Wednesday was crazy. I woke up knowing there would be a protest involving Trump supporters in our nation’s capital. I knew there would be traffic delays and probably one or five bad apples who wanted to make trouble. Our offices sent out “if you don’t have to be in the area, do not be in the area” messages. Fine. I rarely go into DC anyway. By mid-morning, I knew something was horribly wrong. The rhetoric was growing. There were rumors of the Capitol Police being overwhelmed. And then…then I saw the protestors scaling scaffolding and the walls of the Capitol building.
Okay, I had to be seeing things because this is America. We do NOT behave this way. But it was real. What I was seeing was real. I watched as protestors broke windows and sat in offices of legislators with whom they disagreed. I watched video that appeared to show Capitol police officers opening the gates to allow protestors access to the Hill. Madness and sedition! And I was disappointed.
Gallows on the Hill Google photo search
I am 40 years old. Not once in my life have I ever seen hundreds of protestors storm the Capitol building to maim and destroy. Not once in my life have I witnesses people proudly parading in the halls of the Capitol while wearing shirts containing racist and anti-Semitic views. I heard people chanting that this was “their America”. I saw posters proclaiming this was “their 1776”. And I was saddened.
I know people have a right to their opinions. I know that not everyone is in agreement with the election results. That’s okay. There have been times when I didn’t agree with election results. But you deal with it. You work with people to make things better. You don’t storm the Capitol of the United States of America in an attempt to force a decision contrary to the one you don’t like. This is not who we are as a nation.
In a few days, a transition of power will occur. President Elect Joe Biden will become President Joe Biden. It will be a new administration with new faces and new legislative rules. We won’t agree with every decision. We won’t agree with every move. But it would be really nice to not have to worry about an insurrection every single day. Here’s hoping and praying that we can come together as a nation and not tear each other apart in the process.
