US Anon

 January 6, 2021. A day that will live in infamy. We weren't attacked from outside. This one came from within. Like some poorly written piece of episodic television, the deposed "president" called on his mongrel followers to rise up and restore him to the throne. A year ago, I was at school taking a Zoom meeting with our staff when the news started to break: Insurrection. 

I had been expecting trouble with the electoral vote count. Plenty of voices in Congress had already been raised to insist that the election had been stolen. Never mind that this election, the Presidential Election of 2020, was one of the most carefully monitored outcome in our history. Never mind that all national polls showed the trends that were borne out when the votes were counted. Reality had been taking a beating over the past four years, and it appeared that there might be ongoing discussions about the math, as it relates to science and the outcome of the presidential race. 

But storming the U.S. Capitol? This had to be seen to be believed. And it was. The whole world looked on as an angry mob, stirred by the vitriol and lies that had been laying around getting old since November, pronounced by the acknowledged leaders of the rabble. Rudy Giuliani encouraged, "trial by combat," as he frothed more than he ever had before. His boss showed up later to exhort the mob to "Stop The Steal." 

What steal? At that point, there was no evidence of any voter fraud, certainly not in the size and number needed to overturn a singe state's results. And yet, there they stood, ready to be tipped into riot rage, attacking the seat of our country's government. Damage estimates to the Capitol range from one and a half to thirty million dollars. Five people died. By August, two more Capitol Police officers had committed suicide. And the price tag continues to be negotiated.

What did we really lose? Will we ever be able to trust one another again? Seven hundred twenty-seven people were charged for the insurrection on that day. More than fifty have been convicted for various felonies. Some of them are in jail. 

None of them are Rudy Giuliani. None of them are Steve Bannon. None of them are Donald Trump. 

2022 is an election year. 

Sleep tight, America.