On Defending Democracy…
We kicked off a six-month book and discussion group last Friday, based on the historian and blog writer Heather Cox Richardson’s latest book, Awakening Democracy. At the start of our meeting I invited everyone to introduce themselves and share one news item or story that was concerning them. One person immediately mentioned the pardoning of the January 6 protestors who had attacked and infiltrated the Capitol four years ago. Another person mentioned the outright misinformation being spread by the President about the cause of the wildfires in CA. Many were astounded that our new President would blame DEI programs for the midair collision between a commercial airliner and a military helicopter above Washington, DC, one in which 67 people tragically lost their lives. Still others were alarmed that references to climate change are being removed and scrubbed from the websites of the Pentagon and Department of Agriculture; this at a time when the threats from changes to our climate grow larger and more destructive. (For the record, each of the last 15 months has been the warmest on record, and the US has endured the destructive impacts of wildfires in California and hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina.) Still others expressed dismay about how much willful disinformation is being spread. At a time when the stakes for a rigorous understanding of what is actually occurring truly matter – in public health data, in agriculture, in changing weather patterns, in national intelligence – our national leadership is choosing to engage in misrepresentation and calumny.
In the case of January 6, I personally was shocked that all 1,500 protesters were pardoned by our new President. This includes the 400 Americans who were convicted of violent felonies and attacking Capitol Police on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, AND those individuals connected to the President who were involved in planning the attack and were convicted of seditious conspiracy. This is simply an outrage. I believe it is an insult to law enforcement and an assault on our rule of law as a country.
In the coming weeks and months, there is going to be a wholesale attempt to recast those who illegally attacked the U.S. Capitol as peaceful protesters. This is simply not true. I have a cousin who is a police officer in Washington, D.C. who was on the grounds of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was involved with defending the building from violent attacks by the President’s supporters. The assertions that these people were and are political prisoners or hostages is outrageous to my cousin and his many comrades who defended the Capitol that day.
In my opinion, these pardons should be a wake-up call to all Americans, from across the political spectrum, that our rule of law is not respected by our highest elected officials, or entirely being followed at this point. The pardoning of individuals who violently attacked the Capitol and tried to stop the peaceful transition of power should be an outrage to all of us, not just some of us. I fear with others that these pardons will only empower and embolden groups and forces that seek to undermine our democratic institutions. And I am not the only one. I hope and pray there is a growing movement of Americans looking to shore up our democracy and stand up for “We the People.”
Our next meeting of our Defending Democracy Book group will be February 28 at 4 pm. Please consider joining us if you like.