So when 2020 ended, we all hoped that 2021 would be better - that things would be calmer, and that we would see a return to normalcy. We were promised that with a new year, things would calm down and maybe we could get out and see a movie or go to a restaurant without wearing a mask. Or at least, we hoped, that we could have our politics and national government return to a semblance of calm.
Of course I’m just kidding. No one promised that, even if it was our actual hope. But what we’re starting to see in 2021 is more of the same. A last gasp of 2020, maybe, hopefully, and then we can move on to something a little more relaxed? One can still hope, even if we’re not there yet.
See, there’s this guy in the White House. For some reason that I don’t understand completely, Mr. Trump has gained a following that borders on the Beatles. It is hard to describe - last year, before the elections, people took to the highways and byways of our fair country and drove their vehicles (everything to trucks and SUVs to ATVs and motorcycles) festooned with flags and other banners asserting their devotion to Mr. Trump and bearing slogans like NO MORE BULL(#$*%) and F$%^ YOUR FEELINGS. Together with (and I’m not making this up) the slogan “KEEP AMERICA GREAT”. And it makes me wonder, wherein does America’s greatness lie? Surely it’s not in such crudeness....
So last week there was a rally. Mr. Trump has disputed the results of the election, saying and asserting (without a shred of evidence, mind you, presented either to the American people or to the courts where he has sought legal relief and injunction) that the election was stolen from him and the American people (or at least his supporters). Many, many, many people feel like there was some kind of widespread fraud and that there is a concerted, organized group or groups that are bent on keeping him out of power. How else, some of them things, can you explain how God - who is at the helm of our nation’s destiny - could have been thwarted in His divine effort to ensure that Mr. Trump (God’s chosen emissary) would win reelection? And I know this sounds very weird, perhaps, dear reader, from whatever place you find yourself reading this from. But I promise you it’s all true. And at this rally at the White House/on the Mall in Washington DC, the President of the United States told his followers to literally follow him down the Mall to the Capitol building where his fate as President would be ultimately decided. Because the House and Senate were meeting to accept the results of the election and certify that the winner in this election was Mr. Joseph Biden, Jr. Somehow Mr. Trump believed that if they could disrupt the vote on the election results (which had already been through numerous court challenges in the various states and had been certified by the several states) they would be able to overturn the vote and keep himself in office longer. Somehow. So down the Mall they marched, and did not stop. They did not stop when they reached the steps of the Capitol. They did not stop when they reached the doors. They did not stop when they were inside. They marched into the halls of Congress and forced an evacuation of the chambers. Many have been arrested and some have even perished as a result of the violence. The result is that many are calling this an insurrection and are calling for the impeachment (again) of Mr. Trump. I personally don’t think that this is an appropriate thing to do, but I can understand the sentiment. He’s already lost the election, and an impeachment proceeding will only further divide an already divided country. I didn’t support impeachment the first time around, either, although I do think that Mr. Trump may actually be guilty of things that are not known and have caused us real harm, but that’s just conjecture.
At any rate, we find ourselves even more divided than we were two months ago after the election, where family members, church members, neighbors, friends, and associates are divided. And it feels untenable and unsustainable. I don’t know where this is all headed. What is clear is that there is a faction of our nation who feels disenfranchised and left out of the system. They feel like there is a group or groups that are making a concerted effort to keep these otherwise good people down. It’s a little ironic, given the racial history of the United States, that the folks who feel this way are predominately non-college educated, white, male from a lower middle-class socio-economic status. People who have worked systematically for generations to keep black people down, perhaps because then they weren’t the absolute bottom rung of the ladder... So they search around for reasons for their state and for the declining morality in our fair country, and they look to someone who will promise to help pull them out and restore their greatness. Never mind that this greatness is both an illusion and illusory. Further, there is no way for them to achieve this kind of greatness without some long-term sacrifices on their part... There is real frustration that the world appears to have left the values and morals that our forebears espoused and fought for, and the fact that we continue to see this degradation causes them to feel like they’re being left behind in a world that feels increasingly secular and accepting and tolerant. But rather than adapting and changing to meet the new challenges, they dig in deeper and become more entrenched.
I really don’t know where we go from here. Because people aren’t wrong in how they feel. A feeling isn’t wrong, and if we’re concerned about unity and love, we should find a way to reach out with love and attempt reconciliation- or at least some mutual understanding and respect...
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