On a Friday the 13th when the sky hangs grey over what should be Spring, the world appears on the edge of catastrophe. The Trump debacle descends into the kind of madness that Shakespeare made a living out of, careening into the end of the second act when the stage goes dark.

Hollywood, for its part, depicted days like this as slasher movies, their idea of scary. There was never a cop to be found as people traipsed through a hellscape, dark and throbbing in surround sound.  There was no order, only survival – for a few.

Yet here we are, waiting for something. And into it comes James Comey’s book, “A Higher Loyalty.”  The former top cop appears to doing what we have so far been unable to do ourselves, coming in to rescue us all. But it’s still scary, and more in the Shakespearean way, because there is something bigger than the players on the scene strutting and fretting. There is, there has to be, some kind of morality made real.

There has to be law – either the law of humankind of morality.

The Founding Fathers gave us many things, but especially our basic principles.

It’s common in America to debate the nature of our much treasured system. Are we a democracy or a republic? The correct answer is both, but as we are learning the correct answer is actually neither. In the end, our system relies on stability pushed every so gently forward without toppling over. Our system is built on the rule of law.

We aren’t really that different than the British from whence we came in that sense. For better or worse, there are laws that govern everything. They create order. A good life, stable investment, and sense of morality that can be too smug but is grounded in the free time left over from not constantly dealing with chaos.

Xi Jinping. This is about as close to a smile as he ever has.

Not every nation can boast this. China, for example, has a different system. It is not defined by communism, at least not in any important sense. China has a very thin concept of the rule of law right now. It is a place where nearly anything can be done with the right cash in hand. There are laws, yes, but they are very unevenly enforced. If you do get caught, paying the fine on the spot in cash will get you out of the jam one way or the other, regardless of who keeps it.

Some of this applies in America. We have a long tradition of protesting, of breaking the law to make a point. When it is done with fully knowledge of the consequences there is never a problem. The law is the law, after all, and if it’s worth it you go ahead.

Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.

James Comey is a patient, deliberate man.

Today we are relying on the FBI and several former FBI heads, Comey and Mueller, to come save our nation. We expect them to do it by applying law evenly and fairly, under the watchful eyes of judges issuing warrants and subpoenas. We have to trust our system to do what politically it cannot.

There is no doubt that Trump is indeed a mafia tool and a wannabe capo. Anyone paying attention to the construction industry in New York and New Jersey knows that it was traditionally run by the mafia, especially cement. That Trump Tower is the tallest cement-only building in the word should not be lost on anyone. Nor should the (failed) casino in Atlantic City.

You’re not as clever as you think, Vlad.

It is only natural that this progressed on to the Bratva, the most powerful mafia the world has ever known. Though it masquerades as the nation of Russia, it is simply a mafia as we have reported many times. Trump’s connections were well known, and yet every political institution in this democratic-republic failed to take note.

So now we must fall back on law to save us.

It is frightening to think that the FBI, the agency that can and has abused its power to control the parts of the nation in the past is what we have to count on. But we have only two alternatives on a day like this. One is a slasher movie, a landscape that never includes any law enforcement. The other is a tottering monarchy waiting for judgment from fate to intervene.

I’ll take the FBI. I don’t have any choice. It’s far from ideal, but it sounds like Comey has it pegged and Mueller is going to nail this thing shut. Our system will be saved. Hooray.