The Capitol attack could have crippled America's government. We need a backup plan. After 9/11, our ideas for how our government could survive through crisis were ignored. COVID and the Capitol riot show we need them more than ever. Norman Ornstein Opinion contributor On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was at Dulles Airport. I was called back from my jetway when the second plane hit the World Trade Center and it was clear this was a terrorist attack on the United States. That afternoon, from my home, as I watched the news of United Flight 93 crashing in the fields in Pennsylvania, it became clear to me that the target of that plane was the United States Capitol, the true symbol of American democracy and freedom — and that if it had not left Newark 45 minutes late, allowing its passengers to know this was a suicide mission, it could have decapitated the first branch of our government for crucial months. And that we had no plans to deal with a crisis of this sort.