Editor's note: Thomas O. Falk is a London-based political analyst and commentator. He holds a Master of Arts in international relations from the University of Birmingham and specializes in U.S. affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

The beginning of an inquiry into insurrection of the U.S. Capitol displays once again how broken the two-party political system in the U.S. has become. One side seeks to investigate. The other seems to continue to distort reality. In the end, a downward spiral is unlikely to stop.

The committee began its work last Tuesday. Harry Dunn, Mike Fanone, Aquilino Gonell, Dan Hodges: These are the names of the four police officers who testified. The men temporarily lost their composure when recalling under oath how Trump supporters attacked them. 

Their testimonies underpinned the shocking videos everyone has seen and were supposed to dispel any doubts about what happened in the U.S. capital on January 6.

In the coming months, the inquiry committee is supposed to clarify the background – who knew what and when, including the former president.

It has become a necessity since Republicans continue to distort and downplay the events. They are not interested in a genuine investigation. Instead, they prefer to cover up the truth as they need Trump and his base for the 2022 midterm elections.

It was thus no surprise that they first blocked an independent, non-partisan investigative commission based on the model of the 9/11 Commission. Then they sabotaged the committee by nominating two members, namely Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, who to this day spread Trump's lie about electoral fraud. The only Republicans participating in this investigation were selected by the Democrats: Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

The other Republicans, meanwhile, continue their revisionist history. Their version of January 6 is this: It was a peaceful protest, a "love fest," an ordinary tourist visit. Black Lives Matter, Antifa, the FBI and Nancy Pelosi were the actual perpetrators on January 6.  

You tell a lie long enough and people start believing in it. 

Circulated by cable TV, this dangerous revisionism is quickly taking hold. To no surprise, the backlash from the right was despicable after the hearings. Laura Ingraham, for instance, handed out trophies for "best acting performance" to the policemen.

As a reminder, one policeman lost the tip of his index finger. One almost lost an eye. One suffered a heart attack and a brain injury. "Kill him with his own weapon!" he heard before he passed out.

Nonetheless, surveys already show that the propaganda has been working. Almost three quarters of Republicans blame "left-wing protesters" for the carnage on January 6 – an alleged false-flag attack. 

As preposterous as this is, the committee is unlikely to change this belief. Whatever its conclusion will be, only half of the country will accept it.

Americans are increasingly living in two irreconcilable worlds, and the final layer of cohesion is continuously being eroded. To one half of the country, Joe Biden is the rightful president, and January 6 was an attack on democracy. However, in the Trump bubble, a parallel universe, Trump was cheated of election victory, and January 6 was a patriotic uprising to save democracy.

Granted, it was not the first time the Capitol was under attack. In 1954, Puerto Rican terrorists opened fire in the halls of Congress. In 1983, a bomb was planted and detonated in the building.

However, these previous attacks differ in one particular and meaningful way: They were conducted by adversaries. 

In many Democrats' point of view, January 6 was sparked by the president of the United States himself. Instead of making him pay for betraying his oath of office, other elected officials have made it their business model to downplay January 6 and thus make future attacks more likely.

Given this, America ought to stop pointing the finger at China, Russia, the DPRK or Iran. It is painfully apparent that the country's biggest threat is the fall of its own system from within at this point.

The question is, where will this end? After all, there is no going back.

One can tell, as, despite the emotional statements by the police, the usual suspects have doubled down on their criticism instead of backtracking their outrageous lies. 

America's prospects are particularly bleak given that the 2022 and 2024 elections are right around the corner. How will the January 6 crowd react if Biden was to win the 2024 election? What happens if Democrats maintain their majority in Congress during the 2022 midterms? 

The answers to these questions, at this point, are terrifying.

The first commission hearing shows that the situation will only get worse before it gets better. 

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)