Six days have passed, the siege of the Capitol seems like a lifetime ago. However, a mere six days can never be far enough in the past to remove the insurrection’s stain from America’s tradition of democratic process. The peaceful transition of power, one of the greatest hallmarks of our political culture, is no more. Last week in the hands of men and women wearing military garb holding zip ties, that tradition was shattered.
Every disembodied voice on the news radio and every talking head on the television has taken to pulling at one of the many threads of this blanket of ugliness. Were the Capitol police, or some of those police, in on it? Was this planned out by a sinister group or groups with a much darker agenda? Were members of congress in on it? Why were the insurrectionists allowed to leave the site of the violence? Is this just another demonstration of the real racism that underpins the USA? There is so much sound and fury, so much noise from every corner.
But one.
Where is the chorus of Republican voices clearly, forcefully and prominently decrying this evil? With few exceptions they are nowhere to be found. Sasse, Toomey, Murkowski from the Senate and Meijer and Kinzinger from the house they are clearly expressing rage. But from the rest of the red mob…. the sound of crickets in an empty evening is the only thing heard.
These elected officials took an oath to protect and preserve the Constitution. That vow could be more appropriately expressed as one promising to uphold the law of the land for all the citizens of this country and not just for those in Republican leaning red states. There is no addendum saying a Senator or a Representative can make a waffling gesture with their hand after that recitation and mumble, “except for false fact believing violent thugs who together with their friends, families and Twitter followers make up my base.”
From Representative McCarthy to Senators Cruz and Hawley there should be coming statements that say expressly in loud, outraged and indignant tones, “What happened last week was a clear and unequivocal attack on our democracy. The perpetrators were evil. People died and a part of Constitutional heritage was bloodied. These people should be punished to the full extent of the law and stripped of the privileges and benefits accorded to those who have chosen to live under the laws of this land. All persons who planned, executed, aided, abetted, or fomented this insurrection should be harshly punished no matter who they are or what social standing they possessed before their seditious acts were carried out.”
Will we hear this from the silent members of our Congress? I don’t think so. For them somewhere along the line the focus has shifted from doing the people’s will to the raw and ugly calculus of how they will continue holding power for benefit of themselves and their patrons, the rich and entitled. I shake my head and there is a disquieted pressure in my chest. We no longer have statespeople leading us and it is a damn shame. Maybe we will see a change in the next day but I doubt it. Almost a full week has gone by a person smart enough to get elected to Congress has had ample time to work a clear and unequivocal statement of rage at this violation of our nation’s integrity.
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