[bigtiger]

I sincerely hope you are correct, but it's difficult to know the following:

1. just how many citizens were sympathetic to the rioters as they saw those events on unfolding on their screens

2. how their collective behavior will change as a result

I wouldn't say that "existential threat" is hyperbole, I'd say that its accuracy depends on the answer to the above questions.

I wasn't worried about the immediate collapse of the America at the hands of the Capitol mob.

[mostlove]

Not an answer to your question, but a few interesting data points nonetheless:

"From @YouGov poll: among Republican voters, 45% approve of the storming of Capitol, 30% think the perpetrators are 'patriots', 52% think Biden is at least partly to blame for it, and 85% think it would be inappropriate to remove Trump from office after this. This is not a fringe." https://twitter.com/SMerler/status/1347089854958596098?s=20

[wutbrodo]

Fwiw, a more recent PBS/Marist poll puts Republican support for the attack at 18%.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/homenews/news/53345...

Full poll (pdf): http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/PBS-...

[mckirk]

Damn, those are depressing numbers...