When a pro-Trump mob assaulted the Capitol on January 6, analysts invariably said it tarnished America’s image as a model democracy. That Joseph Biden was sworn in at the appointed time as America’s 46th president is the culmination of that triumph. In countries where democracy is not as ruggedly rooted, the participants would have all hurried home in terror. To fully appreciate this triumphant moment in American democracy one needs only look at Russia and Uganda. In any case, what the brazen attack on the quintessential institution of American democracy demonstrates is that democratic ethos is not genetic in any nation.

Source: Punch January 23, 2021 23:15 UTC