One of America’s most sacred institutions is the peaceful transition of power. Defeated for a second term, John Adams left the White House for Massachusetts and Jefferson moved in. The rest of the world was astonished; leaders didn’t leave office peacefully in those days. And, so it has been since 1801. The peaceful transition of power is one of our great institutions, a light unto the world, the most powerful message about democracy and freedom we can utter. A sitting president tried to upend the hallowed practice, starting with a call back in December for supporters to amass in Washington DC on January 6th for a large rally on the day that a Joint Session of Congress would meet to count the Electoral College votes for President and Vice President. At a rally in front of the White House Trump chanted that he would never concede and urged the crowd to march on the Capital.
And march they did, an organized group of white
supremacist, Qanon conspiracy theory hollow-heads, Proud Boys dressed in black,
and rag tagged Trumpists who believe the election was stolen, regardless of
factual data that shows no fraud, miscounts, stealing of ballots, counting
machines hacked by the Chinese or any other set of wild conspiracy accusations.
Then, for the
first time since who knows when, crowds of insurrectionists invaded the Capital
grounds, charged the building itself, and breached the doors. Some reached the
floor of the House and protested from the dais, some reached the Speaker’s office
and caused mischief, some were on the Senate floor. About a thousand terrorists
managed to get inside before it was all over. It was an insurrection in the
least, an attempted coup by a bunch of seditionists perhaps, but definitely, a
challenge to our democracy, to our republic, as Franklin warned, and the result
of four years of unmitigated disregard for our institutions. In a feeble
attempt to soften the battle, the President asked the rioters to go home,
saying that he loved them, these good people. To call what happened yesterday a
peaceful protest is to deny facts. To call it anything but an attempted coup is
to deny facts. To deny that President Trump fermented these actions is to deny reality.
A Joint Session of Congress, meeting to count the
nation’s votes was suspended so that the members could go to a safe place
during an instigator’s incursion. The Vice President was evacuated by the
Secret Service. The police were overwhelmed and called for reinforcements. Vice
President. The National Guard was called to the Capital. The location of
congressional leadership was unknown.
I have to admit that I cannot understand who the
people are who descended on DC yesterday to protest at the White House and then
overtake the Capital. I admit that I don’t understand them or their thinking,
or their motives. Somebody will write a book in a month or so to explain what
happened, but until then I remain mystified. In every state of the union, the
ballots in the last election were counted and recounted. Democrat and
Republican proctors were in every counting room to ensure that the process was
fair. Government employees in every
voting precinct certified the vote count. Election officials in every state
certified the election outcome. Where there were questions about the process,
officials audited the results. In each state, members of the Electoral College
voted for President and Vice President, and their votes were certified and sent
to Congress. There was no fraud and there was no steal! So who are these
people who are so dedicated to overturning the vote of hundreds of millions of
people? Who still believes the President and his sons’ claims of fraud and a
stolen election? Surely they are not rational thinkers. I don’t get it.
Those who invaded the Capital, flag wavers all, were
doing all they could to disrupt the Constitutional mandate for that day: the
day the votes are counted. The irony is overwhelming!
I must say, that I am surprised at the disgust
expressed uniformly by cable news platforms. They were unanimous; MSNBC, Fox
News, CNN, Newsmax. Their reporting showed how unusual this attempt at
sedition, at this potential coup is, for our nation. Later in the evening, some of the far
right-wing channels talking heads began to blame everyone except the mob that
tried to destroy our democracy.
Later in the evening, after the Capital was cleared
of ruffians, the majesty of our democracy went on full display. The two houses
of Congress reconvened, and polite, heartfelt discourse continued. Storming the
ramparts did not end the vote count; it did not end our democracy, but let it
shine in its glory as our representatives went about their duty. It showed that
We The People govern this vast land, not street thugs. At 3:44 AM this morning,
the Joint Session of Congress ended, having elected Joe Biden, President and
Kamala Harris, Vice President, to be inaugurated January 20, 2021.
Nobody carried more water for Trump in the last four
years than Vice President Pence and Senator McConnell. These two men, in the
end, could not abide the intended disruption of our form of government, and
both did what their oath demanded; they stood to protect and preserve the Constitution
against enemies foreign and domestic. Trump had gone too far.
Let us pray for our republican form of government.
Let us come down in support of our democratic values. Let us not just pass off
these actions as the new norm. This was a coup attempt and our nation’s future
was changing before our eyes.
These incursions on our institutions, our
Constitution, our way of life must end. Let us hope that when tomorrow’s
morning has broken it will be a new day for America.
