Trump's certification a win for the US

The big difference between democracies such as the US, the UK, ourselves and others and the various oligarchies, one-party dictatorships and outright tyrannies that prevail elsewhere is the peaceful transfer of power from one regime to the next.

That, with the exception of the war between the states, had always been the case in America. Even when they lost by the absolute smallest of margins leaders such as Richard Nixon (who was just pipped at the post by JFK) and Al Gore (controversially defeated by George W. Bush) respected the verdict. Vox populi, vox dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God.

When Mr Trump illegally directed his then-deputy Mike Pence not to validate the 2020 election result four years ago he broke with centuries of tradition and law.

Mr Pence, to his great credit, refused to accept the "stolen election" narrative even at the risk of his personal safety.

He, like hundreds of others, was forced to take refuge when an estimated 2500 demonstrators - who had been egged on by Mr Trump - stormed the building.

The then president, who claimed the election had been "stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats", told the mob "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore". He appeared to echo this sentiment when, in the wake of a 2024 assassination attempt, he urged his supporters to "fight, fight, fight".

The deaths of five people have been linked to the insurrection, which Mr Trump and his supporters continue to play down; dozens more were injured, and in the aftermath, about 1500 people were arrested and charged. Hundreds were sentenced to jail.

There is a widespread expectation one of Mr Trump's first actions on January 20 will be to pardon any and all of his supporters for their involvement in what must considered a day of infamy.

This is a remarkable turn of events given that in the immediate wake of December 6, political pundits were almost unanimous in expressing the view his political career was over, that he had done so much damage to his brand he had become unelectable.

But what a difference a few years makes. Last November the Republicans, united behind the master manipulator from Mar-a-Lago, won a decisive victory over Kamala Harris and the Democrats.

While it is true that the Democrats, who had let an obviously cognitively challenged Joe Biden hang on for far too long, were their own worst enemies, it is undeniable Trump's mantra - borrowed from Ronald Reagan - "are you better off than you were four years ago" clearly resonated with voters who appear to have been won over by attempts to whitewash what occurred in 2021.

To his credit, President Biden is having none of it. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, he wrote: "An unrelenting effort has been under way to rewrite even erase the history of that day. To tell us we didn't see what we all saw with our own eyes ... to explain it away as a protest that just got out of hand. This is not what happened. We cannot allow the truth to be lost."

That may be easier said than done. George Orwell's observation: "Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future" is as true today as it ever was.

And, as of January 20, Mr Trump, with the support of Elon Musk and others, will have more control over the present than any previous US president.