(CNN) – It was an absolutely impressive 13 minutes.
From when House Impeachment Chief Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) presented a video detailing the events of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, to ending with a message about those who died and were injured as a result of the riot. It was impossible for me not to look, even when I felt sick, sad, and angry about what I was seeing.
The video juxtaposed the formal procedures to confirm the Electoral College votes in the House of Representatives and Senate alongside the chaos that grew outside the Capitol, when then-President Donald Trump summoned attendees to a mass rally to “stop the robbery.” . and fight to keep the Democrats from stealing the election.
As those two realities merged – with protesters clashing with the police and knocking down the doors from which congressmen discussed objections to the electoral college – a compelling thought struck me: It’s a wonder this wouldn’t have been much, much worse.
But that’s not to say that the violent attack on one of the symbols of American democracy, and the deaths and injuries directly linked to that uprising, were not terrible. It was. It was one of the darkest days in modern memory.
The attack on the Capitol jeopardized democracy
But it really could have been MUCH worse. Vice President Mike Pence narrowly missed being face to face with a crowd, some of whom shouted “Hang Mike Pence.” Members of Congress were cornered, helpless. “People around me called their wives and husbands, their loved ones, to say goodbye,” Raskin recalled.
That no member of Congress was injured or killed was a minor miracle. And having to say this, in the strongest democracy in the world, is frightening.
What that video showed is what the impact of the lies and use of weapons of bias, resentment, and victimization of the most powerful leader in the nation can create – something very close to a coup.
I find it incomprehensible that any senator, Republican or Democrat, can watch that 13-minute video without changing their mind. Not seeing what Trump did, sowing and then activating an angry mob that had been conditioned for years to believe a lie was true. If we fail to see that another presidential bid for the 45th president would pose a clear and present danger to our surprisingly fragile democracy.
The point: If the past is a prologue, nothing will change Trump’s fate after today. Because many have already been decided. That is too bad. And disappointing.