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The defining characteristic of the United States is that it didn't work.

The SYSTEM (the US Republic) worked. The system is resilient by design and performed as expected to deliver the appropriate output on the input it was given.

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As people in finance are fond of saying, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Did it not work for any identifiable reason that makes us immune, or due to non-replicable acts of bravery on one side, incompetence on the other, and good old luck in between? It's not hard to imagine the insurrectionists turning the other way in a hallway and finding Pence, or getting into the rotunda a moment earlier. Or a few election officials in Pennsylvania or Detroit bowing to pressure, allowing the valid election results to be overturned. Republicans are working very hard to make sure that they have people on election boards who will make a different choice next time. So no, I'd say the system just barely worked because of people within it, and can not be counted on to save us again.

There is no deus ex machina. This isn't a movie. People have to work to save democracy.

This. Thank you. So many people believe that we got lucky, or something. It's like they believe good things are fated to happen. That's not how this works. Good people need to prevent the bad things or the bad people win. And these are really, really bad people. In the case of Pennsylvania, Judge Matthew Brann, an extreme right-wing Republican, dismissed the Trump case that attempted to throw out the mail-in ballots, and saved Democracy. Judge Brann loves Democracy more than he loved Trump. But is he still there? Or will someone offer to pay off his debts and his mortgage next time? We are teetering on the edge of the precipice, folks.

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