Professor Loury, you write, "An election in which legal maneuvering keeps a candidate preferred by half (and maybe more than half) of the electorate off the ballot would not, in my view, be legitimate."
Upholding the rule of law is not "legal maneuvering". We either live by our Constitution or we do not. We can't decide to not uphold the rule of law because Trump is popular with a lot of people. He's popular with them because he lies to them and they believe it, and actually, it doesn't even matter why they like him. There's no "electability" or "likeability" clause. If he is found to have engaged in insurrection, then he is ineligible. The fact that a lot of people will throw a tantrum is irrelevant. And yes, it may lead to violence in the streets. That will have to be dealt with by the rule of law also. Since Trump was first elected we have been heading in this direction. Liberals have not helped matters, but the fault of this insurrectionist mood is almost entirely on the shoulders of Trump. If it takes a civil war and violence in the street to finally break that fever, then I'm afraid that John is right. It may just have to happen. That scares me mightily, but the alternative of Trump as President again scares me even more.
Professor Loury, you write, "An election in which legal maneuvering keeps a candidate preferred by half (and maybe more than half) of the electorate off the ballot would not, in my view, be legitimate."
Upholding the rule of law is not "legal maneuvering". We either live by our Constitution or we do not. We can't decide to not uphold the rule of law because Trump is popular with a lot of people. He's popular with them because he lies to them and they believe it, and actually, it doesn't even matter why they like him. There's no "electability" or "likeability" clause. If he is found to have engaged in insurrection, then he is ineligible. The fact that a lot of people will throw a tantrum is irrelevant. And yes, it may lead to violence in the streets. That will have to be dealt with by the rule of law also. Since Trump was first elected we have been heading in this direction. Liberals have not helped matters, but the fault of this insurrectionist mood is almost entirely on the shoulders of Trump. If it takes a civil war and violence in the street to finally break that fever, then I'm afraid that John is right. It may just have to happen. That scares me mightily, but the alternative of Trump as President again scares me even more.
Trump is reckless, but this is not?
Why,and how, does Trump scare you?