My two cents

I don't know that I have anything useful to add to what many others are saying, probably better than I can. But I want to unpack a few essential points.

First and foremost, we must be very clear about the nature of the Republican party. Reporters must be clear about it, as must Democratic politicians and people in leadership positions who are not members of the cult. The institutional party -- the Republican National Committee, it's various campaign finance arms, the Senate and House leadership, governors, associated mass media (notably Fox News, also others) and the major donors -- have one purpose only. That is to wield power on behalf of plutocrats. Because very few voters would support a party that exists only to assure that wealthy people don't pay taxes and are free to poison your water and air, pay workers a pittance and even kill them, they pretend to care about more popular ideas, such as white supremacy and theocracy, and they manufacture cultural resentments.

Because their sole purpose is power, they are resolute enemies of democracy. They use every means they can to prevent people from voting who are likely to vote against them. They gerrymander congressional and state legislative districts. Because of structural defects in the Constitution, they don't need a majority of the votes to hold power, but they do all they can to subvert elections anyway. They also lie, constantly and shamelessly, and they do so with impunity because they are served by sophisticated propaganda organs (again, notably Fox News but also others). They also have impunity because of the conventions of the corporate media, which for reasons no-one fully understands refuse to call political candidates and office holders liars even when they blatantly lie.

We therefore have an epistemological crisis in the country. Close to half the people hold false beliefs, simply because their cult leaders told them what to believe. They believe, for example, that Donald J. Trump won an electoral landslide in November and the election was stolen by a vast conspiracy. This is an absurd lie, but six U.S. senators and more than 100 representatives voted not to accept the electoral votes from two states. The only reason for singling out those particular states is that their electoral votes went to Joe Biden. This was a seditious act and at the very least their respective bodies should expel them all.

Before they could cast those votes, however, a mob of  the people who constitute the Republican party's core supporters -- white supremacists, fascists and religious fanatics -- stormed the Capitol, drove the members of congress from the House chamber, trashed the building, and threatened the people's elected representatives with death. Their purpose was to support a coup d'etat, and they were acting on direct orders from their leader Donald J. Trump. They had declared their intentions publicly, well in advance, but there was no security force in place to prevent their actions, even though peaceful protests in the District of Columbia and around the country had been met with overwhelming force and violence for the past many months. They were allowed to leave the building and walk away freely, with their weapons and in many cases objects they had looted. 

This coup attempt was unsuccessful, but it is likely to be followed by others. Senators Hawley and Cruz knew what they were doing, and right now, there is nothing to stop them from trying again. The nation is shamed before the world, but it is up to Americans to repair the horrific damage to our republic. The German people failed. We must not.