December 7, 1941. September 11, 2001. January 6, 2021. Three times that the United States has been attacked. Japan, Al-Qaeda, MAGA. Make no mistake, these are trying dates in our history: an entrance to a world war, a war on terrorism, and most recently a war on our democracy. Here we are three years after the most recent attack, and in this year we may finally see a trial and conviction of Donald Trump for the attack on the capitol.

I wasn’t alive in 1941, but I was glued to a television from about 15 minutes after the towers were attacked, and I watched Trump’s speech at the ellipse that day and the ensuing attack on the capital afterward. As far as January 6th is concerned, I don’t need pundits and talking heads to tell me anything; I saw it live. I called my dad that day in absolute disbelief, and told him to turn on the news, as there was an attack taking place to stop the certification of a lawfully elected president.

This country is ripe for criticism, and thus hopefully continual growth. The feather in our cap as a country is the fact that we elect our leaders, and have a peaceful transfer of power between administrations. There is no crown, no religious figurehead descended from heaven to rule over us, we cast votes and still have a right to self-determination of our leaders. We have this beautiful, fragile democratic system, and we need to keep it.

It cannot be understated how close that system was to buckling on January 6th 2021 as thousands of MAGA supporters carried out a planned and intentional attack on the capitol. This was not a tourist visit, as is evidenced by the bashing in of bulletproof glass in the locked doors of congress and rapid evacuation of our elected officials. This was an attack with intent, and the attackers among the most despicable people in this country who were chanting to hang the vice president they voted for a few years earlier.

On a day of great importance, one should take time to reflect on who we are as a people and where we go from here. It’s now 2024 and we are unfortunately staring down the barrel of another lesser of two evils choice at the ballot box. Just keep in mind that one of those choices is a too-old, gaffing, life long politician, and the other is a narcissistic fascist who tried to overthrow the government. Donald Trump cannot be the end of this country’s democracy.