Attention readers: Jamie Stiehm was in the press gallery of the House chamber when violence, breaking glass, shouts and tear gas broke out on Jan. 6.

WASHINGTON — Wednesday, the sixth day of the year, will be high drama, Shakespearean or Greek tragedy. During a massive joint session of Congress, there may be blood spilled on the streets after night falls here in the capital. The president invited, or incited, his violent Proud Boys to town. We are braced. Every police officer will be on duty.

The duel between President Donald Trump versus American democracy will be done. The two cannot coexist. Only one side shall live to tell how the other was vanquished.

The raving of a desperate man was revealed in a threatening call with a top Georgia state official who firmly told the ousted president he lost the red state.

The new Congress meets every four years for "certification" of the presidential election. The formality lasts an hour of good will. The vice president presides. Al Gore sat in that chair in 2001, after losing a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling to George W. Bush. He was good-natured, with rueful humor.

Certification is like the handshake after a tennis match, and other sporting rituals between victor and loser. Not anymore. It could take day and night.

Trump won't be in the room where the ritual happens. But his operatic outbursts will split the parties in a Capitol Grand Canyon, and even — and this is hard — drive a wedge between Republicans. After four years in office, Trump twisted the party to his will until the final hours, when some showed spirit.

But Trump's brazen quest to overturn the free and fair election is not over. It's as if the president declared war on American democracy. Tragically, he has accomplices, including an old Alabama football coach, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a Senate freshman. No, I'm not making this up.

The Senate band in the parade was led by young, lean Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican with a fancy Yale law degree. His vein of ambition shines and blares "2024." Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is another arrogant Ivy man trying to taint the 2020 election to win in 2024. Along with Wisconsin's Ron Johnson and other Republican senators, they bow and scrape to Trump's base.

Note: The "base" is now the mob, even those in expensive suits. A Proud Boys leader just got arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter banner from a historically Black church here on the 12th night of December. That night, in ugly street scenes, the pro-Trump hooligans wielded knives and Confederate flags.

Let's set the certification scene inside the Capitol, in the "People's House." Elegant Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was just reelected Speaker. The place will smolder with glee and angst as control of the Senate will be decided the night before in Georgia, of all places.

Either two Democratic challengers will win Senate seats or two Republican senators will hold their seats. Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock ran a smart joint campaign against a pair of weak opponents and may paint Georgia and the Senate blue.

First, a goodly number of House Republicans planned to challenge state results. For a while, nobody cared because they needed senators to join the high-stakes scam. Senators think they're the classy chamber next to the boisterous House.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged his caucus to stay out of this extraordinary caper. To his credit, I might add, for his loud chorus of critics.

McConnell is an expert on how the game is — and isn't — played. He gets bad press but plays by the rules and congratulated Joe Biden on winning. He's better than many Republican rotten apples in his caucus, about a baker's dozen, who vowed to disrupt certification.

What offends McConnell and me most: Four new freshmen senators signed onto this trouble, including the football coach. The clubby Senate likes freshmen to find the cloakroom before they rock riots.

Accepting the Speaker's gavel Sunday, Pelosi asked the House for peace, adding, "Let it begin with us." Moments later, irascible Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska, the oldest House member, softened and spoke to the full floor: "We need to hold hands and talk to each other."

The duel between American democracy and Trump is upon us. One by day, the other by night.

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To read her weekly column and find out more about Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.