I was listening to speeches being made at the United States Senate during the tallying of the electoral college votes. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) was speaking.
Suddenly, he was whisked away mid-speech, without explanation, as lawmakers were herded away by officials.
At first, amidst the confusion, I did not consider a connection between the protests going on outside the rotunda. It was unimaginable that those protestors would bring their mayhem into that dignified and historical place!
And yet, video clearly shows protestors pushing riot police out of their way, forcing themselves into the entry and climbing their way into the capitol. Further, videos show scruffy-looking white men in camo sitting on the dias and making themselves at home in Speaker Pelosi’s office.
It is reminiscent of a Third-World country.
My soul cried from deep inside. This country – this last bastion of freedom – being undermined by a bitter mob trying to overturn an election.
Four years ago, friends who know of my intense respect for the Constitution and our Founding Fathers, tried to persuade me to join them in the March on Washington movement. They knew that I had left a political party and become “Declines to State” because I do not want to tie my politics to the mercurial fabrications of trending politicians.
I refused. I respected their feelings. Yet, to me, the peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of our democracy. I could not take part in an effort to overturn an election, no matter how surprised I was at the result.
Fact is, I disliked both candidates equally, four years ago and this time, as well. To me, our media and the cost of elections have created a situation that only the wealthiest, the loudest, the most connected, the most likely to be corrupt and indebted – can be elected. I do not believe that old Joe was the best of the bunch. In my view, he was the bottom of the barrel, but after 47 years of doing nothing, he finally had enough chits to call in and an opponent controversial enough that he finally made it. Time will tell, but it does look as if he is carrying a lot of baggage. Politicians who stay in one place gather a lot of moss; Joe Biden has been gathering moss for nearly five decades.
This year, I watched as Trump supporters in huge caravans peacefully paraded through Waikiki each weekend, flags flying, music blaring. My friends in California sent me photos of the riots and vandalism that occurred there regularly. I watched through the summer as clashes became increasingly more violent across the country between BLM and Trump people.
One woman was killed at the capitol today. (Circumstances surrounding her death, allegedly by gunshot, have not been released.) That is a tragedy! I lay her blood at the feet of the president and his minions.
I could never have imagined this, which is why, when it happened, I experienced such a profound disconnect associating the protests outside with what was happening inside the capitol.
First, the efforts to undermine the results of the election in the senate are only a show. There is no constitutional provision that allows the Senate to thwart the will of the people. Maybe Sen. Ted Cruz thinks he will find a place in Trump’s future plans or something, but his actions are little more than political theatre.
He knew that. He also knew that tensions were high, the stakes were unpredictable. And yet, he went at it with his colleagues, though GOP leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell asked them to refrain from stirring it up.
The election results are certified by the STATES; not the legislature. Congress makes laws; they do not elect the president. We do. They do not have the constitutional authority to change the results of the election. They cannot overturn the certified results of the electoral college. Their only job is to receive the certified election results.
That would be a banana republic.
We, the people, cast our votes. We elected our president. The 39% Cruz alleged were unhappy with the results – does NOT amount to even close to 50% of the people as he claimed. Maybe he needs someone to show him a pie to illustrate 39%.
And it is of no consequence. There have been numerous challenges that have been adjudicated over the course of the election to arrive at the confirmation of Joe Biden as president. Nothing has arisen to change that. Even if Trump were to somehow mythically get one state to reverse its certified results – which cannot happen – it would not change the winner. It would still be Biden.
As I was driving, I listened as radio talk show host Sean Hannity was going at it amidst the violence, fomenting discontent, reiterating his concerns that there is a conspiracy that overturned the president’s victory. It’s crazy. Why wasn’t he saying that protestors should leave the capitol and obey the curfew? Why wasn’t he admonishing those who broke into our most sacred chambers of government?
Traditionally, conservatives believe in lower taxes, states’ rights, local control, fiscal responsibility. This is not that. Billion dollar border walls, ignoring environmental concerns, QAnon, Proud Boys… This is what the Founding Fathers called the tyranny of the majority – whoever yells the loudest gets heard.
I understand the frustration that some Americans felt when Trump was elected – and that finally, some said, they were heard after decades of increasingly liberal agendas. This is what it has wrought.
At this writing, Trump’s twitter account has finally been suspended.