Democracy's Darkest Day

Democracy had its darkest day yesterday. After Donald Trump incited violence by encouraging his supporters to head to the Capitol building after his misinformation rally, they did just that. Thousands of deplorable individuals were able to make their way inside the halls of Congress, which led to multiple gunfights and panic. This vitriolic attack took place while the House Of Representatives and Senate were counting the state-certified electoral college votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Although the Capitol was eventually cleared, four individuals died and more than fifty arrests were made. Meanwhile, Donald Trump took to video from the White House and unenthusiastically called for “peace” while simultaneously telling the individuals who partook in these demonstrations that he “loved them” and that they were “special.” Twitter has since removed these posts and locked his account for twelve hours, while Facebook and Instagram have banned him indefinitely. There are few dates that live in infamy in the United States, and unfortunately, 01/06/2021 is now one of them.

Although democracy had its darkest day yesterday, it also had one of its strongest nights last night. After the Capitol was cleared as safe, Congress resumed the procedural and necessary process of counting electoral votes on the same day that they were attacked by anti-American Trump supporters. A good portion of the Republican elected officials who were originally going to object to this process decided that because of the day’s events, that action was inappropriate. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s electoral votes have now been officially counted, which was the final step required by the United States Constitution before their inauguration later this month.

While I choose to believe that a majority of Americans stand strongly against yesterday’s domestic terrorism, I am disheartened to see ultra-conservative responses on social media today. These airheaded individuals are likening breaking and entering into the U.S. Capitol building based on unfounded claims of voter fraud to the Black Lives Matter protest that took place over the summer. The key difference is that one group (BLM) was protesting because members of their community were being unjustly murdered, and the other (Trump supporters) attacked one of the most sacred buildings in the country because their candidate lost a fair election that has been under scrutiny from election experts from both parties for months. It’s also worth noting that the individuals who stormed the Capitol were in large part allowed to leave freely after entering fairly easily, which definitely wouldn’t have been the case if they had different skin color. Once again, the systemic racism that defines our country has shown its ugly teeth.

If there was any doubt as to what we warned against when Donald Trump was elected, this is it. An egomaniac too self-absorbed and narcissistic to accept defeat has brainwashed some of his most loyal supporters into attacking their own country. There’s no wonder why so many of them also tout the Confederate flag - they are anti-American. It’s horrible that anyone died yesterday. That being said, those individuals shouldn’t have done what they did, because they crossed the line of protest into acts of sedition the second they stepped into the Capitol building and sought violence against American representatives. I sincerely hope that Donald Trump is removed before the end of his term by way of either a second impeachment or the 25th amendment, because he has proven himself a traitor to this country willing to attack our democracy for what he views as personal gain. His supporters the same for emboldening it. We need to be better than this. We need a better tomorrow.