Sunday Best: Where do we go from here?

It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it may be an inflection point.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story January 10, 2021 The storming of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was “a horrifying and shameful moment in American history,” our columnist Nicholas Kristof writes. Five people died and others were injured. Who is responsible? The Times’s editorial board says that President Trump is to blame, but our columnist Ezra Klein argues that Republican elites helped. While what happened was shocking to some, “for close observers of the pro-Trump and far-right extremist movements, this dark moment has felt almost inevitable,” Charlie Warzel says. In the wake of the riot, Facebook blocked the president’s account and Twitter banned him permanently, but many are calling for even more severe action like invoking the 25th Amendment. Our columnists Bret Stephens and Jamelle Bouie argue that impeachment is the answer. A physical attack on Congress “demands a direct response from Congress itself. Impeachment and conviction is that response,” Bouie writes. If any action is to be taken, it would need to happen soon; there is a week and a half left of Trump’s term. And while last week’s attack may be over, the question of consequences remains: What is standing in the way of this happening again? As Seyward Darby notes, “Just because a coup attempt fails doesn’t mean the next one will.” — Alexandra March and Jennifer Brown Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT If You Were on This App, You Saw the Mob Coming From John Matze Twitter is only one of the places President Trump’s supporters gather. Users on Parler, a go-to social media site for the far right, have called to “burn D.C. to the ground.” Kara Swisher pressed the site’s C.E.O. on the role Parler has played in America’s national crisis. Did the Capitol Attack Break the President’s Spell? A scarf discarded at the Capitol after the mob incursion on Wednesday.Jason Andrew for The New York Times “The institutions of American democracy are softer targets than most of us imagined.” The question is whether “this ailing country still has the will to protect them,” our columnist Michelle Goldberg writes. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT This Is When the Fever Breaks Justin Lane/EPA, via Shutterstock “This week wasn’t just an atrocity, it was a glimpse into an atavistic nativism that always threatens to grip the American soul,” David Brooks writes. The 25th Amendment Can Remove Trump, but We Shouldn’t Stop There Nancy Pelosi before the joint session of the House and Senate was engulfed in chaos on Wednesday.Pool photo by Greg Nash “The Constitution does not protect against every threat currently facing our democracy. But it contains a range of useful safeguards. And it is high time to deploy them — with urgency,” David Landau and Rosalind Dixon write. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT The Second Great Migration A young supporter at a rally for Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Atlanta in December.Damon Winter/The New York Times “I realize I am proposing nothing short of the most audacious power play by Black America in the history of the country,” our columnist Charles Blow writes, but this week shows why it is necessary. Read the full Opinion report here. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Sunday Best from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018