This is the Most Consequential Election of My Lifetime

"So what happens if the President of the United States gets a speeding ticket?" 

Though it has been a while, I can remember, in high school history and government classes, asking the impossible, most extreme scenario questions about government, the Constitution and government leaders, and having teachers reassure us that the extremes were possible because the Constitution is law that limits the extent and power of government, but that they were very unlikely because the safeguard was always the voter and the ballot box, and the fact that the government can be changed by the people over a very short period of time, if they so choose.  

Of course, the President does not drive, which prevents his getting a speeding ticket.  But there was never a real answer about what would happen if a President committed a crime, because the assumption was that a President would be someone with the kind of integrity not to have to worry about it.  

And now, in just a few short years, as I approach the end of my educational career, we are facing an election in which one of the candidates has a criminal record, had a record of fraud, corruption and both business and moral bankruptcy long before he ever ran for office, and when he finally succeeded in getting elected, incited a riot to attempt to overturn an election, committed crimes on his way out like stealing classified documents, and in spite of all of that, was nominated by a major political party and is running again, this time with the goal of achieving immunity granted by a corrupt and paid-off Supreme Court, three of whose justices he appointed himself.  

It's the American nightmare no one ever imagined. 

The system has failed.  The justice department managed to prosecute most of those who committed crimes in the attack on the Capitol.  It hasn't yet got around to prosecuting the perpetrator in spite of a mountain of evidence against him delivered by a Congressional committee a full year before any action was initiated against him.  The political party he belongs to has lost its political and moral convictions, with money now being their bottom line, and has sold out to a fascist approach to keep itself in power, because it's having trouble winning elections.  

So going back some 40 years ago to that high school or college classroom, learning about American History and government, what we are seeing is the worst case scenario that we could ever have come up with to challenge a teacher to figure out how to answer, happening before our very eyes.  No one could have ever imagined a Hitler-quoting and admiring fascist, who prompted and incited a violent riot against the Capitol of the United States during a joint session of Congress while verifying and counting electoral votes, and who did everything in his power to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, violating the Constitution, would walk free, and actually be able to run for office again.  That would be way beyond our imagination, and the reality that there is no Constitutional provision against this happening would have been unfathomable.  

And in the 1970's it wouldn't ever have been imagined that the Republican party would be the vehicle through which this could happen.  We saw what went on with Nixon.  And we were horrified when Ford issued his pardon, which, to our relief, ended his political career.  I can still remember the feeling of betrayal, sitting in the living room with my Dad, when the news reported that Ford had pardoned Nixon.  

My Dad stood up, walked over and shut off the television.  

"That bastard got away with it," he said.  "Well, that's the beginning of the end of this country."  

On Tuesday, we will see if the last restraint against an attempted takedown of American Democracy holds.  And that's the power the Constitution gives to the people through the ballot box. I'm appalled that there are still so many Americans who are blinded by Trump.  The fact that anyone would want this despicable, demagogue anywhere near the White House is disconcerting, and means that we can't stop fighting against the bigotry, prejudice and disrespect for the rule of law that he represents.  

That is, if the law about how those votes are cast and counted holds up in the face of an increasingly corrupt justice system that has itself suffered from deranged partisanship.  Do we still have the ability to conduct a free and fair election that represents the will of the people?  

We will see.