Folks, I don’t do politics here for a very good reason. It’s a no win scenario for authors. I have fans of all ilks and stripes, and I value them all. But I am going to make an exception today.
And I am not going to debate you in comments.
What happened in Washington, D.C. yesterday—January 6th, 2021—is one of the most horrendous, horrifying, shameful events in U.S. history. A sitting President sent his supporters to the capitol to rampage. There’s really no other way, after looking at the facts, to describe it. And it’s an outrage. If you supported Trump before, you can’t now. Not reasonable, decent people. I have long felt he was a bad president, lacking the moral character and integrity to execute the duties of the position appropriately. But what I have seen the past two months since he lost reelection has been an abomination I hope I never see again. His behavior is nothing short of unacceptable. It’s not acceptable for a U.S. president to attempt a coup. It’s not acceptable for a U.S. president to refuse to concede. It’s not acceptable for a U.S. president to incite violence and attempted overthrow.
Our democratic republic is not perfect. There are issues to work out. There always have been, and there doubtless always will be. But it has always been a comfort to me and a source of pride that we have had peaceful transitions of power in this country. 2020-2021 ended that. And I pray to God, it is a one time aberration we never see again. There is also no doubt in my mind that the president incited the violence. He has been courting and winking at extremists for four years. Did we really expect them not to do what they do at some point? You invite them to the party, they party their way—extremism. Violence. Riots. Looting. All of it happened at the capitol and four people are dead. It’s a miracle there were not more deaths or injuries. It’s a damn shame there have not been hundreds more arrests. Including the president.
I have no issue with the 25th Amendment being employed. But I also now believe impeachment is demanded. And I hope he faces criminal charges for his irresponsible, dangerous behavior. I don’t care if you agree with me, but if you don’t, I tell you—your opinion is not welcome here. I have Facebook unfriended family in the past few months for supporting this heinous man so don’t think for a second I won’t block you. It’s not about freedom of speech. You have plenty of places to exercise that. This is MY blog. MY website. MY world. You will not do it here. I will not allow my space to be seen in any way as endorsing or tolerating support for the worst president in U.S. history—our country’s biggest mistake.
On that note, however, it makes me sick that so many people are thinking the only lesson to learn from yesterday is that we have to condemn Trump and his enablers. It is so much more than that. We are a broken society, divided like never before. We need to find a way to reunite around our commonalities and re-engage with mutual respect. Or this kind of thing will happen again. Yesterday is an indictment of all of us. Don’t kid yourselves. We have all played a part in it by sowing hatred and divide and dismissiveness toward anyone who doesn’t agree with our views. That’s not a matter for debate. It’s an opportunity to learn. History we fail to learn from repeats itself.
I pray that we can find more common ground moving forward. I pray that we can put aside the enmity that has plagued us for over a decade and rally around our commonalities to move forward together in a productive and peaceful way. We need to do that. The world needs us to do that. Future generations need us to do that. Today’s children need us to do that.
The one thing we cannot do is ignore the heinous events of January 6, 2021. Those will live in infamy as an eternal blot on us all. Yesterday, for the first time, I felt shame for my country. I never want to feel that again.