It was a great day for America

I want to talk about Jan 6th, 2021 and the storming of the capitol building in Washington.   But I'm going to start by telling you about my back pain.

I'm on the older side of being a young person, and as with many people, I wake up with a stiff back frequently.  I have to be careful in the morning not to push it too hard (bend deeply, twisting fast moves) lest I put it 'out'.  It's an annoyance and one I've grown used to.  But I don't do anything about it - I don't visit my doctor or a physiotherapist to address it, I just accept back pain and stiffness as a part of life.  I don't like it, but there you go - I've gotten used to it.

I was dealing with Trumpism the same way, I didn't like it, I knew it was wrong and damaging, but largely choose to ignore it versus tackling it head on. For what it's worth, I think there's a difference between conservative values traditionally embraced by US Republicans and Trumpism, he was an outlandish fringe and neither consistently conservative or stable.   Trumpism brought out the worst instincts and reactions in people like Cruz, McConnell and others with the lure of electability.

Life is funny though, anyone that plays the fool for too long, often becomes the fool.  You can't deny reality and expect no consequences, and so embracing the darker elements of his movement and instilling them to action for him was bound to turn out badly.  And it did on Jan 6th. 

Now, there are consequences.  Like the child that throws the tantrum, or the drinking binge that lands you in jail, this too crossed the line - that line that was pushed and stretched oh so very far over the past 5 years as society's norms and expectations were trodden over for attention grabbing stunts.   But it almost needed to happen, for the accountability due to this fool to actually occur.  If he'd gone quietly into the night, and behaved reasonably, then we'd have new thresholds for abuse of power in government.  This way the clarity around the idea he should never hold elected office again is in many people's minds, his foes and former supporters alike.  He crossed the line.   And the impeachment, the accountability isn't just about the Capitol, its about the last 4 years all-told, the sum of idiocy that the man brought down on the good name of his country for vanity, power, money or just attention.  I don't understand his 'why', and it'll be a feature of literature for years to come I suspect.

When I put my back out and am hobbled, I'm going to get medical attention and have it fixed.  Jan 6th was that day for America, the long needed final straw and thank goodness it finally arrived as the motivation for long needed action to happen.  It was a great day for America.