This is the information of the day here. The truth that the US Congress was not underneath siege shouldn't be a narrative in any respect – the truth that it was tells you all the things you'll want to find out about American politics.

In Washington, DC, we have now been getting ready for this January 6 since January 6 came to define the fragility of American democracy – the riots, the destruction and the demise, as a mob fought to overturn the result of the election.

There was no drama at the Capitol this time as they certified Donald Trump’s victory. If he had been defeated, it may need been a special story.

The climate in Washington DC didn't lend itself to any protests: there was as much as 30 cm of snow in the American capital. And then there was safety.

The Capitol complicated took on a ghostly air as 9-foot-high fencing cordoned off an space a number of hundred ft in radius across the seat of democracy. It was a security operation extra typical of a army base than a political venue.

The police have been eager to emphasize a more aggressive posture – extra our bodies, training and gear. This is not shocking, given the failures of 4 years in the past.

Contained in the Home, this election certification was superficial and procedural.

The ceremony of carrying votes in mahogany bins went off with no hitch – it’s the paperwork that modifications the presidency and vice chairman. Kamala Harrissupervising the ceremony, duly accepted the terms and circumstances by saying a Asset victory.

Gone was the “love me” smile of the campaign trail as she appeared, a defeated candidate, earlier than the cameras afterward.

Whereas she hated this media engagement, she acknowledged a duty to make sure a peaceable switch of energy, calling it “one of the necessary pillars of our democracy.”

US politicians carried out the ceremony in a House chamber the place they have been mobbed four years ago, in a building where they hid and ran for his or her lives, where there was fuel tear fuel, broken glass and gunfire as a mob rampaged contained in the Capitol. .

Outdoors, a handful of supporters and family members of the convicted Jan. 6 rioters marched across the complicated to spotlight their claims of injustice. Donald Trump has stated he'll pardon lots of them after his inauguration on January 20.

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Because the winter night time chilled Washington as soon as again, a city and a nation might breathe a sigh of aid that a peaceful proceeding passed without incident.

Some order has been restored to American politics, and America may be grateful.

Nevertheless, the following query stays: what if Trump had lost?

This can be a man who spent months sowing doubt concerning the integrity of the election and laying the groundwork – as many noticed it – to challenge the result if he was the dropping candidate.

Is peace restored to American politics solely with the victory of a specific candidate?

In that case, it’s not a victory at all.