Donald Trump may well pull our constitutional chestnuts out of the bonfire created by his fire-bug candidacy.  There’s almost no way he’s stepping down as the Republican nominee.  Not as long as 20-30 percent of the voting public will still cheer him and watch his eventual cable news network. He made it clear months ago, and I quote, that he “doesn’t give a rat’s ass what Paul Ryan has to say.”

I thought it was cute this morning when some Republicans suggested that Mike Pence might threaten to step down as the vice presidential nominee as a way of pressuring Trump to resign, Pence, spending the day in his brother-in-law’s basement man cave, watching the Colts and flipping through scripture at half-time.

No, Trump’s not going anywhere, but if we’ve learned one thing from PussyGate, it’s that American democracy is a fragile thing and not to be squandered out of angry votes for jackass candidates.

I don’t mean to disparage Trump voters. I don’t doubt their motives. I can name at least 16 people with whom I am either acquaintances, friends, or family who are voting Trump.  I share some of their views on income inequality.  I don’t think any of them are stupid.  None of them have been affected by factories moving to Mexico. All of them have achieved some level of middle-class prosperity. At least three of them are casually racist. They are otherwise really nice people, and their racism doesn’t define them, but, let’s not pretend racism isn’t part of this.

But for all that, I don’t doubt their motives. I do fear their decision to give into frustration and vote for a clown candidate.  The lesson from PussyGate is that they can’t do that again.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges

We take our democratic institutions for granted.  Until, we allow them to be broken. There are nine members of the Supreme Court.  The president appoints them and congress reviews that appointment in a reasonable amount of time and provides a vote on confirmation.  Unless, we allow that custom to be broken. Nine justices?  Well, now it’s eight.  If Hillary wins, and the GOP hangs onto the senate, is there any reason for them to approve any of her nominees to the court?  If there are two more court vacancies in the next four years, why can’t we move ahead with a six-justice court?

Let’s imagine that Trump did step down. Maybe there are even worse revelations to come. He has a miserable debate this evening. Even Paul Ryan has to abandon him.  Kelly Anne Conway pockets her media fees and resigns, and it’s just him and Christie and Giuliani sitting in Trump Tower.

He resigns, and the anti-Trump faction of the Republican Party names Mike Pence as their nominee. And they ask states to create new ballots.  Except that a number of states have already started to vote. And many have sent out absentee ballots. And those states using paper ballots have already printed them.

Democratic governors and attorneys general would likely claim that they can’t create and distribute new ballots in three weeks.  Republicans would likely file law suits.  Democrats would file law suits in all fifty states.  And there would be civil rights and voting rights suits all over the place.

The Trump faction of the now-shattered Republican Party would go to court and the streets to protest the Pence usurper.

Kinda Taxation without Representation

What do you do about the people who have already voted?  Gee, I voted for Hillary because I really hate Trump, but I’d love the chance to vote for Pence. Can I have a do over?  I wanted to support the Republican candidate because I despise Hillary, but now my vote for Trump won’t make a difference. Can I have a do over so I can vote for Pence?  I didn’t register to vote because I loathe Trump and Hillary, but now that Pence is on the ballot, I’d like to register.  My state should extend the registration deadline.

All this stuff will end up in courts.  And when it can’t be worked out in three weeks, some people start to suggest delaying the election.  And who decides that? Congress, which is mostly all running for re-election. And many of these law suits will get ten-day fast tracked to the Supreme Court.  Which only has eight members.  Who could end up deadlocked in a tie.

But, maybe we get lucky. Maybe Platonic swing-vote justice Anthony Kennedy saves us all by voting the right way. Except, I’m pretty sure that my definition of “voting the right way” is different from at least 30 million of my fellow citizens.  So, then what? If only there was some consensual system under which the majority of voters could render their opinion, while respecting the rights of the minority.

Trump will save us from all this because he’s not going to quit. But, he and others have taken us right up to the edge. With a month to go.