On Monday, Congress will vote to certify the 2024 presidential election, but unlike four years ago, Republicans won’t contest the results.
That’s, of course, because their candidate President-elect Donald Trump won this time. When President Joe Biden won in 2020, weeks of unsuccessful legal battles ensued, followed by a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol instigated by a mob of Trump supporters who nearly derailed the solemn ceremony.
When the congressional members’ votes were counted last time, all of Tennessee’s Republican House members voted to object to one or more state vote counts and not to accept the will of the majority of the states.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty threatened to do the same prior to Jan. 6, 2021, but after the attack, they experienced a change of heart.
It should not have taken an assault on Congress to bring them to their senses.
Kamala Harris won’t face chants like ‘Hang Mike Pence’
On Nov. 5, 2024, Trump won 312 electoral votes to Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris’s 226 tally.
Former President Donald Trump campaigns for reelection in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Nov. 5, 2024.
I will be shocked if any Republican member of Congress brings up objections. They will vote “yes, “and Harris will do her duty as President of the Senate to affirm the will of the senators and confirm Trump as president-elect and her successor, JD Vance, as vice president-elect. Some Democrats may object, but they won’t have much of a leg to stand on.
Unlike four years ago, Harris will likely not endure the threats her predecessor faced with rioters’ demands to “Hang Mike Pence,” and Americans will be able to breathe a sigh of relief that a peaceful transfer of power is coming on Inauguration Day Jan. 20.
Anthony DiBella was among the pro-Trump group that took over the steps of the Capitol in Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 6, 2021.
It’s sad, but the recent collective acceptance of election results is as much a victory for democracy as it is a reminder of how fragile democracy is.
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I write this because we cannot ever pretend that Jan. 6, 2021, never happened and yet in the unremarkable, but so important, American ritual to affirm the transfer of power, this infamous date may forever be buried like tomes in a school library that become victims of book bans.
Let it be a lesson we never repeat again.
Look to Benjamin Franklin’s wisdom on keeping a republic
After the approval of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, prominent Philadelphia resident Elizabeth Willing Powel famously asked Founding Father Benjamin Franklin: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
“A republic, if you can keep it,” Franklin replied.
Since then, the republic has endured more than 237 years with 46, soon-to-be 47, presidents at the helm and no shortage of tumult.
Despite the fearmongering on social media and the polarization in our politics, the American republic will survive another four years if we are willing to keep it.
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters.. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or find him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jan. 6 anniversary must be peaceful and serve as a reminder | Opinion
