Backsliding. Again.

Today is Tuesday January 19. Kia ora.

“The dog has turned back to his own vomit; and the washed sow to her rolling in mud”, 2 Peter 2:22.

I can’t help thinking of this text as we learn more and more about the sad events of January 6, and Trump’s role in them, and of a few republicans who were initially shocked, and have now gone back to supporting him (Linsey Graham, for example).  There is lot of the republican talk of how unfair it is to impeach him, with only days left in office. All this while there is enormous fear around the inauguration, due January 20.

There are many armed troops and policemen in Washington, and they themselves are being vetted to weed out any traitors within their ranks.  Fourteen, I think, were weeded out.

We have been here before. Trump does something terrible, worse than he’s done before, and his crowds, and many republicans, denounce him, and then revert to still adore him. Some wit quipped that if he ran down Pennsylvania Avenue naked, people would admire his new clothes. And yet, the Pentagon said No to him – No to his demand for a 21 gun salute and a military parade when he leaves the White House. The headline reads: “Pentagon smacks down Trump’s request for large-scale, red-carpet, military-style sendoff”.  Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?  So that’s a relief.

The stories just keep coming: of corporate funding supporting groups that supported the mobsters; of military-style formations of some mobsters ; of Ted Cruz’s despicable sucking-up to Trump, although he insulted his wife and his father; of rioters who claim to be doing as their president requested, and now wanting pardons; of frightened journalists, who now realise the fear Black people experience for themselves and their children all the time; of the violence and cruelty of the mob, who were quite prepared to kill Nancy Pelosi and hang Mike Pence. So far, I have not heard anyone speaking up for Pence except journalists; while many of us despise his unwavering support for Trump, and his failure to deal effectively with the HIV-Aids epidemic in Indiana when he was governor, nobody agrees that he should be put to death.

The mobsters include veterans, a former Olympic medalist, and many people who Should Have Known Better.  Some of them are shocked and surprised to be arrested, although they were violent, and attacking police, in many instances. It also seems that terrifying as this insurrection was, for several hours, help was held up in terms of reinforcements. Many people, politicians and their families and journalists, had to hide in terror for their lives, for hours, in some cases, having “escaped” from the debating chamber with only seconds to spare. These mobsters were not students or young people who could claim to have under-developed brains. They were grown-ups.

In contrast with the many Black Lives Matter protests, where to be sure there was some burning and looting, the marches were largely peaceful, and no one was killed at their hands. Yet although these protests were extensive, justice for black and coloured people remains elusive.

The fear and terror caused by these events, and the trauma experienced by the many people who nursed a loved one with Covid 19, and the health workers involved, must surely leave a huge burden of shock and grief on those who remain. It’s not just older people who have died – many younger people have lost their lives, and children have lost their parents, in addition to losing a year’s schoolwork and normal socialisation. “It didn’t have to be this way”.

It is now Wednesday January 20 here. I trust that when I wake up tomorrow morning, Biden will have been safely inaugurated as President.

Last night was weird. I woke with a sense of dread at 3:25 am, then went back to sleep, some time later. I got up early intending to go to summer Tai Chi  (outdoors and free, weather permitting), and then decided, when I went out to get the newspaper, it was too windy, and I would not go.

Today there are more interesting news stories. It seems Mitch McConnell has condemned Trump even more soundly, saying that “the mob who invaded the building were fed lies and provoked by the President.”

There is much apprehension. Washington DC is like a war-zone. While Trump has not started a war yet, there are great fears that he will. The mob (of mobs) includes conspiracy theorists (Q-Anon supporters), the Proud Boys, armed self-styled militias, and many others, who claim to be acting as their president told them to; that their violence is warranted; that they are standing up for their constitution and democracy (as opposed to the socialism or even wore, communism espoused by Democrats)…so many lies. The biggest lie, fomented for many months before November’s election, is that the election was rigged, and the presidency was stolen from Trump; hence Biden’s decisive win was somehow fraudulent and stolen.

There is a lot of talk about the vehemence, violence and innate beliefs of the mobsters, and a lot of fear: what will they do next? Will Biden’s inauguration be interrupted in some way we don’t yet know? Fear of the unknown is huge.

Not long to go now.  Another day, another hurdle. For some reason, I am absorbed by all this. Ngā mihi.