The shitty lesson here is that this crime will never be remembered as a crime, but as a missed opportunity. This will mean it will happen again. The people that perpetrated this will learn they can attempt more of this without consequence, and then slither back to silicon valley and be high-fived by the meritocracy bros. Oh, the irony.

I reckon liberal democracy on the US was toast when a losing presidential candidate attempted three routes to a coup and wasn’t in jail awaiting trial for any of them a year after it happened.

You can’t give authoritarians do-overs. If they don’t do it, the next one, emboldened by the total lack of consequences, will.