Everyone needs to stop pretending that Donnie Dipshit will EVER be president again

[harumph]

56. In post #29 Ms. Toad states:

"...as much as I hate the concept of him becoming president again - if he actually wins and we prevent him from taking office by unlawful means, we are just like him." which I disagree with for reasons already stated.

Firstly, implicit in the foregoing statement is the assumption that a Trump "win" would be legitimate - meaning a majority of the electoral count - without significant (e.g., enough to sway election) interference by the right wing officials and apparatchiks. That must be the interpretation - no? Otherwise, the statement implies that we merely accept a Trump win as legitimate even when right wing officials throw out legitimately cast Democratic votes. Just because you know.

Second, what you interpret as being rude is merely asking the essential question of whether there is any circumstance under which resistance would be reasonable when given an unlawfully elected executive wielding power in such a way as to cement a permanent minority rule.

Third, when you initially accused me of being rude it was my response to William769 post #37 wherein William769 stated: "I believe in the rule of law and that will never change. If you don't then shame on you." Shame on me indeed. Implicit is the suggestion that I don't believe in the rule of law and I should be ashamed. All this assumes that a Trump win would be necessarily legitimate. Yet I have already provided concrete examples that would call into question a Trump victory by illegitimate means. What then?

At the end of the day and much to the consternation of our local legal professionals, adherence to law depends on its credibility. Credibility comes BEFORE the law. Law drafters need to have a provenance of legitimacy. If government is seen by the people to institute laws that make a mockery of fairness, those laws will be considered no law at all. This is a recognizable concept (Aquinas, MLK). A concept rightfully scary to legal professionals who are smart people and have worked very diligently learning to apply and argue the law. If the laws become meaningless, what is there to argue?

I submit our "legal system" that is so revered and which is frequently pointed to as '...the best looking horse in the glue factory' is showing its age. The OP is correct that our condition is preposterous. I take him at his word that he served in the military as have members of my immediate family and maybe just maybe we get something that others don't. Perhaps we will dodge this bullet of Trump and the experience of having to dodge will prompt new laws/guardrails to inoculate our country from fascism. However, I'm not optimistic as the right wing has already stated repeatedly and on the record that they are willing to construct new laws simply to their advantage - their position may be summarized as "fuck ya'll." Power. Power. Power. And their "laws" to paper over deprivations. What about non-violent demonstration? Don't be surprised if a new Trump admin simply authorizes martial law and you get shot for peacefully demonstrating.

Respectfully, your allegations that I'm being rude are false, unsupported by my comments, and a needless distraction from the content of my posts and others in the thread.