Death and destruction did not stop Congress from its mission to certify the election of the next president of the United States.
Shell-shocked by what amounts to an attempted coup and daunted by a handful of Republicans who conspired to undo the rule of law in America, our elected leaders in the federal House and Senate mustered the will to do what they were commissioned to do Wednesday: They certified the election of President-elect Joe Biden.
It was a sad day that dawned on a proud day. Proud because, despite the harrowing and criminal acts of a mob incited to commit violence, the institution of government stood strong.
Not since the Civil War has the foundation of America been so tested.
Still, these are perilous times. Days of potential unrest stretch before us until and including Inauguration Day.
For the sake of safety of the public and lawmakers, for the sake of the system of democracy, for the sake of our standing in the world community, President Donald Trump must ask his supporters to accept what ultimately must be accepted. He must continue to call for peace, and that call must be clear and clarion.
We are a nation divided, that is true. But division is not contrary to democracy. Democracy has space for dissent.
We must not allow dissent to devolve again into violence. In the words of President Lincoln, “We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)
