Scene of the Crime

The contrast and symbolism was stunning. It was just over four years ago that a mob of insurrectionists stormed through that scared place under the Capitol dome prompted by Donald Trump. He sat by for hours watching the mob desecrate the heart of the American government that called for the death of his own vice president. Today we allowed Trump to return to that place. One of his promises is to pardon hundreds of those rioters. The majority of us decided to give him back the power. Now we are getting what we deserve.

It started with benedictions from Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. He spoke about the value of prayer invoking the names of Washington, Lincoln, General George Patton, and Martin Luther King, and to “give our leader wisdom.” These are names that shouldn’t be invoked anywhere near Trump’s. Franklin Graham talked about the dark times we just came through and said, “look what God has done” by saving Trump’s life. People could look at that both ways, good or bad.

Trump’s speech was all we would expect. He started with “the golden age of America begins right now.”…and “America will be far more exceptional than ever before.” It sounded like a rehash of his standard campaign speech. He proceeded to his usual version of what a mess America is and how only he can fix it. Inaugural addresses are supposed to be about the future, hope, and unity. Trump first had to talked about all he thought was wrong with the country and listed all the ways he’s going to fix it. We heard the usual “society is broken”, “America’s decline is over”, and his “mandate” to reverse it. Of course, it has to come back to him. They “tried to take my freedom and my life away”…he was “saved by God to make America great again.” Today was “liberation day.”

He talked about restoring our freedom of speech which we have somehow lost over the last four years. He was the one who went after the news media when it reported news critical of him and called him on the lies. He was responsible for “fake news.” He will send troops to the southern border and even use troops to go after drug cartels. The mostly political and rich crowd stood up and applauded. They loved the tough talk. I wonder how they would have felt if they were under the dome on that fateful January 6th. I felt the anger rising inside me as I watched Trump smirk his way through the speech about the declining of America. The images in my head of the rioters smashing windows and ransacking offices, marching under the Capitol dome threatening the people we elected to represent us because he wanted to overturn the election he lost.

Biden got the last word on protecting targets of Trump’s revenge. In the last few days, he issued pre-emptive pardons to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley who Trump said should be tried for treason and given the death penalty. He also pardoned Doctor Anthony Fauci, and members of the January 6th committee, including Liz Cheney. Biden thinks Trump is so vindictive he waited until the last twenty minutes of his presidency to pardon five members of his family.  His brothers James and Francis and their wives and his sister Valerie Owens and her husband. This has never happened before. Trump said he would appoint “a real special prosecutor to go after Biden and his family.”

We have decided to go down this dangerous path knowing what it was like the last time we allowed him into the Oval office. This time he promises to make it worse. He lives in his own alternate reality. He has convinced half the country he sees things clearly and only he can lead the way to a better future. As much as Trump thinks he can do anything he wants, here are remedies we can use to fight back. There are the courts and most importantly elections. We have to elect people up who will stand up to demagogues and provide a better way. We allowed Trump back to the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, he’s right when he said, “Here I am. The American people have spoken.”