In a Fox News Sunday interview with Chris Wallace over the weekend, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) fought back against members of his own party who had voted guilty in the impeachment trial of former President Trump. Graham argued that Donald Trump “...is the most vibrant member of the Republican Party…” and that he is “...the most potent force in the Republican Party…” Graham conceded that he has been asked by fellow party members to ‘calm down’ the former president, but argued that the relationship has to go both ways.

What type of speech is unacceptable from our elected representatives? This was the question facing House Republicans this week as they held a private meeting to discuss the speech of two or their members. On one side, House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (WY), the third highest ranking member of the caucus. On the other side, freshman member Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14).

My journey as an immigrant in Europe has enlightened me to the stark differences between what is meant by nationhood and what constitutes the nation. These ideas, in themselves, are quintessentially European. The nation-state, being fully the creation of European statecraft, is the concept by which a defined people live inside a defined territory. The state represents their shared group identity. Mechanical and clean, the nation-state operates by and for the nation.

Representative democracies like to hold themselves in high regard. In no small part, this is because they have become the hegemonic form of government in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. A form of government which listens to the people in the form of representatives selected and sent to govern. They make democracy easier for any polity of scale.

Watching the events that unfolded dual-screen on Wednesday the 6th of January, I was struck by a number of observations. The subversion of American democracy by a seditious mob, whipped into rage and fury by a president’s lies, storming the capitol and putting Lawmakers and staff directly in harm’s way. The sight of gleeful, rioters as they milled around the Senate floor, sat at Speaker Pelosi’s desk, waltzed around the capitol rotunda with ‘souvenirs.’