January 6th, 2021
On 9/11/2001, the United States was attacked from without by Al-Qaeda terrorists.
Yesterday, January 6th, 2021, we were attacked from within by extremists born on our own soil.
I'm still almost too stunned to write. Radical supporters of Donald Trump invaded the Capitol. They erected a gallows. They had weapons, and flex cuffs (zip tie restraints). I assume the latter were intended to restrain hostages. Fortunately, Congress was successfully evacuated before they breached the chambers of the House and Senate, thanks to the courage of several Capitol police officers, including Eugene Goodman. Had that not occurred, this would likely have been far, far worse than the four (and counting - some are badly injured and in uncertain condition) who died.
Trump himself encouraged them. Yes, the President of the United States encouraged an attack on its own government. And he wouldn't call out the National Guard to restore order. Vice President Pence had to do that.
I feel sick seeing my country in this place.
The terrorists managed to stop the certification of the Electoral College results for a time. It resumed, and Biden was formally recognized as President-Elect.
But the damage . . . blood on busts of former leaders. Items stolen or broken. And so few arrests. There's a lot of suspicion about some members of the police right now, as well as how far up the chain this goes.
We look incredibly weak to foreign powers right now.
Trump and all those who aided and abetted him - Graham, McConnell, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, Nunes, Jordan, Hice, Greene, and more - all are responsible for permanently damaging America's reputation.
He is our permanent stain, like Hitler is for Germany.
The Cabinet has, thus far, been too cowardly to invoke the 25th Amendment. Many of them have resigned today, rather than be anything resembling a responsible adult.
Democratic members of the House and Senate are pushing for impeachment. I don't know if there's time.
I have never seen a worse disaster for the United States. I didn't think I'd live long enough to see us fall.
But as Trump's election shows, as the way people have behaved during the pandemic shows . . . I do not live in the country I thought I lived in. So many of my fellow citizens are not who I thought they were.
And while a majority of us just elected Biden, and Georgia, my state, just elected two Democratic senators, giving control of the Senate back to the Democrats . . . it's just a majority. It should have been an utter landslide, a complete repudiation of Trump.
It wasn't.
And I honestly have no idea how to fix it.
Maybe ranked choice voting would be a start at bringing us back together, but it seems like a Band-Aid on open heart surgery.
And as I write this, the pandemic rages worse than ever. This entry was originally posted at https://pointedview.dreamwidth.org/585375.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Yesterday, January 6th, 2021, we were attacked from within by extremists born on our own soil.
I'm still almost too stunned to write. Radical supporters of Donald Trump invaded the Capitol. They erected a gallows. They had weapons, and flex cuffs (zip tie restraints). I assume the latter were intended to restrain hostages. Fortunately, Congress was successfully evacuated before they breached the chambers of the House and Senate, thanks to the courage of several Capitol police officers, including Eugene Goodman. Had that not occurred, this would likely have been far, far worse than the four (and counting - some are badly injured and in uncertain condition) who died.
Trump himself encouraged them. Yes, the President of the United States encouraged an attack on its own government. And he wouldn't call out the National Guard to restore order. Vice President Pence had to do that.
I feel sick seeing my country in this place.
The terrorists managed to stop the certification of the Electoral College results for a time. It resumed, and Biden was formally recognized as President-Elect.
But the damage . . . blood on busts of former leaders. Items stolen or broken. And so few arrests. There's a lot of suspicion about some members of the police right now, as well as how far up the chain this goes.
We look incredibly weak to foreign powers right now.
Trump and all those who aided and abetted him - Graham, McConnell, Cruz, Hawley, Cotton, Nunes, Jordan, Hice, Greene, and more - all are responsible for permanently damaging America's reputation.
He is our permanent stain, like Hitler is for Germany.
The Cabinet has, thus far, been too cowardly to invoke the 25th Amendment. Many of them have resigned today, rather than be anything resembling a responsible adult.
Democratic members of the House and Senate are pushing for impeachment. I don't know if there's time.
I have never seen a worse disaster for the United States. I didn't think I'd live long enough to see us fall.
But as Trump's election shows, as the way people have behaved during the pandemic shows . . . I do not live in the country I thought I lived in. So many of my fellow citizens are not who I thought they were.
And while a majority of us just elected Biden, and Georgia, my state, just elected two Democratic senators, giving control of the Senate back to the Democrats . . . it's just a majority. It should have been an utter landslide, a complete repudiation of Trump.
It wasn't.
And I honestly have no idea how to fix it.
Maybe ranked choice voting would be a start at bringing us back together, but it seems like a Band-Aid on open heart surgery.
And as I write this, the pandemic rages worse than ever. This entry was originally posted at https://pointedview.dreamwidth.org/585375.html. Please comment there using OpenID.