Congress has certified Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. The proceedings were halted after the invasion of Capitol Hill by supporters of Trump, who admitted Thursday that his term was over.
By and. ..
It must have been a historic day but maybe not in that sense. It will remain as the one where American democracy was attacked, with the complicity of the one who, every four years, takes an oath to defend it, solemnly, hand on the Bible, on the steps of the Capitol, this temple of American democracy invaded. , Wednesday January 6, by a band of rioters in the hope of changing the election result. Democracy assaulted and saved, but it came close to it. “Roosevelt had described December 7, 1941 (attack on Pearl Harbor) as the day that would live forever in infamy, said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, when calm returned. We can now add January 6, 2021 to this very short list of dates in American history that will remain in infamy. “
Startled, Americans have seen unprecedented scenes of protesters circling Congress, which had never seen such an assault since ephemeral attempt by the British in 1814 to take back their former colony. In a country which boasts of having given the world the first democratic transfer of power – when George Washington, after two terms of office, gave up remaining at the head of state – one must imagine the humiliation of elected officials, elites, and the general disbelief of the population that their country, the world’s leading power, put on a “banana republic” spectacle, as former President George W. Bush lamented.
When calm returned, Americans learned that part of the political class, including Republicans, had begun to consider implementing the 25th th amendment to the Constitution, which provided for a sidelining of the president for reasons of sanity, although there are only fourteen days left before the handover. After losing the House, Senate and Presidency in four years, the 45 th President could be deprived of his prerogatives, just as Twitter temporarily deprived him of his account – megaphone for incitement to violence.
“Demonstration to save America”
As early as December 2020, Donald Trump made an appointment with his supporters on January 6 at 11 am for a “great rally” against “the biggest SCAM in the history of our nation”: its defeat by more than 7 million votes. According to the Electoral Count Act, which lays down the procedure for counting the results in great detail, this is the date on which the two houses of Congress must meet every four years, to solemnly proclaim the results of the election of November. The law even fixes the time of the session: 1 pm.
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