This time instead of shock, we have comfort; instead of fear, we have peace; instead of doubt, we have hope. We have passed our greatest test in modern times. And we are whole, for now.
The day before, a day full of pomp and circumstance, tradition and ceremony, we inaugurated a new president. We survived the challenge and watched the Tyrant slink away in disgrace. We completed the peaceful transition of power, though indelibly stained in the books of history, under security no previous inauguration has ever sat beneath. Two weeks ago we watched a violent insurrection against the very principles that made yesterday happen, uncertain of the outcome. Those that would destroy our country to get their way rather then share it were defeated. This time. We must not let our guard down.
The day after I feel like a New Year just opened in front us. It's a new day in Washington, the clouds have lifted, and we can start to heal the nation. I know everything is not fixed and we have a long road ahead. I know these troubles, and these people, won't go away over night. But I also know the hope I felt 12 years ago, at Barack Obama’s first inauguration, is back. That we have set our feet on the right path again, stepped away from institutionalized injustice and sanctioned prejudice. Like then, it is tempered with the knowledge that there is no magic wand to wave away the troubles. We are still in the midst of a pandemic. We are still on the precipice of an economic cliff. There are still dark shadows on the edges of our nation, waiting for a chance to rise again and threaten who and what we are.
On this day after we must be vigilant. Our Democracy is fragile, more so than we could have imagined a month ago. It must be tended and cared for and nurtured. Because if we take it for granted, the shadows will win.
The day before, we sat as a nation, watching Congress meet. We expected protests, we expected challenges, and we expected debate. What we did not expect was for an unhinged, selfish demagogue to incite a riot. We did not expect his supporters to march to the Capitol and threaten the lives and safety of our elected officials because they didn’t get their way. We did not expect these so called “patriots” to tear down an American flag to put up the Tyrant's flag. We did not expect the mob to push their way through barricades and take the law into their own hands. We did not expect insurrectionists push through the halls of the Capitol, vandalize offices, break windows, and parade around the Senate floor like they were in a carnival fun-house, posing for selfies from the chair of the president of the Senate. We did not expect to see rioters walking through the halls proudly waving symbols of hate and division.
The day after an armed group of insurrectionists intent on a coup failed to halt the Congressional certification of our presidential election, we sit stunned by the events we’ve witnessed.
The day before, it was not certain what the outcome would be. We watched as the “leader of the free world” cowered in his office, tweeting encouragement and praise to the mob instead of calling for reinforcements for the Capitol Police. We watch him call them “special people”, calling for them inundate Washington, Make American Great Again. We watched the Tyrant say he "heard them" and "loved them", instead of condemning their violent actions. He was derelict in his duty to protect Congress simply because they didn’t agree with his world view. And finally, when shamed into making a statement, he continued the lies and falsehoods that lead us to this day. "The USA is embarrassed by fools.” That, sir, may be the only truthful thing you said that day.
The man, who in his twisted and stunted view of what his America should be, cajoled and encouraged a mob to attack Congress, then sat back and watched, gleefully. The day after, we are appalled at the response of our “president”.
The day before, when the Capitol building had been cleared of rioters, order restored to the chambers, and our elected officials returned to their places to continue their Constitutional duties, many had still not learned. To those of you who still contested this election in support of the Tyrant, you sold your soul to a child grasping at straws to stay on power, you tried to sell the soul of the Nation to someone not fit to lead, and you learned we will not stand for this. The steal has been stopped, the coup canceled, and the insurrection has failed. The Tyrant lost. He lost on Nov 3, 2020, and he lost on this day.
The day after, we will not forget how you tried to disenfranchise millions of voters under specious claims of fraud. We will not forget the support you’ve given the Tyrant. We will not forget this day in our history. Propaganda paints a thin veneer of reasonability over lies and calls it patriotism. Patriots stand up to Tyrants, they do not coddle them.
The day before we watched the Capitol Police overwhelmed by the mob. Why were the Capitol Police left to fend for themselves? Why did it take so long for the National Guard to be called, and why, Mr. “President", did the Vice-President have to make that call? Why did you call out the Army this summer to clear a smaller peaceful protest so you could hold up a bible you do not follow in front of a church you do not attend? Why did you use tear gas to clear those peaceful protestors, many of whom wear a skin tone darker than those that so violently raided the Capitol? On this day before, where was the tear gas? Where was the protection for this institution, itself a monument to the Democracy you claim to hold so dear? Was it because they would not do your bidding you simply did not deem it important enough to protect?
The day after, many are wringing their hands and saying they couldn’t have known this would happen. Have they not been listening for the last four years, the last four months, the last four days? Did they think this was all innocent rhetoric, to be forgotten before the next election? Did they think that the calls for the vice-president to simply declare the election invalid and anoint the Tyrant to a second term simply idle talk that could be ignored later. The threat to the Democracy was real, and present, and transparent. Yet, many simply sat back and watched, amused?, until the mob threatened them. And still, many did not learn.
The day before, we saw pictures of the Capitol Police trying to hold back a crowd whose numbers overwhelmed them. We saw officers with weapons drawn in the House Chamber trying to protect those sworn lawmakers trying to complete their solemn duty to the people and the Constitution of the United States. We saw pictures of rioters waving the Tyrant's flag and standing on the bases of our forefathers monuments with fists raised in Statuary Hall. We saw their selfies posted on Twitter and Facebook like they’d just attend some bizarre and innocuous family gathering. We saw them vandalize and destroy the offices of those they did not favor, and leave the others untouched. They wore no masks. We saw the trash they left behind, desecrating the People's House they claimed to own. But it is not solely their House. It is the House of all the people, not just a few who can not accept that their Tyrant did not win. Everyone of them should be tracked down and charged with unlawful entry, trespassing and destruction of government property. They broke the law. The “Law and Order” party must prosecute.
The day after, we are horrified by what we have seen.
The day before, after much delay, rhetoric and disgrace, the Speaker of the House reconvened Congress with these words: “...we will stay as long as it takes. Our purpose will be accomplished. To those who strove to deter us from our responsibility, you have failed. To those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of Democracy, American Democracy, justice will be done.” Congress completed its duty and decreed Joseph R. Biden would be the next President of the United States, and Kamala D. Harris would be the next, and first female, Vice-President of the United States.
The Senate Chaplain, Barry Black, closed the session with this prayer: “These tragedies have reminded us that words matter and that the power of life and death is in the tongue. We have been warned that eternal vigilance continues to be freedom’s price.” The world was watching us.
The day after the world watched Democracy win, we must still be vigilant. Words do matter, and we must never, ever let this happen again.
