Trump

Trump Had a Mob. He Also Had a Plan. As the full picture of Jan. 6 begins to come into view, I think we should consider it a kind of revolution or, at least, the very beginning of one. Joe Biden ultimately became president, but

Donald Trump’s fight to keep himself in office against the will of the voters

has upturned the political order. ................ Trump, we know, urged Mike Pence to reject the votes of the Electoral College,

with the mob outside as the stick that would compel his obedience

. “You can either go down in history as a patriot,” Trump told Pence, as recounted in this newspaper, “or you can go down in history as a pussy.” .......... this week we learned that he had an actual plan in mind, devised by John Eastman, a prominent conservative lawyer who worked with the former president to challenge the election results, a job that included a speaking slot at the rally on the National Mall that preceded the attack on the Capitol. .......... Eastman was essentially summarizing the contents of a memo he had written on Trump’s behalf,

describing the steps Pence would take to overturn the election in Trump’s favor

. ........... Eastman’s confidence throughout this memo (he dismisses potential Democratic objections as “howls”) belies his shoddy legal, political and constitutional thinking. For one, his argument rests on an expansive reading of the Twelfth Amendment for which there is no precedent or justification. The vice president has never directly counted electoral votes. .......... None of this should make you feel good or cause you to breathe a sigh of relief. Consider what we know. A prominent, respected member in good standing of the conservative legal establishment — Eastman is enrolled in the Federalist Society and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — schemed with the president and his allies in the Republican Party to overturn the election and overthrow American democracy under the Constitution. Yes, they failed to keep Trump in office, but they successfully turned the pro forma electoral counting process into an occasion for real political struggle............

As it happens, Trump may well run for president in 2024 (he is already amassing a sizable war chest) with exactly that board in play.

.......... If Trump is, once again, on the ballot, then the election might turn on the manipulation of a ceremony that was, until now, a mere formality. ......... Jan. 6 closed the door on one era of American politics and opened the door to another, where constitutional democracy itself is at stake. ........ the main threat to the security and stability of the United States is coming from inside the house.