It isn’t ‘anti-democratic’ to bar Trump from office. It’s needed to protect democracy | Steven Greenhouse

If it lets an insurrectionist like Trump on the ballot, the supreme court will be putting out a welcome mat to autocracy

Over the decades, several US supreme court justices have warned that the US constitution is not a suicide pact - in other words, that the constitution shouldn't be interpreted in ways that jeopardize the survival of our nation and our democracy.

Right now, however, I worry that the supreme court's rightwing supermajority, in its anticipated rush to prohibit states from kicking Donald Trump off the ballot, will turn the constitution into a suicide pact. By letting an insurrectionist like Trump remain on the ballot - a man who spurned centuries of constitutional tradition by refusing to peacefully turn over the reins of power to the man who defeated him - the supreme court would be putting out a welcome mat to a candidate who has made no secret of his plans to trample all over the constitution and trash our democratic traditions.