The overwhelming feeling today is fear. Fear for the frailty of our democracy.
Fear of how a sociopath and his minions urged - TOLD! - his supporters to storm the US Capitol. Astonishment at how one of our most sacred political institutions was not adequately protected despite every indication of trouble to come. Sheer fright at how a mob acted with impunity, how thousands felt empowered by a madman to initiate an insurrection, a coup.
But this is not a story of one man who hijacked a democracy.
This is the horror story of a multitude of senators, representatives, and enablers - lawyers, advisers, spokespersons, cabinet officials, talking heads - who aided and abetted the hijack over the course of the last four years. The ones who protected, provided air cover, justified, pedaled conspiracy theories, and pandered in favor of power. This is also the story of an abject failure of policing through a lack of competence and will.
My fear is mixed with disgust at politicians who demanded that the mob stop NOW, after lying about the election results and setting the stage for the insurrection! What irony that it was these men who created the monster that took over the Capitol today and then fled like cowards when their sanctum sanctorum was breached by their base.
Now imagine for a moment if Black people had rushed the Capitol today.
Having trouble? Just Google the level of force - armed force - that confronted protesters who marched for Black lives a few months ago. They were met with intense force, tear gas, riot police and military police. If the Capitol had been invaded by Blacks, we would have had a bloodbath today. No doubt.
There is every reason to impeach the sociopath tonight to remove him from office, to invoke the 25th amendment before he incites new mayhem in the morning. But our leaders lack cojones too!
1/6/21 will live in our memories as the day we had a soul-crushing encounter with infamy, with evil, with the antithesis of the will of the people. Today, we proved that we are exactly like the countries we rail against with high moral authority which we have no business brandishing!
Sources: Headlines from news sources across the world.