Since my last entry, much has happened. Nothing I type here should obscure the fact an additional 200,000 Americans have been killed by Covid-19. We could very well see over 400,000 dead by January 20. Yesterday, 3,895 Americans died from the virus.
Speaking of yesterday, the political world around President Donald Trump came tumbling down. January 6 is the day set by law for Congress to count the Electoral College results for the office of United States President.
First, President Trump attended a rally of his supporters in Washington, D.C. and spoke to them. After encouraging them to fight against the results of the election, they did just that. Thousands marched to Capitol Hill and illegally entered the building to vandalize it and terrorize the members of Congress assembled as required by law.
Watching this unfold on CSPAN was fascinating to watch. Both chambers were in session to debate the validation of Arizona electors, then communication became muddled as the leaders of the debate had to recess and all members were told to retreat to safe areas. For the next several hours, the President Trump supporters ransacked the building and offices. Just after I got home, Congress reconvened and they worked until 2am to finish their work.
After winning the popular vote by over 7 million, Joe Biden was confirmed by the Electoral College with a 306 - 232 victory.
In just over a year, we have seen peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrations met with violent police responses, and yet these Trump supporters were able to forcefully enter the Capitol with little to no resistance. As I write, Democrats are calling for the Vice President to invoke the 25th Amendment. Members of the White House staff and even the cabinet are resigning. With two weeks remaining in his presidency, this is a fitting end to Donald Trump's reign.
That was not what I thought I would be writing back in August. And yet, I should have seen this coming. With a President feeding his base multiple lies and baseless conspiracy theories, this was a predetermined outcome of sorts. For a man on the precipice of greatness, President Trump was simply too lazy to embrace it. He could have led an entire nation into defeating a virus, but instead chose to essentially ignore it. It was somehow below him to inspire people of all walks to simply put on a mask and stop the spread. Likewise, his supporters saw any attempt to take on this virus as an affront to their cherished freedoms.
In the end, Trump will walk away like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned to the ground.
As strong as our Republic is, we barely survived this test. That one man would be given so much power and influence over a country is exactly what our Founding Fathers fought against. They would have been horrified by the 12th Amendment which cemented the status of political parties. They would have been likewise shocked by the behavior of our elected representatives. From the President to Congress, this has been a year of complete failures on many levels.
As we stare down the possibility of 500,000 dead in one year from a virus, let us never forget the lessons of History. Together, We The People will succeed. Divided, as the saying goes, we will fall.
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