally Sowell meant it.

The reaction came the next day. At Outside the Beltway, James Joyner’s post was titled “Thomas Sowell Pines for A Military Coup” ↗. At The American Conservative, Daniel Larison asked “Sowell Calls For Bush’s Overthrow?” ↗ Since then the sentence has circulated mostly as a stand-alone quotation, with no sign that it was one item in a list.

Genuine Sowell, word for word: one stand-alone item in a 2007 list of “random thoughts”.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Power Hope Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Thomas Sowell on Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Sourced quotes page. Lists this line and cites National Review, May 1, 2007.
“Don’t Get Weak”, National Review Online (archived)web.archive.org

The full May 1, 2007 column, © 2007 Creators Syndicate.
“Random thoughts”, Townhall (archived)web.archive.org

The same column, dated May 1, 2007. The live Townhall page is gone.
“Random thoughts”, Jewish World Review (archived)web.archive.org

A third syndicated copy of the column, dated May 1, 2007.
Thomas Sowell Pines for A Military Coupoutsidethebeltway.com

James Joyner’s post of May 2, 2007, an early reaction that quotes the line.
Sowell Calls For Bush’s Overthrow?theamericanconservative.com

Daniel Larison’s critique of May 2, 2007, linking to the National Review column.

The author

About Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

b. 1930 · American economist, author & syndicated columnist

Thomas Sowell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina, in 1930. He is an economist and social theorist and has been a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution since 1977. For decades he wrote a nationally syndicated column for Creators Syndicate, including the recurring “Random thoughts on the passing scene” feature, which was a list of short one-line items. He announced the end of the column in December 2016.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Sowell, Thomas. “Random Thoughts.” Creators Syndicate, May 1, 2007. Published by National Review Online as “Don’t Get Weak,” May 1, 2007.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can't help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/when-i-see-the-worsening-degeneracy-in-our-politicians-our/

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