WiNK

Not an Opinion: A Sad Day for Democracy

While some of the content in this article is opinionated, the title of it is not - this was a truly sad day for our Democracy. I was not originally going to write an article for this week's publication of WiNK. But seeing the chaos our country and our capitol is going through right now made me realize that I could not sit in silence and just watch this scene. I could not pass up the opportunity to speak my mind and write about these events - even though the length of this article does not speak to the full extent of how I feel.

"Our Democracy is under unprecedented assault." That quote, a quote that was made just a few minutes before I wrote this sentence on Wednesday night, was not made by our President - a man who was sworn in to protect the American people, to stand for what is just and moral and to fight for what is right - but by a more suitable American for President (President-Elect Joe Biden) who is taking the reins of America's sleigh which have fallen off the reindeers of Democracy. President Trump has cut those reins in half. I am disgusted by the absolute abuse of power that allowed, and encouraged, the Capitol Building Riots to transpire by a man who was sworn in to do the very opposite of what he has supported - the attempt to halt the results of a Democratic election being certified. Not only yesterday, but the past few years of this presidential irresponsibility have set us back decades as a nation. We have reverted to the conditions of a divided and weak Democracy that our people lived through during the Depression and even closer to the very start of our country - 1814 was the last year our Capitol Building was attacked, and it is shameful that it has occurred again by Americans, nonetheless. Yesterday was a widely seen event that truly made the world realize that America has changed, and that Democracy is fragile. Our country, which hopefully many will come around to see, was betrayed by President Donald Trump yesterday. That is not an opinion, it is simply a fact. I truly feel for those who voted for him in 2016 and are now realizing what their choices have contributed to, up until the very last weeks of this "dumpster fire of an American presidency," as Jake Tapper likes to say. You have been misled, in some cases, tremendously and I am sorry.

On January 6th, even with putting lives at risk with the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, causing a woman to be shot dead in the Capitol Building and three others to die, putting actual Senators, Representatives, and his very own Vice-President into lockdown and causing them to flee to an undisclosed location with gas masks on, I'd like to say I am surprised, but I am not at all. For President Trump, it's just another day in the life of his four years as President when all he has done is attempt to advance his agenda despite the possible consequences to those around him. From the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where he supported and rooted for the racist and far-right protesters who were there, just for the purpose of retaining their support down the road; to the rallies he has held over the past few months where he has put some of his followers, and people around them, to death from COVID-19 by trying to get them to vote for him again in crowds where thousands are maskless. He has been consistently showing his true colors of doing only what he deems as a good move for him politically. It is an embarrassment to this country's character that some people still follow him after his ignorance of the fact that the actions of the President, and ultimately a leader, should be selfless.

Former President Ulysses Grant once said during the Civil War that "We are now in the midst of trying times when every one must be for or against his country, and show his colors too, by his every act...Whatever may have been my political opinions before, I have but one sentiment now. That is, we have a Government, and laws and a flag, and they must all be sustained. There are but two parties now, traitors and patriots and I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter..." That is a message that we as a country have to keep in our minds going forward. We cannot, as a nation, stoop down to the levels of treachery that we witnessed with President Trump and his supporters yesterday, and over the last four years, to get our way. The idea of country over party is something that has been tested, but must live on.

Although the last four years, to many, should have probably served as a point of divergence to solidify who is a traitor or not, like Grant said, that would not be fair to say. The full extent of Trump's dangerous actions have not been truly realized by many - even though it may seem obvious what is going on. But yesterday should mark that point, however, and it has for many. At least seven of Trump's closest White House allies and at least one of his cabinet members have resigned - many more are likely to follow until the day of his removal from office on January 20th. We've already started to see some Republican politicians who stood by the President over his contest of the election results, like Mitch McConnell and even Vice President Mike Pence, now criticize Trump's reluctance to hold his supporters accountable who were involved in the Capitol Building Invasion. Former Attorney General Bill Barr has just gone on the record to state that "Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable. The President's conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters." But many Republicans have not only used their voices to criticize, but have used their actions and power as well. Some notable US Republican Senators and Representatives last night, during the certification of the election results which were interrupted by the Capitol Building Invasion, changed their votes to go against the GOP leader and his political and undemocratic agenda. Senator Kelly Loeffler from Georgia, who was just voted out, was one of them. She reportedly came into the Capitol that morning with the intention of voting against the certification of the election results to support Donald Trump, but over the course of the day she changed her mind. And to the most extreme, and honestly most appropriate level, some Republicans have called for either the 25th amendment to be invoked (which would require Mike Pence and the White House Cabinet to vote for Trump's removal), an impeachment to be raised by the House and passed by the Senate, or a formal resignation from the President himself - although with his ego, this is almost confirmed as not a possibility.

But as the question has been raised multiple times: is all of this action coming from Republicans too little and too late? To me, it is better than nothing. It is the start of moving on from the bizzaro values that have been embraced for the last four years, and now finally coming together again. As CNN political commentator Van Jones said last night during the unrest, "Is this the start or end of something [Democracy]?" To rebuild Democracy, which is what we all want, we have to come together across party lines, and possibly forgive those who supported Trumpism in the past like these Republicans changing their mind now. And I know that that is a hard pill to swallow for many, but to work together towards fixing the Democracy that has been tarnished during this presidency, and actually, truly, make America Great Again, we first have to come together, forgive, and discuss without kicking and screaming, to at least start that reconstruction process.