Oct. 13, 2022
Final January 6th Hearing
"A crowd erected gallows hangs near the United States Capitol during the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol" by Tyler Merbler from the United States under CC BY 2.0
I was in a Spravato session while the final January 6th hearing took place, so I'm catching up on the videos on Thursday evening. I am literally almost shaking.
Shock. Anger. Disgust.
It's nothing new. Shitting in the halls. Breaking windows. Threatening the Speaker. All stuff we have seen before.
Yet it is still as fresh as seeing it for the first time.
I'm 36 years old. I was 35 on January 6th, 2021.
January 6th was an insurrection. It was a riot. It was a coup attempt.
And to me it was... A broken promise.
January 6th broke the promise between The People of the United States and Their President. A betrayal of an oath of office. A deception that nearly burned our very Constitution to ashes.
"Crowd of Trump supporters marching on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, ultimately leading the building being breached and several deaths" by TapTheForwardAssist under CC BY-SA 4.0
The actions of January 6th consumed me for over 18 months. It drove me to launch a misguided bid for U.S. Senate when I wasn't in the mental or financial condition to do so. It drove me to question everything about our Democracy, our History, my beliefs, and myself.
That day drove me to learn everything I could about the Civil War, Reconstruction, Black Codes, Jim Crow, Redlining, Segregation, The Moral Majority, David Duke, Reaganomics, the 1994 Crime Bill, the 2000 Election, 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Wikileaks, The Green Party, the 2016 Election, Putin, Disinformation, Q-Anon, Trump's Quid Pro Quo, COVID-19, The Big Lie, Ukraine, and... Everything that led to as well as the aftermath of January 6th.
January 6th... January 6th changed who I was and made me who I am.Â
America was a promise. A promise that even if an election didn't go your way, the election system still stood strong. A promise that even if you didn't agree with the politics of your neighbor, you still respected the innate human nature within your neighbor and could work alongside them with the power of debate to come to a mutually beneficial solution to society's ails.
January 6th laid bare that that promise was a lie. That your neighbor would attack you if you didn't agree with their politics. That a simple blatant lie could convince millions of people that their ballot didn't matter. That a President could betray their Oath of Office and unleash an armed mob to execute his Vice President and the Speaker of the House.
Final January 6th Hearing "2021 storming of the United States Capitol" by Tyler Merbler under CC BY 2.0
And on October 13, 2022, I am disgusted, angry, and nauseated just as I was on January 6, 2021.
And those feelings will drive me and this site forward.
This site will be my venting pipe. A place for me to collect and share my thoughts.
Because I still believe in the Promise that America holds.
I still believe that elections matter. I still believe that ballots matter. I may not agree with who and what you vote for, but I believe in your right to cast your ballot in ways that you wish.
I believe that debate is still the cornerstone of our Democracy. You have the right to vote how and for who you wish. I just ask that you research what and for who you want to vote just as I will research what and for who I want to vote - and, in doing so, we can have a conversation. We can hold a civil non-violent debate based on facts, statistics, and policy and come to a mutually beneficial solution for the ails of our society.
Because if we can't maintain that simple foundation of Democracy... I fear that our very Democracy may collapse under the weight of our hatred.
I believe - IÂ have to believe - that the grasp of The Big Lie is losing more and more power by the day.
I believe - IÂ have to believe - that The People are waking up to the reality of what January 6th was and is.
I believe - IÂ have to believe - that we can come to a mutual truth of reality and the embers of disinformation will soon smolder into ash and be blown away by the winds of that truth.
I have to believe that because if those things do not come to pass, I fear the days of our Union are truly numbered.
We have to unite once again as One People - We The People under The Constitution.
"This image describes the starting part of the preamble of a constitution" by Navyatha123 under CC BY-SA 4.0
I know we can move forward as One Nation and I know that our country's best days are ahead of us and not behind us.
We have work to do. It won't be easy and it won't be pretty. It's going to take both accountability and introspection for us all.
But America is capable of that work. We can do this. We can hold one another accountable under the principles of the Constitution and the Promise that drove Lincoln to risk everything to take steps toward a More Perfect Union.
And in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2028, 2032, and onwards, we can commit to ourselves and one another we can and we will make each and every day a step towards that More Perfect Union.
As one People...
We The People
WATCH: Amanda Gorman reads inauguration poem, 'The Hill We Climb' - PBS NewsHour January 20, 2021
Parkland Shooter Verdict
"Tam High Vigil for Parkland School Shooting (25427207467)" by Fabrice Florin from Mill Valley, USA under CC BY-SA 2.0
17 Dead. 17 Injured.
Countless families forever changed.
If there was ever a sin so great against mankind worthy of the forfeiture of one's life, turning a place of learning into a dungeon of terror should be that sin.
This country has made mistakes with capital punishment, but if one deserves such a fate, it is that of a school mass shooter.
I cannot give proper words to today's verdict, so I will simply let the lives impacted by the events of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, share their words.
Parkland Victims' Families Express Outrage Over Life Sentence - NBC 6 South Florida October 13, 2022
We. The. People.
-Deets