Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Weep on January 6, but celebrate January 7

Rioters breaking into the Capitol
Rioters storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

It was after midnight, and I was exhausted from the events of the previous 24 hours. It was January 7, 2021, and I watched in horror the events of January 6. It was disgusting that the cradle of democracy would be so defiled. But at 12:01 AM, I was given hope again because, on my television, the most wonderfully boring reality show was playing out on CNN. The Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Representatives were presiding over the counting and certification of votes for the next president of the United States.

Democracy survived. Most Americans outside the Washington Capital beltway don’t realize that the wounds of January 6 are reopened almost on a daily basis for those of us who consider ourselves as congressional institutionalists. Every time the media report, another insurrectionist is arrested, every time another one is sentenced, and every time the former President pledges to pardon them, it hurts. For those of us who have dedicated our lives to improving and maintaining the United States Congress, reliving those terrible events is truly painful.


We will never be able to wash away the scars of January 6 in the same way we cannot erase the wounds caused by the Civil War, Jim Crow laws, or the incarceration of Japanese Americans in internment camps in World War II. Yet, we must also not let these events define us as a society and nation. In all these cases, America has rebounded, healed itself, and once again proved to the world it is still a shining city on a hill, a symbol of democracy, freedom, and human rights.

Some look at the coming weeks and the four years that will follow with grim anticipation. And by no means do I wish to diminish or downplay the damage the next president may inflict on our nation and the world. But I’m also reminded that in his first term, the 45th President of the United States promised to ban Muslims from coming into the country, and he was stopped by the courts. He promised to overturn the Affordable Care Act, denying millions access to medical care, and the United States Senate thwarted him. And he threatened to unleash the military on peaceful protesters after the George Floyd murder, and he was blocked by the Pentagon.

America is much more resilient than we often give ourselves credit for. The checks and balance system that our Founders gave us has worked pretty well these last eight years, and it will work just as well in the next four years. With all this talk of being a dictator on day one, he cannot be. The Constitution gave us three equal branches of government. And while sometimes they don’t act like it, they still have the power to reign in excesses.

Perhaps it’s a byproduct of our cynical times that we focus on the negative and the day democracy was threatened instead of the day that democracy survived. We must not forget that January 6 was followed by January 7. And when the sun came up that next morning, American democracy was still alive. Indeed, you could argue it was thriving, as it had survived the most brutal attack on it since the Civil War.

While I will weep on January 6, 2025, just as I have on every January 6 since that fateful day, I will also smile, celebrate, and applaud January 7. Because that is the day democracy asserted itself and reminded us the American experiment goes on.

Bradford Fitch is a former congressional staffer, the former CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation, and author of “ Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials.”

Read More

Democracy in Action: May Retrospective
woman holding signboard
Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash

Democracy in Action: May Retrospective

Welcome to Democracy in Action, where you will find insights and a discussion with the Fulcrum's collaborators about some of the most talked-about topics.

Consistent with the Fulcrum's mission, this program strives to share many perspectives to widen our readers' viewpoints.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Capitol with red and blue clouds
Andrey Denisyuk/Getty Images

Democracy Under Strain: How New Voting Barriers Threaten Youth Participation

The Fulcrum is committed to nurturing the next generation of journalists. To learn about the many NextGen initiatives we are leading, click HERE.

We asked Bennett Gillespie, a student at Duke University and an intern with the Fulcrum, to share his thoughts on what democracy means to him and his perspective on its current health.

Keep ReadingShow less
American flag and money
Javier Ghersi/Getty Images

How Government Efficiency Is Supposed To Work

We’ve seen in the last few months a disastrous display of what happens when amateurs run amok with government resources. The destruction caused by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) crew has harmed the lives of possibly millions of people and will take years to rectify. Some estimates suggest that thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lives have been lost due to the cut in foreign assistance. The Partnership for Public Service, the primary nonprofit advocating for federal employees, has suggested that the so-called “cuts” will result in the government spending more money, not less, due to lost productivity and the departure of experienced workers.

Yet this month, we got an example of what actual government oversight and genuine cost-cutting look like. The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Government Operations held a hearing with the sexy title, “Safeguarding Procurement: Examining Fraud Risk Management in the Department of Defense.” The hearing included the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DOD) and an expert with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). For policy wonks in D.C., the GAO is often called the last honest person in Washington. They thoroughly investigate how tax dollars are spent and study how to improve the efficiency of government programs. (Wait … wasn’t that supposed to be the mission of DOGE?)

Keep ReadingShow less