Nevertheless: It's Jan. 6, again

Bearing witness

I’m publishing this on January 6, the same day Congress is certifying the results of the 2024 presidential election. I vividly remember watching the coverage of the certification on January 6, 2021. I watched all day, shocked and unable to look away as a violent MAGA mob attacked the Capitol and law enforcement officers protecting it and the people inside. I heard the chants of “Hang Mike Pence” and “Where’s Nancy? Oh, Nancy. . .” as they swarmed through the halls and up the stairs, destroying property. Some of them carried signs with Bible verses. Some of them carried Confederate flags. Many carried or made weapons from barricades or flag poles. I watched into the wee hours of the morning, when Congress finally completed the vote to certify the election results. Until that happened, which should have been a formality, the outcome was legitimately in question. I watched it all because I felt it was important to be a witness. It was horrific. Anyone who says it was peaceful is lying.

I also watched the live coverage of the bipartisan Congressional hearings into that attack. All of it. I witnessed the character and courage of those on the committee as well as those who testified. Once you see the truth, you can’t unsee it.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen 14 presidents. I don’t remember Truman, mind you. I vaguely remember Eisenhower, being too young to understand or even think much about government. No president has been perfect. Yet I know that all of them kept their oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. All of them respected and upheld the peaceful transfer of power. All of them except two, one of which was just re-elected, Donald Trump. And I will never understand why that was not a deal-breaker for my fellow Americans who voted for him.

My vivid memories start with President John Kennedy. I remember watching his inauguration on our black and white television, when from the platform in front of the Capitol he called all of us Americans to ask not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country. I remember how he stood firm against Soviet threats just off our shore during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember how unthinkable it was when he was assassinated in Dallas and the days of mourning that followed.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Lyndon Johnson sworn in as president in Dallas that same day on Air Force One with his wife Lady Bird and Jackie Kennedy in her blood-stained pink suit standing beside him. I remember how he got civil rights legislation, Medicare, and so much more passed into law, and also how he got us more embroiled in Vietnam.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Richard Nixon gain the presidency by using the “Southern Strategy,” and then try to guarantee his second term by sending some “plumbers” to burgle information from the Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate. I’ve lived long enough to have watched the Watergate Congressional hearings as they were televised live. I heard the revelations that there were taped White House conversations that Nixon had to be forced to release, followed by Nixon’s resignation because of his illegal, unethical actions and impending impeachment.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Gerald Ford pardon Nixon. I remember the energy crisis and inflation on his watch. I remember long lines of cars at gas stations to get the few gallons we were allowed to buy at a time and speed limits on the interstates lowered to 55 to conserve energy.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen frugal Jimmy Carter turn down the heat in the White House, have solar panels installed there, and get criticized for wearing a cardigan instead of a suit jacket. I remember the shock of Iran taking and holding US embassy personnel hostage for over a year. I remember Carter’s diplomacy that resulted in the peace treaty between bitter rivals Israel and Egypt.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Ronald Reagan invent welfare queens and trickle-down economics, which didn’t trickle down anything. I remember when he stood in Berlin and said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

I’ve lived long enough to have seen George H.W. Bush promise “no new taxes,” then sign legislation that enacted new taxes. I remember him sending our military to Iraq to protect oil interests.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Bill Clinton impeached for lying about sexual activity with a young White House intern. I remember when he appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen George W. Bush rise to be the leader we needed in the days right after 9/11, then start a war based on the enemy having weapons of mass destruction that were not there.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Barack Obama elected as our first Black president. serve eight years without scandal, and bring stability back to our economy after the Great Recession.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Donald Trump stalk Hillary Clinton around the debate stage and suck up to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. I’ve lived long enough to have seen him deny a pandemic as thousands of Americans died every day, so many that they were stacked in refrigerated trucks because the morgues couldn’t hold them all. I’ve lived long enough to see him lie every day and when he lost the election, lie that it was stolen and send his backers to sack the Capital and threaten to hang Mike Pence. I’ve lived long enough to have seen him abscond with classified documents, store them in his bathroom, show them to dinner guests, then say he had a right to do that. I’ve lived long enough to have seen him convicted of sexual assault, defamation, and fraud.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Joe Biden restore sanity and compassion to the presidency and get lots of significant legislation passed that benefited individual Americans and our economy, and also stand for democracy and restore healthy relationships with our global allies. I’ve lived long enough to see him courageously and sacrificially remove himself from reelection and support Vice President Kamala Harris as the candidate.

I’ve lived long enough to have seen Harris counter Trump’s dystopian view of our country with one of faith, joy, inclusion, and devotion to the bedrock rule of law and our Constitution. I remember that she had real a real plan, not concepts of a plan.

And now I’ve lived long enough to have seen half of voting Americans decide they’d rather return Trump to the White House instead of Kamala Harris because the price of gas and eggs is too high. They have been convinced that he will be better for the economy, their retirement accounts, and budgets, than Harris would have been. So what if he says he wants to dismantle our Constitution? So what if he views government as his private tool to get revenge on his perceived enemies, force his will on us all, and keep himself out of jail? So what if he has proven that he will not preserve, protect, and defend our Constitution?

It doesn’t seem to matter. Just give us lower prices. (We’ll see how that goes.)

I understand this is not why everyone who voted for him made that choice. But those who did made a lot of noise about it.

I think of the story of Jacob and Esau in the Bible. Esau was the older brother and therefore in that culture had something called the birthright, meaning he would inherit everything from his father and carry on the family name. One day Esau came in from hunting ravenously hungry, and he asked for a bowl of the lentil stew his brother Jacob was cooking. Shrewd Jacob said he would give him some in exchange for Esau’s birthright. Esau said, “Fine. Deal. Give me the stew.”

People say we should put all this behind us, unite, and go on. It’s hard to unite with people who for their own short-term economic advantage have sold our nation’s birthright as a free nation, one designed by our founders never to be ruled by a king.

Today, as Congress certifies the 2024 presidential election results, you’ll notice that Kamala Harris and the rest of the Democrats are not sending a mob, violent or otherwise, to the capital to disrupt the proceedings and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. That’s because they and the rest of us understand that even though Trump did not win the majority of the popular vote, enough voters chose him that he won the electoral college. That’s how it works. We are very concerned about the results of that choice for the future of our country, but nevertheless.

Nevertheless. Those of us who believe in liberty and justice for all will continue to stand. We will stand up and use our voices and our votes. We will stand for ethics. For the rule of law and accountability. For truth. For compassion.

Bearing witness. Nevertheless.

Recommended reading: Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, by Heather Cox Richardson