It looks all but certain that Donald Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee and could therefore very well be the next president.  While I think that Trump himself is simply a loud, very over-the-top, and politically incorrect version of any other politician, there are a lot of people who are absolutely terrified of him.  He is as scary as (if not scarier than) Barack Obama was to conservatives almost a decade ago.  He represents the end of American life as we know it.

But there is hope.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret that has huge implications.  There is a way to neutralize Donald Trump if he does become president.

The antidote to Trump is nullification.

If President Trump starts creating all sorts of crazy laws and making insane orders, what would it say about the people who carry out those laws and orders?  If for example he were to order the immediate deportation of all Mexicans, would we simply excuse everyone who rounds them up and ships them south?  It’s not their fault; they’re just following the law…

Of course there might be negative ramifications for those who refuse to do things they morally object to, but this is the perfect opportunity to dust off the ideas of jury nullification.  If Trump’s views really are far outside of the mainstream, it should be generally agreeable among people that it would be correct to find those who intentionally break Trump’s bad laws as not guilty.

Nullification could seize the gears of the Trump machine (or any other bad ruler) and would be extremely effective.  The problem, however, is that the art of nullification has been lost.  It’s seen as scary and not a “legal” or even moral option.  Precedent has been set for presidents and other politicians to run away with power with relative impunity, so to stop on the breaks now rocks the boat harder than it should.

The sad reality is that even given all of this information about nullification, I feel that most people would reject it for fear of “breaking the law.”  They ought to get a better sense of history.