by  Michael O’Neill

It is now six months since I wrote (Open House, October 2022) that the future of American democracy would almost certainly be decided by the November elections for the House of Representatives, all of whom must be elected every two years, and the Senate. Senators have six-year terms; one-third of the one hundred senators are elected every two years. I was wrong.

In spite of the fact that the House Select Committee investigation of the January 2021 insurrection and four-hour storming of the Capitol resulted in confirmation of what we saw with our own eyes on television, along with almost twenty hours of additional video footage, the Republican Party, still led by Donald Trump, now have a narrow majority in the House – the same as the Democratic Party the previous two years. The Democratic Party in the Senate has one extra vote, 51-49, instead of the 50-50 that required Vice-President Kamala Harris when necessary to break the tie.

 Michael L. O’Neill is a retired assistant public defender.