Slipping Into Darkness
Today is January 6, the third anniversary of the Washington DC insurrection in 2021-How did we fall so far from grace?
Usually, I try to stay away from political issues when I write a story, but today marks the third anniversary of January 6, 2021, which marked the beginning of the decline of the American democracy we all grew up with.
We need to pause and remember the lessons of history.
- In 1941, Franklin Roosevelt denounced the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese military on December 7, 1941, as “A date that will live in infamy.”
2. The September 11 2001 attack (9/11) on the Twin Towers in New York by religious Al Queda zealots in an unprovoked suicide attack using hijacked airplanes was extremely traumatic as well.
3. But the January 6, 2021 riots in Washington by right-wing extremists was the first time America has ever been attacked by homegrown terrorists.
In many ways, this was the most terrifying part of it all. This assault on the government was not committed by some sworn foreign enemies.
They were mainly white nationalists who were agitated and hyped up, willing pawns by the then-president, Donald Trump.
This man is currently under indictment for criminal charges. He is charged with four felony counts for his role in the insurrection in a futile bid to retain power.
These include:
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States by falsely claiming he actually won the 2020 election (The big lie)
- Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding by false claims by Trump and his allies to disrupt the election voting certification. (Hang Mike Pence)
- One count of Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding tied to Trump and his co-conspirators to block the official certification proceeding in Congress.
- One count of Conspiracy against rights by Trump and his co-conspirators to “oppress, threaten and intimidate” people in their right to vote in an election.
These are all serious criminal charges. If convicted of them, Trump could theoretically be sent to jail. But in the Bizarro world of Trump, even if convicted, Trump could still run for president.
But for most Republicans, a conviction may well change their minds on the viability and sense of voting for a convicted felon.
Except for the most dedicated of his cult-like MAGA followers, this kind of public disgrace may hopefully find this looney tunes ex-president on the inside looking out.
Not necessarily in jail, but revealed for what he is: a megalomaniac.
The same guy who has already vowed he will be a dictator from day one. Imagine that!
Everybody saw the January 6 riots, including the rest of the world. America came out of it as battered and bruised as it ever has been since it was founded, especially on the international stage.
But the madness in Washington with the January 6 riots will also always be inextricably linked with the repeal of Roe vs Wade.
That started with the extremely unpopular, unjust, and unbelievably wrong decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs Wade.
This was another incredible, immoral move by the MAGA Republicans.
You cannot legislate morality.
You cannot take rights away from the women who earned them.
You cannot ignore the simple fact that women’s rights are human rights.
The leaders are not leading anymore. They fear and hate the people they are supposed to serve.
This presidential election in 2024 will be the key test of whether America has the willpower and ability to sustain democracy or degenerate into an autocracy.
A Trump victory will ensure Individual freedoms in the world we live in will take a hard right turn.
We will descend into the dystopian world of the fearful, power-hungry MAGA Republicans, perhaps for a generation or more.
On this shameful anniversary of the riots on January 6, we should all remember how high the stakes are.
We outnumber them. We are on the moral right side. We need to see the obvious and not allow this loss of the individual freedoms all Americans are entitled to share and believe in disappear into a dictatorship.
One led by the damned and the doomed. We cannot risk slipping into darkness. We cannot risk falling from grace.
The choice has never been more clear. We are in the right. We are all connected…