Today is January 6, 2021. What should have happened today is the US Congress should have heard the official count of the electoral college following the presidential election, finalizing what we’ve known since November — Donald Trump lost the presidency to Joe Biden.
It is this peaceful transfer of power, decided periodically by the will of the people, which separates the US from dictatorships and banana republics.
After years of Trump’s incessant fearmongering rhetoric, his supporters don’t trust the media or the government. They only trust his word. The word of a sleazy hotelier, a failed casino owner, a reality star. A man who burned so many bridges, broke so many contracts, screwed so many people over that he could barely even hire a contractor in NYC before And after these past few weeks of this man saying over and over again that he won the election and it was being stolen from him, his supporters didn’t believe the news telling them Biden won. They didn’t believe the bipartisan state election boards who said there was no fraud. They believe they’re protecting the true president from a massive conspiracy involving just about everyone else in the world — because he told them that’s what was happening.
Now, on January 6, instead of the election being finalized, a group of these fervent supporters have stormed the Capitol and stopped the vote. Shots have been fired. At least one woman is dead. The extremists have caused all of Congress to go into lockdown mode as so many school children have these past few shameful years.
According to the latest reports, at least one explosive device has been found. The US flag was torn down and replaced with a homemade TRUMP one. We have said many times Trump would burn this country to the ground if it profited him personally. And that is what’s happening.
These people are still being called protesters by many in the media, but comparing these people to those peacefully demonstrating in support of women’s rights or Black Lives Matter or gun violence reform is wildly irresponsible.
This isn’t protesting. This is insurrection. This is terrorism. This is treason.
Today is January 6, 2021. A day that will go down as one of the darkest in American history. A day in which our democracy experiment failed.
We don’t know what more to say. We’re just in total shock here. And we aren’t the only ones.
