so the fundamental point behind the piece is that the united states of america is a constitutional republic, and the way that works is that all the power, all the authority, is vested in the people, and they have to specifically delegate that authority to the government if it's going to have a legitimate claim to authority and political power. the way that we do that delegation is through elections. we have a formal process spelled out. there's a bunch of rules that you have to follow, and -- but if you don't follow the rules, then the result isn't valid. there has been no real delegation of authority from the people to the government. if a party to an election, if the president of the united states running for re-election, has already violated the rules of the game that need to be followed if the result is to be valid, if the winner of the