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For Now, the Center Holds
Normally, the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes is a tradition. It’s a holdover from the days before instant communications, when this would have been the official announcement of who won.
In these days of instant communication, we already know who won and we are well into the process of preparing for either continuation or transfer of power.
This year was not a normal year. Yesterday was not a normal day.
So, What Happened?
Permits were issued for three protests in D.C. yesterday. Two smaller protests, one at Freedom Plaza and the other on the Mall were permitted.
The big one, though, was the March for Trump/Save America, which was permitted for 30,000 people on The Ellipse. This was a Trump rally, condoned by him and with him listed as a speaker.
Trump spoke to the rally for more than an hour, and almost before he was finished, thousands of his supporters left and headed for the U.S. Capitol. They did not have a permit to protest outside the Capitol.
When they got there, they faced down the Capitol Police, who are not “real” law enforcement but rather a large security detail, climbing the Capitol steps, breaching barriers.