As Jan. 6 approaches

Thought for the day

I don’t know about you, but in some ways it feels to me like the Jan. 6 insurrection last year happened yesterday. I guess that’s because, try as I might, I can’t “unsee” what I did that fateful day.

When I first saw all those people storming the steps of the Capitol and clashing with police, I was shocked. When I watched the marauders running down the halls of Congress — the same halls I used to walk through when I worked on Capitol Hill 50 years ago — I felt sick to my stomach.

Today, I feel both angry and hopeful. Angry because the rioters almost destroyed democracy but hopeful the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 will uncover the truth about what really happened a year ago.

Between now and Thursday, the first anniversary of the insurrection, pundits from both sides of the political aisle will be talking/writing about the impact Jan. 6 had, and continues to have, on America. I’m no different. Below, you’ll find my take. Wondering … what’s yours?

A year later: Jan. 6 insurrection just as ugly now as it was then

Call me old fashioned, but I was raised to believe in the rule of law and what it means to be a patriot.  In the case of the Jan. 6 rioters, they neither acted lawfully or patriotically.  

Which begs the question:  Will GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy or the leadership of the national Republican Party ever admit the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol a year ago didn't just batter and bruise democracy, they nearly destroyed it?  

If you ask me, had the rioters succeeded in preventing the peaceful transfer of power, then the wrapping paper Subway sandwiches are rolled up in would be more valuable today than an original copy of the U.S. Constitution.  Chew on that for a while.   

-DF