My parents, especially my Mom, were big fans of the political dramas of the 1950s and ’60s.

“Advise & Consent,” “Seven Days in May,” “Fail Safe,” “The Manchurian Candidate” and “The Best Man” were all movies they either watched at the movies or when they came on TV.

But in this era of malevolent reality TV (unlike “Queen for a Day” and “This Is Your Life” in the ’50s), the show that unfolded on January 6, 2021 was a political drama that frightened the hell out of half the country.

A mob came to the United States Capitol to thwart the will of the American people, who had voted two months earlier to elect Joe Biden as President of the United States. It came perilously close to capturing some of its targets, including Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of whom would likely have been murdered had the thugs gotten their hands on them.

Five people died within two days of the attack, from causes ranging from a gunshot to a stress-induced heart attack. Four police officers, who were overwhelmed by the crowd, committed suicide shortly after.

The images of the attack were stunning: the mob smashing through the windows and doors, beating police officers with clubs, occupying the Senate chamber and destroying property.

But what would have bewildered anyone in 1954 – anyone at any time in American history, perhaps even the Civil War – was that the violence and chaos, the attempted coup, was triggered by the sitting president.

Maybe that’s a little overstated. The idea that a losing incumbent president would seek a violent return to power might have been buried in our minds’ recesses. It’s what happens in countries where the political institutions respect power more than government, might over civility.

It’s just that we never thought it could happen here. We believed Americans were better than that – that our tradition of peaceful transfer, George Washington’s great gift, was still strong in its third century.

Instead, it was as fragile as the ego of a conman.

Donald Trump probably didn’t expect to win the presidency. He’s always been looking for a buck, especially since he’s not particularly good at managing or keeping them. He probably figured there was a way to make big real estate licensing deals or sell crappy branded products by running.

But he won. He appealed to the anger of people who feel elites are ruining the country – forgetting the fact that he’s always claimed to be among the elitest (that’s not a typo) of them all. 

Trump claimed to be a great businessman, despite filing for bankruptcy multiple times. He claimed to be unbigoted, despite a family history of racism. He claimed to be the voice of those who’ve served in the military, despite calling them “suckers” and “losers” in private.

Winning the presidency probably multiplied the self-aggrandizing in his head. And it led to a disastrous term in office. Losing the respect of our allies. Dividing the nation over immigration and race. Kowtowing to dictators like Putin and Kim Jong-Un. And his crowning achievement, mismanaging the worst pandemic in our lifetime.

Trump and his henchman seeded the crowd on January 6, organizing the rally that started the chaos and making sure that opposition to them was weakened. He told his followers that “…if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

And then they marched to the Capitol with their obscene flagpoles, their knives, their bear spray, their Mace. They literally and figuratively defecated on American democracy.

Brave men and women stopped them. What we owe the defenders of the Capitol on Jan. 6 can never be paid in full. 

Brave men and women continue to try to stop them. They’re prosecuting the participants and their record is spectacular. They’re the people in news organizations countering the stupidity with the truth. They’re lawmakers and officials, some of them spurned by their fellow Republicans, seeking to show what really happened and do whatever they can to prevent it from happening again.

But treason isn’t so easily put out. It has been 159 years since the South lost the Civil War – and some people still believe the Confederate flag is still something to revere. Trump is running again – and there are polls showing the possibility that this disgrace of a human being could win.

My parents didn’t live to see January 6. But I’m maudlin enough to think they and our other ancestors watched over us that day. Hopefully, they’ll continue to keep us safe from treason – whose first two letters are not the only thing in common with Trump.