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Anyone else worried about democracy?
Jan. 6th, 2021 09:13 pmI am having a day of extreme cognitive dissonance.
On a personal level, my day went well. We had a "shooter at large" incident at work that was resolved without further violence, and I myself was pretty productive, all told. I came home, made a quick dinner, and attended a mid-week Meeting for Worship centered around gratitude on Zoom, which was really very pleasant. I am currently engaged in some online roleplay for the Mage campaign I'm in.
It's been a really nice day.
On the other hand, the United States is apparently undergoing an attempted coup d'état, and I'm not even exaggerating. It is wild. A mob of pro-Trump rioters took over Capitol Hill today, at least one person is shot and was in critical condition last I saw the news, and the mayor of DC had to intervene and declare a curfew.
...
I just checked, the woman who was shot has died. The police finally got things under control, but they've been pretty heavily criticized for their lack of response to this today. The National Guard wasn't called in until late in the afternoon, contrary to those times when Black Lives Matter protests were happening, when they were deployed immediately. Rioters literally committed violence and acts of outright sedition, and for an uncomfortably long time law enforcement and local security just seems to have let it happen.
I am having trouble wrapping my mind around it all. If you had told me four years ago (before Trump was elected) that the United States would come perilously close to becoming a dictatorship, I don't know if I would have believed it. I might have given it some thought, because today's events haven't occurred in a vacuum, but I'm not sure I could have brought myself to truly accept it as a prediction.
I really, really hope sanity prevails down there. I hope that after today the violence will stop, and that the transition to the Biden presidency will proceed as smoothly as possible. I can only have hope for now.
If you're in the US and especially if you are in DC, please stay safe. I am thinking of you and holding you all in the light.
On a personal level, my day went well. We had a "shooter at large" incident at work that was resolved without further violence, and I myself was pretty productive, all told. I came home, made a quick dinner, and attended a mid-week Meeting for Worship centered around gratitude on Zoom, which was really very pleasant. I am currently engaged in some online roleplay for the Mage campaign I'm in.
It's been a really nice day.
On the other hand, the United States is apparently undergoing an attempted coup d'état, and I'm not even exaggerating. It is wild. A mob of pro-Trump rioters took over Capitol Hill today, at least one person is shot and was in critical condition last I saw the news, and the mayor of DC had to intervene and declare a curfew.
...
I just checked, the woman who was shot has died. The police finally got things under control, but they've been pretty heavily criticized for their lack of response to this today. The National Guard wasn't called in until late in the afternoon, contrary to those times when Black Lives Matter protests were happening, when they were deployed immediately. Rioters literally committed violence and acts of outright sedition, and for an uncomfortably long time law enforcement and local security just seems to have let it happen.
I am having trouble wrapping my mind around it all. If you had told me four years ago (before Trump was elected) that the United States would come perilously close to becoming a dictatorship, I don't know if I would have believed it. I might have given it some thought, because today's events haven't occurred in a vacuum, but I'm not sure I could have brought myself to truly accept it as a prediction.
I really, really hope sanity prevails down there. I hope that after today the violence will stop, and that the transition to the Biden presidency will proceed as smoothly as possible. I can only have hope for now.
If you're in the US and especially if you are in DC, please stay safe. I am thinking of you and holding you all in the light.
