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The man was close to danger; the document was close to destruction.

Forty feet. That was the distance between the mob and the man and the document that governs America.

But on Jan. 6, 2021, America did not look like America. It looked like a country on the verge of anarchy, its ideals upended by a mob that stormed the Capitol and attacked the democracy the building represents.

Here we are, more than a year later. The man was Vice President Mike Pence. The document was the U.S. Constitution. Both survived the Big Lie that voter fraud cost former President Donald Trump the 2020 presidential election. And now a House committee is investigating how close both came to collapsing.

Had either succumbed Pence or the Constitution he swore to protect it would have thrust this nation and our world into unimaginable upheaval and chaos. America, even in these dark, troubled times, is held up as a model of democracy. The rioters, motivated by the lie of election fraud, sought to destroy that model, replacing it with a man who lost the election but refused to accept defeat and was willing to wrest the power from the people, where it belongs.

Of all the heinous acts on Jan. 6, the most chilling may have been the rioters murderous rage directed at Pence. His crime, in their eyes, was defying Trump, who pressured him to reject the electoral votes Joe Biden won. Rioters chanted Hang Pence, and Trump agreed, according to U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., committee vice chair.

Make no mistake about the fact that the vice presidents life was in danger, said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., a committee member.

The pressure on Pence was part of an effort that included attempts to falsify the vote counts in swing states, according to committee findings.

Two Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea Shaye Moss were threatened by conspiracy theorists after the 2020 election.

There is nowhere I feel safe, nowhere, Freeman said during taped testimony.

Pence has been commended for his integrity, and in normal times, the praise would elevate his political standing. But these are not normal times.

Pence, mindful of offending the Trump base if he runs for president in 2024, said Biden is a bigger liar than the president who almost sent him to his death. Such is the sorry state of politics in this era.

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Editorial: Pence and the Constitution survive Jan. 6 - San Antonio Express-News