The Atlantic
America’s Second-Worst Scenario
So far, cumulative acts of civic virtue have saved the republic. But the constitutional order is still in danger.
Updated at 7:18 p.m. ET on January 17, 2021.
The next time an insurgent mob arrives to sack the Capitol, if one happens to try between now and Inauguration Day, mere strength of numbers will not overwhelm the defenses. In the 10 days since the January 6 assault on Congress, the Secret Service has overseen the establishment of an instant “green zone,” fortified by eight-foot steel barriers and patrolled by some 20,000 National Guardsmen. Those are real bullets in the magazines of their Army-issued M-4 assault rifles, not at all the standard gear for maintaining civic order.