The events
of the first 13 days of 2021 have been, to say the least, difficult. It is
incredible to me that one man, however talented, could rile so many people to a
state of open rebellion against the United States of America, and then deny he
was responsible for the outrageous attacks on the very bastion of our
democratic republic. Where was Donald Trump when his various schools taught
civics, the rule of law, and personal responsibility?
I believe
this quote is credited to Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the House from 1977 to 1987.
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts.” Even if I
am incorrect, and it was not Speaker O’Neill, it is a quote well suited to this
time in history. President Trump lost his bid for re-election. A more elegant
and graceful gentleman, and there have been many presidents who were, would
have simply and graciously accepted the vote of the American People, and
prepared for his successor to take on the mantle of President of The United
States of America.
President Trump, however, has taken on the
role of a spoiled, querulous child and maintained that he won the election, going
to far as to file sixty-odd lawsuits challenging the validity of the election.
None of those suits stood the test of court scrutiny. He has stirred rumors,
cast dispersions on the character of other elected officials, and called upon
his supporters to attempt an overthrow of our legal election of a new
president. In doing so, he was aided and abetted by members of both the House
and Senate, who insisted on challenging the results in states other than their
own, even after they had been forced to shelter during an attack upon,
incursion into, and riot in our nation’s Capital building.
It is
troublesome to see and hear so many people fall under the spell of a
megalomaniac; who take as gospel his words, even when the words are devoid of
facts; to see our country reach such depths of distrust and division that it
will take years to recover our sense of balance and our position in the world.
As I watched
the events unfold on January 6th, I remarked to my wife, “My God, we
have become a banana republic.” The
irony of American politicians, who in the past have called out elections and
transfers of power in other countries was not lost on me.
Democracy is
not self-sustaining; it requires hard work and constant attention. Our founding
fathers recognized this fact; it is the preamble to the Constitution of the
United States. I leave you with this quote:
“We the
People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty, to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America.”
Thanks for
reading; your comments, as always, are welcome.
R. M. “Bob”
Hartman
Get it back in quiz!
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, insurrection, no riot. Riots aren't specifically intended to prevent a Constitutionally mandated act of governance, which apparently, along with the assassinations of various elected government officials aided and abetted by other government officials, was the intent of the event on the 6th.
That's insurrection, not a riot. We owe it to history and our posterity to refer to the event on the 6th as an insurrection predicated upon a lie challenging the validity of the vote, the means by which the supreme authority of the citizens of a representative republic express their will to be governed.