Every election since the 2005 release of "Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith" has involved an online spectacle of whoever lost the election claiming that democracy was nearing an end. If you turn the lens specifically to "Star Wars" Twitter, you’ll see a wall of tweets sharing this image and iconic quote from a distraught Sen. Padmé Amidala. “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause,” she says.

George Lucas liked to say in promoting the film that the failed democracies of history were often not taken over by autocrats, but given away to them with popular support. This is true. However, it’s worth looking at what precipitated the “thunderous applause” in the first place. What gave Chancellor Palpatine the mandate to end democracy and the Jedi Order in one fell swoop?

The Jedi attempted what can only be described as a coup, a forceful removal of Palpatine with the intent to take control of the Senate temporarily. It’s hard to encapsulate just how wrong-headed this was for the Jedi to attempt. They did so on the grounds that Palpatine was a Sith Lord and playing both sides in a galactic civil war. Instead of taking what evidence they had and presenting it to the Senate, which would presumably launch investigations, they moved to depose him immediately. It’s reasonable to conclude that they viewed Palpatine as illegitimate not chiefly because he orchestrated a phony war, but because of his religious affiliation as a Sith, the Jedi’s mortal enemies.

In our own world, President Trump has been alleging a conspiracy against him for two years now. There was the Mueller probe, launched for the Trump campaign allegedly colluding with a foreign power to win the 2016 election. There were reports that administration officials and military leaders discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president.

Trump and his team have used all of this to push a narrative of a “deep state” rejection of democracy and the voters' will. He went so far as to boast at the 2019 NRA annual meeting in Indianapolis that “they attempted a coup, didn’t work out so well,” going on to say overthrows have been attempted against him.

Despite all of this, the system has worked. No collusion, no coup!

Imagine, for a moment, that when Anakin Skywalker went to Mace Windu in "Episode III" with the revelation that Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith Lord, and instead of “ moving quickly ” the Jedi Council considered how to use the system. Mace Windu was a blatantly anti-democratic character in the saga. He rightfully distrusted politicians, but seemed to hold the Senate itself in contempt. In earlier discussions about the possibility of removing Palpatine from office, Mace was the first to suggest that the Jedi would have to take control of the Senate to manage the transition. Yoda responds, “To a dark place this line of thought will carry us,” and yet Mace enacts this course of action later on in Yoda’s absence.

Huge mistake!

Why not consult Mon Mothma? Or Bail Organa? There are thousands within the Galactic Senate who could have helped build political support for Palpatine’s removal and handled the transition of power. It was precisely Windu’s insistence on immediate removal of Palpatine, which failed, that gave the chancellor and Sith Lord the political capital to stand before the Senate a near-victim of assassination and call for martial law.

The Jedi were already in poor standing with the Senate and broader public after years of a brutal war they foolishly agreed to help lead. All it took was evidence they attempted to step outside of their military assistance role and subvert the political process to call for their elimination. Palpatine didn’t even have to lie to do this.

It is mostly true what Windu said of Palpatine , that he “controls the Senate and the courts, he’s too dangerous to be left alive.” Palpatine had accrued enormous power and corrupted the system top to bottom, and he also held the ultimate trump card in a clone army programmed to kill the Jedi at a moment’s notice.

Democracy is incredibly fragile, and there’s nothing its adherents dislike more than attempts by some to game it. It’s hard to imagine “thunderous applause” for a Jedi massacre without Windu’s coup to rally behind.

Process matters. You can look back to the saga of troubles for Trump.

Stephen Kent (@Stephen_Kent89) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is the spokesperson for Young Voices and host of "Beltway Banthas," a Star Wars and politics podcast in D.C.