January 06, 2025 03:53 PM UTC

A Very Anticlimactic January 6th Anniversary

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the AP reports from the unbesieged U.S. Capitol on this day of calendrical infamy, the usually routine process of certifying the state-by-state results of the 2024 presidential election took place true to the peaceful historical norm, with the defeated Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris affirming without reservation her loss to once and future President Donald Trump–a major step on the way to one of the most dumbfounding political comebacks in American history:

Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 election in proceedings Monday that unfolded without challenge, in stark contrast to the Jan. 6, 2021, violence as his mob of supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Lawmakers convened under heavy security and a winter snowstorm to meet the date required by law to certify the election. Layers of tall black fences flanked the Capitol complex in a stark reminder of what happened four years ago, when a defeated Trump sent rallygoers to “fight like hell” in what became the most gruesome attack on the seat of American democracy in 200 years.

The whole process this time concluded swiftly and without unrest…

Four years ago this morning, newly sworn-in Rep. Lauren Boebert announced that “Today is 1776,” a call to glory pro-Trump insurrectionists later that day were unable to make their manifest destiny–though Boebert did reference the crowds outside the building in a floor speech moments before they became crowds inside the building. The rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol that day proved frightening enough on the business end that Boebert Tweeted to her followers how Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been removed from the House chambers, which she no doubt thought would calm things down since Pelosi was the one they wanted to hang. One of them, anyway.

Today, Boebert is full of ebullient snark:

On the opposite side politically if not geographically we have Colorado’s Rep. Jason Crow, a combat veteran made famous on January 6th, 2021 in photos comforting fellow lawmakers while the House was under siege, who had this statement about his vote today certifying the results of the presidential election:

January 6th was a violent assault on our democracy and a dark day in American history. I will never forget being trapped in the House gallery as the mob of President Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try and stop the certification of a free and fair presidential election.

Today, four years later, Congress will vote to certify the first presidential election since the attack, as is our constitutional duty.

We can never repeat the events of January 6, 2021. We must always work to defend our democracy, protect free and fair elections, and ensure a peaceful transfer of power. Regardless of our political beliefs, we are all Americans. Violence can never be the answer to our political differences.

From Rep. Diana DeGette, the same sense of duty, without forgetting the irony of upholding democratic principles for a candidate who doesn’t respect them:

Four years ago, I was in the House Gallery when the riotous mob attacked the Capitol seeking to disrupt the cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power. Under direction from the former president, the mob assaulted police officers, destroyed property, stole from the Capitol, and desecrated this temple of Democracy. The horrific actions of that day must never be allowed to happen again. We must ensure that our democracy prevails against extremism, and I am committed to standing against those who seek to subvert our democracy.

Today, the best way to honor the democratic principles that Donald Trump tried to tear down four years ago was to peacefully certify Trump’s re-election. If Trump had lost in November, the likelihood that today would be more like four years ago, and potentially much worse, would have changed everything. With these results, since Trump chose to undermine confidence in American elections rather than concede defeat four years ago the willingness of today’s Republican Party to accept defeat has not been tested. And it was not today.

What we do know is that when MAGA Republicans win by any margin–even three literal votes–their doubt in the accuracy of our elections evaporates.