A noble pursuit or just a distraction?

Donald Trump lost the popular vote, but prevailed in the Electoral College. Now his claim of a "rigged" election has come back to haunt him. Green Party candidate Jill Stein is paying for recounts in Wisconsin and possibly two other states where he won by very small margins. Trump is acting outraged, but his own, often repeated, warnings have added to public concern about Russian hacking and voting-machine malfunctions. The recounts are unlikely to change the outcome. Will they reveal weakness in the basic tools of democracy or distract attention from the consequences of Trump's victory?