Wednesday should have been a run-of-the-mill step toward another peaceful transition of power in the United States — something we’ve accomplished for more than two centuries.

Instead, we saw a sloppy attempt at a coup — an effort to prevent our elected representatives from performing the routine counting of electoral ballots to pave the way for the next president. A push to strike fear into our political system and the hearts of patriotic Americans.

Supporters of President Trump, who lost November’s election by 7 million votes, grasped onto any and every straw hoping to see the results overturned, only to have those hopes quashed at every turn.

It was frustrating, and the president, rallying before his supporters in Washington, fomented their resentment. Continuing his lie that the election was stolen from him, blaming Democrats and Republicans who no longer had his back, he urged his supporters to march on the Capitol and show “the swamp” what they thought.

March they did. But when they arrived at the Capitol, with the president’s words fresh in mind, the fervor boiled over. They breached barricades, shattered windows, knocked down doors, clashed with the men and women charged with protecting Congress, and assaulted our nation’s very foundation. Our senators and representatives huddled under desks and fled through tunnels to escape the surge of violent insurgents.

In the most telling moment amid the fracas, members of the mob tore down an American flag, replacing it with a flag emblazoned with Trump’s name.

The storming of the seat of our republic was nothing short of insurrection.

The world once looked to the United States as a beacon of democracy. Not everyone can consistently accomplish a peaceful transition of power. Wednesday, our beacon faded dramatically.

Still, despite Trump’s lies, despite his unsubstantiated claims, despite the mob’s attack, Joe Biden is our president-elect. The American people selected him — overwhelmingly — to lead our nation. The electoral college confirmed this, as did the states, as have dozens of federal and state judges who brushed aside baseless conspiracies of widespread fraud.

Late Wednesday, after law enforcement and the National Guard finally restored order and ended an hours-long occupation, our elected officials came out of hiding. They returned to chambers and acted on the will of the American people, confirming Joe Biden as our soon-to-be president.

We can return to a sense of normalcy. We can quiet the bluster, stifle the lies, cull the conspiracies. But it will take a calming voice of truth and togetherness, and leadership that acts on the best interests of Americans.

This dark insurrection will be ushered into the history books. America’s beacon to the world will brighten again — we hope.