The fragility of democracy

Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. - Winston Churchill Some commentators described the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol as an insurrection. If “insurrection” denotes an armed uprising against authority, then what happened in Washington, DC, on January 6 was an insurrection. If “insurrection” denotes an organized armed uprising with a reasonable chance of succeeding in its efforts to overthrow the government, then what happened in Washington, DC, on January 6 was not an insurrection. In either case, the DC riot prompted these musings about the durability and future of US democracy. Coincidentally, in early January I read Volker Ulrich’s two volume biography of Hitler ( Ascent: 1889-1939 and Downfall: 1939-1945 ). Hitler was: Egocentric, at times megalomaniacal. The longer he ruled Germany, the more confident he became that he was a better military strategist than were the uniformed leaders of Germany’s military. Supremely self-confi