The Week That Was

It's been three days since the horrific siege on the Capitol Building in Washington DC. This is going to be another day that will live in the collective American memory; all of us recalling where we were when we saw insurgent attack on our democracy. There's only one American flag and it's not the one flown by the Confederates or the Trump supporters. There was one election and it was done fairly and more accurately than ever. A winner was decreed and all the efforts prove it.

So many thoughts, mixed emotions of anger and rage this week. Our efforts of optimism for the new year were weakened. All the images of Washington DC brought back memories of our visit to the Capitol a few years ago. We took the tour around the building, learned about the history and how this building housed the dreams and intentions of the founders. We were in awe of the notable memorabilia, the monuments that made names seem more human, and the beautiful architecture inside the halls. To know that this building was so defiled is heartbreaking. It represents so much to Americans. It's almost a trope for any alien or disaster movie to hit the Capitol Building first and then the White House to indicate the US is down and disaster will ensue.

Three days later, the news is still coming out and in time we'll learn who was responsible for the orchestration of the riots and purposeful mismanagement of police support. There was open information about pending turmoil and attacks. These were not your neighborhood Trump supporters. These were well trained militia with helmets, ropes and scarily, zip ties in anticipation of taking hostages. This is the equivalent of knowing 9/11 was going to happen and not bother to do anything at the airports. There are so many people who should be held accountable from the guy in the White House to his lackey Guiliani to the Senators Hawley and Cruz who propagated the misinformation to improve their own standing. I hope the next administration can get us onto solid footing, after this breakup.

We see clips of the rioters shouting, "This is our house.. the people's house." Well, it's OUR house too and you don't do this! I shouted back at the screens, gave them the finger back and was just appalled. My stress levels were rising and my heart breaking.

Now three days later, I have to pause. Biden said this is not who we are. But, this is the "American basket" that Hillary talked about years ago; remember she was chastized for the word deplorable and people stopped listening. Here is the full quote since it is not circulated enough.

You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people -- now 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks -- they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America."

 

"But the other basket -- and I know this because I see friends from all over America here -- I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas -- as well as, you know, New York and California -- but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change. It doesn't really even matter where it comes from. They don't buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won't wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they're in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well."

 

She was right. Those people are still here. When they stormed the Capitol building, they did so because they felt they were owed something. They were owed the dreams that Trump had promised them - the dream of winning. When they lost their livelihood because of Covid, Trump told them it was the "others" who did this, deliberately ignoring his own mismanagement of the crisis. This insurrection was a plea for government help and leadership. Unfortunately the people who could benefit the most from government relief are voting for those who withhold it from them. 

 

We can easily dismiss them again. We regularly denounce "the poorly educated" for voting against their best interests.Through social media, I've recently become more aware of the impoverished communities in the country.  But how would they know? There are many factors blocking them from factual information including the struggling school districts and employment opportunities. Plus, many parts of Appalachia and rural areas that do not have access to the internet or even cell towers. In addition, there may be limited access to TV channels; they may only see those owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose broadcasters read from the same script. How can those communities be uplifted? I know in Pennsylvania where I live that I can drive 15-20 minutes from here to see billboards that promote guns and Jesus. Obama was criticized for saying in 2008:

Referring to working-class voters in old industrial towns decimated by job losses, the presidential hopeful said: "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." 

 

We need to acknowledge and reach out to those communities and address their concerns. When I see the numbers of people who voted for Trump in 2020, I wanted to reach out to them. I see people who are living in fear. Fear of losing their livelihood.. fear of losing their privilege in society, whether it is racial or financial. Yes, not everyone who voted for Trump is a white guy in a pick up truck. There are plenty of well-educated, financially affluent Americans who needed him to protect their security from taxes and benefit from a bloated stock market. People of color live in fear too.

America is hurting, but I'm optimistic we will get through this rough period. Will we all come together? It will take a time to get stable. I feel like the incidents of this week are like a wound that burst... releasing the pus and blood that was stored inside, repressing the pain. Hopefully we can acknowledge this now as a society.

I know the next few weeks are going to be rough - don't know who's staying or going or going to prison.. but hang in there. America's been through worse. Remember that after the 1918 Pandemic came the Roaring 20's. Bad times end like good times end. 

 

We've got this.