Capitol attack shatters sense of calm, raising fresh questions about security

The alert of another violent attack on the US Capitol grounds sent shockwaves through Washington, DC, Friday -- shattering the sense of relative calm at the start of the holiday weekend and reminding everyone that a nation just beginning to crawl out from under the pandemic's long shadow is also still under threat nearly three months after the January 6 insurrection.

In the weeks since former President Donald Trump left office and President Joe Biden took command, the seat of government had begun to take on a tenor of something akin to a humming efficiency. Covid-19 vaccinations are accelerating at an ever-increasing clip. The coronavirus economic rescue legislation sped through Congress, albeit with party-line approval. A sense of business-as-usual had returned to the Capitol after four years in which the former President sowed constant turmoil and chaos, ultimately fomenting an uprising. Friday's attack made it plain that the Capitol and its occupants remain a vulnerable target, even as the memories of the political violence on January 6 were beginning to recede and Trump and his allies have attempted to whitewash the dangers of that day, with the former President going so far as to falsely suggest that the insurgents were "hugging and kissing" police officers and posed "zero threat."