The Imperial Presidency

[Labster]

We're nearing the end of this thread, so I thought I'd have some closing thoughts.

I keep hearing that we only have to put up with Trump for 3.5 more years, and then things can get better.  And, like, it feels so silly to have an irrational belief in the invincibility of the 22nd Amendment.  Let me give you a brief vision of the United States of America in 2028:

January 2028: Republican Congress introduces a Constitutional Amendment to repeal the 22nd Amendment, in order to allow Trump to run for a third term.
February: The Amendment quickly sails through Congress.  Some states ratify the Amendment within days.
March: Trump appears on the ballot in some states, but not in others.  Lawsuits are filed.  Super Tuesday, Trump wins Republican states, other delegates vow to vote for him at convention.
April: Initial verdicts come in, most say Trump should have been removed from the ballot.  RNC rules are changed to allow any delegate to change their vote to the incumbent.
May: Appeals go through federal court.  Some verdicts that presidential nominations are entirely party matters, not subject to final eligibility rules.
June: Supreme Court rules that since Trump may be eligible to take office by the time he is elected, states must permit Trump to be on the November ballot.  After all, the Constitutional Amendment might get approved by 75% of states (it won't) and anyway the real election happens only in the electoral college.
July: Olympics are held in Los Angeles, but large-scale protests result in the Army being deployed.  California governor Katie Porter orders officials not to cooperate with the Army.
August: Trump declares the state to be in rebellion.  California National Guard recieves conflicting orders from President and Governor.  Trump and Gavin Newsom nominated for Presidency by only relevant parties.
September: Election starts in earnest, with each side calling the other an outright traitor to the country.
October: October surprise, USPS for some reason can't deliver ballots by mail.
November: Trump is reelected. (If necessary, by disqualifying results of states in rebellion, but perhaps unnecessary.)
December: Liberal states continue to not pass the Amendment, proving their unwillingness to support the people's elected choice for President.
January 2029: JD Vance accepts/rejects votes as necessary to re-elect Trump, the clear people's choice.  We now have a piece of paper that says one thing, and three branches of government that say another.  Guess which one wins.

The only thing that matters is not the law, but legitimacy – the people's opinion of whether an action is legitimate.  You see, we walk slowly, but with legitimate-seeming steps, and we we find ourselves at an abyss, and someone chooses to walk right on through with an action that seems, well, legitimate enough.  Who has more legitimacy, the guy who actually won the election (even if by engineering?), or a piece of paper saying the people don't have the power?

Lawyers and bureaucrats have a particularly hard problem with this, investing much of their life in the written word as some sort of binding contract, something of reverence.  But without the belief of the people, all of that fades away.  The core belief in the rule of law is already fading away, and the Supreme Court is helping to do it.