@nigelharpur @mhoye What I recall is not so much surprise that it fell, but that it fell so gently. No coup, no armies marching. It just fell apart into constituent states. Which is not to say it didn't then get messy. But the all out warfare and violence didn't happen at once.
Which makes me wonder if our future isn't going to be similar. If this administration truly starts ignoring the courts, even the Supreme Court, will we just see many of the states start to just ignore the federal government and work things out amongst themselves?