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Who would have thought that America’s “great experiment” in democracy — as its first president George Washington so glowingly described it more than two centuries ago — would end up blowing apart on U. S. national television in the year 2021 in such a grubby and shocking way?
But that’s what happened this week, nothing less.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump led a botched coup attempt in a bid to overturn the will of the voters in November’s presidential election. He did it by calling on tens of thousands of his right- wing supporters — many of them racist white nationalists and crazed conspiracy theorists — to storm the U. S. Capitol building where members of Congress were meeting to certify the victory of president- elect Joe Biden.
The rioters did it by pushing past cordons of poorly prepared police, knocking over barricades and breaking windows. They entered both the House and Senate chambers while several of them carried Confederate battle flags through the halls of the Capitol, something that has never happened before.
Trump’s attempted coup failed, at least this time, but there are still several days left before Jan. 20’ s inauguration of Biden and Kamala Harris. By all accounts, Trump is a man feeling virtually unhinged by the starkness of his defeat and he still wields enormous power as U. S. president.
These are, then, still dangerous days for the weakened American republic. Trump may not be done yet. And this is why pressure is building in Washington to have him thrown out of office immediately.
American TV news anchors and hosts this week filled the airwaves with expressions of shock, horror and righteous indignation — but their hypocrisy was showing through.
The scenes out of Washington on Wednesday were truly shocking, but they really weren’t a surprise. What else could have been expected from Trump?
The storming of their country’s fabled bastion of democracy didn’t come out of the blue. Yes, it was the inevitable climax to a corrupt and criminal presidency, but it was only able to occur because millions of Americans — particularly their political, corporate and media elites — allowed it to happen.
Will Americans learn from this? If past behaviour is a guide, the outlook for this is gloomy — unless they honestly confront these two questions.
What should this shocking event teach the world about today’s America?
Why was this violence allowed to happen in the first place?
In this age of instant, global communication, there are probably few corners in the world that didn’t witness the grotesque and humiliating scenes from Washington on Wednesday. Unquestionably, they have done incalculable damage to U. S. democratic institutions and the country’s international reputation.
To U. S. allies, many of whom were humiliated by Trump in the past, the response was wrenching. It was a mixture of surprise, embarrassment and incredulity that what they assumed was the world’s leading democracy was imploding so dramatically.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the scenes on Capitol Hill as “disgraceful.” French President Emmanuel Macron said that ” what happened in Washington today is not American.” And Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said that “these pictures made me angry and sad.”
But beyond the empathy, they surely wondered whether the threat to American democracy could replicate itself in their own countries. After all, there are several democracies — Germany, the Netherlands and Hungary — that have experienced revolts from their own extreme right wing.
As for American adversaries such as China and Russia, they were euphoric.
In the hours after Wednesday’s events in Washington, there was increasing uproar over why the security around Congress was so weak.
This was an extreme, racist mob that gave every indication — hours before — that they intended to storm the Capitol. But police security was very light.
Some reporters compared it to a picnic where rioters wandered into the Capitol building with virtually no resistance. There were even pictures of rioters taking selfies with police officers.
Slightly more than 50 people were arrested on the first day, most of them charged with violating the evening curfew. None of the leaders were charged on the first day.
The obvious question is whether this gentle treatment would have been applied if these protesters were Black or Muslim. It would take a delusional fool not to know the answer.
During the weeks last year of protests over the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, more than 10,000 people were arrested and charged.
The wider issue revealed in this week’s events is the approach by the current U. S. government to protect and downplay the increase of farright violence in the country. American intelligence officials have consistently identified this threat as the most serious domestic challenge.
The hope, of course, is that the new Biden government will finally take action.
But that is tomorrow’s challenge. Beyond anxiety about what lies ahead, there is the more immediate issue of the here and now. With a veritable bomb thrower in the White House, and with fewer than two weeks to go before the end of Trump’s term, what can be done to avoid something even more awful happening?
As the shock of these events settles in, that is the current challenge of today’s Washington.
Can Trump be impeached again, and thrown out of office right away? Or might his cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment and replace him with Vice- President Mike Pence? Or will he resign in exchange for a federal pardon?
Given the chaos of the moment, the more likely alternative may be to strap in and hope for the best.
But that surely wasn’t what George Washington had in mind when, in a euphoric mood of expectation and promise, he became the first president of the United States of America.
This mob gave every indication that they intended to storm the Capitol. But police security was very light
Tony Burman, formerly head of CBC News and Al Jazeera English, is a freelance contributing foreign affairs columnist for the Star. He is based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @ TonyBurman