You’re almost certainly right, they will be fired if they disobey the would-be autocrat. That’s basically what happened in Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” when he wanted to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Attorney General Elliot Richadson refused and resigned immediately. So too did Deputy AG William Ruckelshaus. Then loyal fascism supporter Robert Bork did as instructed, and the story of the resignations became bigger than the firing of Cox, leading to the impeachment proceedings and a new special prosecutor.

I don’t really disagree with you, the system needs significant reform, and losing good career professionals is bad for everyone. But it’s worth it to fight like hell at every stage, it slows them down and sometimes the opposition shifts public sentiment.

These defeats in court are good—necessary, even—but the protestors are still being prosecuted, put in jail, subjected to cash bond requirements and required to hire defense counsel. Yes, the Trump Admin loses a lot, but it doesn’t have to win every case to chill and deter opposition. The power imbalance is still a huge threat when a would-be autocrat can bring the full force of the federal government to bear on individual citizens. I want to see more AUSAs declining to prosecute at all, they have independent obligations as officers of the court to follow the constitution.