One year ago today, Agnes and I watched in horror as a violent, howling mob stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. The mob, invited to the city by Der Furor and enraged by his baseless claims of election fraud, did more than a million dollars worth of damage to the Capitol Building itself, resulted in five deaths and countless injuries, and stained forever the reputation of the United States as a place where power changed hands in an orderly and lawful fashion. Rioters roamed the halls of the Capitol searching for elected officials while the crowd chanted "Hang Mike Pence" - the former Vice President who had resisted calls to overturn the election results.
But as bad as the day was - and make no mistake, it was terrible - even worse was what it revealed about many of our fellow citizens. Today, a year after the event, most Republicans continue to believe - in absence of any shred of credible evidence - that the election was fraudulent, Biden is an illegitimate president, and Der Furor should be placed back in office.
Der Furor did not himself cause the wave of bizarre hatred, twisted conspiracy theories, and racist behavior that erupted during his reign, but he gave license to those traits that had been suppressed during eras of better leadership. His childish and petulant behavior and encouragement let others know that such behavior was now acceptable ... that it was actually truly American. At the close of his first inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln said,
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Sadly, Der Furor and his like represent the worst angels, the fallen angels, of our nature.
They must not prevail.
This is the lesson of January 6th, 2021.
Have a good day. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
1 comment:
I'm the first to comment? That surprises me!
January 6 was tragic on so many levels in so many different ways. The Big Lie must be countered. He uses repetition to influence people and we need to do the same. Tell the truth, over and over. Facts are supposed to be stubborn things. Let people know them. Investigations, arrests, and convictions are ongoing and must continue. The Supreme Court should have ruled already on his claims of executive privilege from the Jan 6 committee. And I think the entire country needs to see the unused videos, whatever they recorded, of his telling the mob to leave.
He lies about everything as one of his tactics. Many people forgive small or unimportant lies (eg "the 1917 Spanish Flu" and The Inauguration crowd size) and this sets them up to believe bigger and more important lies for his purposes. And, as important as repeating the truth, give him as little media attention as possible.
End rant...
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