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The good, the bad, and the ugly of the US Capitol insurrection

The scenes of the insurrection in the United States Capitol last Wednesday, January 6, will go down in history as the moment when the oldest and most ‘exceptional’ democracy in the world trembled.

Jan 6, 2021; Washington, DC, USA; A person holds up a noose displayed in front of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jan 6, 2021; Washington, DC, USA; A person holds up a noose displayed in front of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
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We are all already familiar with the images of the moment when Donald Trump's supporters violently stormed and took over the house of democracy in the United States, the Capitol, during the ratification of Joe Biden's victory. For about two hours, the world stopped to watch the country that prides itself on its democracy see it crumbling before its eyes. Although the institutions withstood the coup and "order" was restored at night, these scenes leave us with much to analyze and understand.

The good

Little has been said about the good that happened just before that inconceivable insurrection broke out.

But before chaos took over, two Democratic senators won runoff elections in the state of Georgia, putting an end to the election cycle that started on November 3. Their victory represented not only the confirmation of the Democratic Party's control of the nation's legislature, but also a historic milestone: Reverend Raphael Warnock became the first Black Senator from the southern state of Georgia. In addition, Jon Ossoff, another member of a minority, in this case the Jewish minority, and a young investigative journalist, will accompany Warnock to Washington.