AMERICA's nightmare on Capitol Hill looks destined to go down in history as one of the most violent outbreaks of party political mayhem that this citadel of democracy has ever seen.
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And that's if things don't get much worse from here.
As the inauguration of the Democrat president-elect, Senator Joe Biden, draws closer, the chaos in downtown Washington is sparking new musings of incredulity from various public figures who say they lived through Donald Trump's bombastic four years as President believing that - sooner or later - he would be persuaded into something approaching normal behaviour by the sheer dignity of the office.
Or that maybe he would realise that running a country was a truly difficult thing that required less, rather than more, time on the golf course.
But it was not to be.
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Mr Trump said he went to Washington to "drain the swamp".
Four years later, he is as close as it comes to committing treason with a series of "donkey whistles" by Twitter that all but endorse mob rule ahead of the rights of the incoming elected administration.
On one hand, we might dismiss the rioting Republicans as embarking on a final "rage against the dying of the light".
Maybe - if the United States can make it to Inauguration Day, January 20, in one piece - the Trump years will seen by enough of his own Republicans for the nation to disregard them as an aberration, never to be repeated.
It could be - given how easily Mr Trump tore up the rule book of normal behaviour in Washington - that Mr Biden will have similar and sure success in navigating the ship of state back into calmer waters. We hope so.
Because as damaged as America is, it remains the leader of the free world.
Regardless of the rights or wrongs on either side, China and the US are locked in a trade war that is also an arm wrestle between vastly different political and social ideologies.
Insurrection could do grave damage to our Nation and reputation. In the United States of America, it is the fundamental responsibility of every patriotic citizen to support the rule of law. To those who are disappointed in the results of the election: Our country is more important than the politics of the moment
- George W Bush, 43rd president, 2001-09
And an American-led West is still at odds with the old enemy in the form of Russia.
Especially to their own people, neither Xi Jinping nor Vladimir Putin hide their disdain of the West.
To believe they would not look for advantage in this moment of American disarray is to ignore the lessons of history.
And it is only disarray - not something worse - at the moment.
The Biden administration's first job will be to control the horrific impact of COVID on the US.
A close second will be stabilising an international situation that can be fairly described as less than benign.
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IN THE NEWS:
Ian Kirkwood
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
