January 6, 2021. Everyone had placed such hope on the promise of a new year. Saying good-bye to hellacious 2020 and hello to the potential for change in 2021. Surely, life had to get better, right? Little did we know.
January 6, 2021
I believe it’s a day we will always remember where we were and what we were doing. Somewhat in the same way we will always remember where we were on 9/11.
Apprehension started the day as the joint session of congress was scheduled to meet at 1:00. We had the TV on so we could listen to the session as they certified the electoral counts of the presidential election. A matter of protocol, this session is a just formality that can be wrapped up in less than an hour. It barely makes the news in ordinary election years. Except, the election year of 2020 was anything but ordinary.
Now, 2 1/2 months after the election, a group of 147 elected officials decided they would make a spectacle of themselves by objecting to the counts for certain states. Each and every one of them knew their objections would lead absolutely no where. It would all circle back to certifying the fair and free election of Joseph Biden. Millions of Americans, and probably many people around the world, held their breath with trepidation as the session began. Would the count go off with nothing more than a showboating delay?
The Perpetuated Lie
Two particular Senators were at the forefront of the objections. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz. History will not be kind to them. They made the decision against all common sense, their oath of office, and the constitution, to perpetuate a long string of lies the “president” of the United States had been spewing for months. The lie of a stolen election.
The Rally Cry
January 6, 2021. Stop the Steal Rally. At just about the same time as the count was beginning, the “president” was speaking at a rally of his staunchest supporters who had ascended on Washington, DC from all over the country.
With his militant clutched fist above his head, the words of his speech incited a riot. There is no other way to describe it. The “president” of the United States of America incited his supporters to riot, to show their strength. He told them to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, and he would be with them (yet another lie), to the capitol because they would not save their country with weakness.
The Insurrection
Unless you live off the grid, you’ve seen the news footage of the riot. We watched in real time, in absolute horror, as the mob stormed the capitol building. We were infuriated, heartbroken, and sick to our stomachs. More than anything we were astounded at the lack of police presence.
The Capitol Building
We have spent many an afternoon taking friends and family to tour the capitol building. It is a beautiful building and of course, it encapsulates the history of the United States. We have also peacefully protested on the grounds of the nation’s capitol. It’s because of our visits/protests to the capitol, we know the building is not easily accessible. It was, simply put, an epic failure of security that allowed access to the insurrectionists.
In the coming days, weeks and months, details will unfold. We believe investigations will bring about staggering revelations.
What is especially sad is that because of the lunacy of the insurrectionists, it will most likely be years before the public is once again allowed to visit the capitol building. The building that belongs to the people, will now be closed to the people. I can’t tell you how angry this makes me.
The Inauguration
As the days count down to the inauguration of President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, on January 20, 2021, millions of Americans will live each day with baited breath. The House of Representatives will more than likely move forward with impeachment proceedings against the “president” in his last days of office.
It will be an inauguration like no other. We are a country overwhelmed by the pandemic! On top of an extraordinarily divided country, and the violent attempted insurrection of the US government,
The ceremonial plans were already scaled back because of the pandemic. With the violent outbreak on January 6, 2021, and with the threat of more violence in combination with an unstable “president” in the White House, for eleven more painfully long days, the City of Washington, DC has been secured like never before. There is now a 10′ high fence surrounding the Capitol Building. The mayor has the city in a state of emergency until January 21. No one will get anywhere near the capitol building where the inauguration will take place.
The State of Georgia
January 6, 2021. Georgia made history on this day, unfortunately it was overshadowed by the ugly. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats, won their runoff elections for senate seats for the State of Georgia. Raphael Warnock, is the first black man to hold a senate seat from the state of Georgia. Let that sink in for just a moment because it is history in the making, but it is also a sad stain on American politics that it took this long to happen.
The Branches of Government
As we see it, along with millions of others who came out in droves to change the political course of this country, there is much work to be done. The Democratic Party of the United States will now hold the White House and the majority in both houses of the Legislative Branch.
The Judicial branch is not political, however the supreme court currently has a majority of conservative justices. The newly appointed attorney general, who leads the Department of Justice, is a Democrat. It’s time. It’s time to move this country forward.
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Outstanding post, and you voiced all of the horror, disgust, disbelief – well, there aren’t really adequate adjectives – that we were feeling on Jan. 6. As the impeachment trial winds down, it’s all coming to the forefront again. Even if the Repubs vote to acquit (as they are expected to), the silver lining is that no American (at least no one who’s been paying attention) will come away from this without feeling the same horror and disgust. As Gilda said, Jan 6 will live in infamy just as 9/11. In some ways, Jan 6 was worse – we were attacked by our own.
Susan Pazera recently posted…2020 Retrospective: Where to Begin?
You’re right, Susan, watching the impeachment trial is bringing it all to the front line again. We think this is a good thing. The never-before-seen videos were difficult to watch. I applaud the efforts to bring the former president to justice, but sadly the Republican elected officials will not likely take a stand for the country, rather they’ll stand my their “leader” as all good followers do.
Dear Patti, it is despicable what happened at the Capitol. In my opinion, to enable this country to move forward, as you say, the hypocrisy needs to end. Where was the horror and anger when cars and buildings were set on fire during so called peaceful protests, that were really riots, in Washington DC on May 31, 2020? Those riots went on for three days. Rioters vandalized and looted businesses. We are talking people’s livelihoods totally destroyed. There was a state of emergency called. Where is the outrage for all that horrific destruction? Most of those DC rioters have had their felony riot charges dropped. Capitol rioters are not going to be so lucky I’m afraid. Capitol rioters have been put on a no-fly list. Such hypocrisy. Maybe, because people are watching the biased networks, they didn’t see the destructive riots that have occurred in almost all 50 states since May 2020 and, sadly, dozens of people have been killed in those riots. Where is the outrage? Why doesn’t that make people nauseated? President Trump did not tell those hundreds of thousands of rally goers to go break into the Capitol. He did not tell them to break in doors and windows. He did not tell them to vandalize. He did not tell them to riot. He told them to “fight”, meaning to take action and persevere to investigate, through all legal avenues, the states with questionable election results. Just as is currently occurring in Uganda’s election. About his so called lie about marching with them, there were protestors breaking in while he was still speaking at the rally! Where is the outrage when protestors broke through police barricades into the Capitol Rotunda trying to access Senators during Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote in 2018? Why isn’t that an insurrection? Hypocrisy!
Thank you, Candyce, for posting a comment and sharing your viewpoint. We can agree that what happened at the capitol building was indeed despicable, but beyond that we will have to agree to disagree. I could go on and debate each of your points as being factual -vs- non-factual (as in what really happened in the May, 2020 DC protests) but I’m fairly certain we’d circle back to agreeing to disagree.
Hi Patti. As a person who has lobbied my representatives in Congress these last 4 years. (Twice) I know the challenge of being in these buildings. Something is very fishy about the ease in which these insurrectionist walked in. Our new Attorney General will find out the truth. I truly hope that each and every person who invaded that space illegally on Jan 6 is held accountable….and according to the law…is charged with manslaughter as well as other stiff charges. I know you usually talk about travel and other less charged subjects. I thank you for taking a public stand. Your patriot friend, Linda
Thank you, Linda, for all that you’ve done to make a difference. I know it’s considerable.
Patti, congratulations on a great post. Brian and I also watched the events in Washington DC as they unfolded. We could not believe our eyes. Like 9/11 it was another dark and sad day in the US history, heart breaking. The new President elect has a really tough job in his hands.
Thank you for the feedback, Gilda. We think President-elect Biden is incredibly courageous, as is Kamala Harris, to take on the office of the President after such a horrific 4 years. We are holding our breath until January 20, as we fear we have not seen the last of the violence.