Our National Tragedy

 

Two days ago the United States suffered a tragedy when an unruly mob egged on by a narcissistic and possibly psychopathic President.  I would like to hope that he didn't expect what happened. I don't know.  I am old enough to remember the unrest of the civil rights era and the antiwar demonstrations during the Vietnam War era. I thought it was bad then. I watched a group of demonstrators invade the Democratic convention of 1968 shouting "The whole world is watching."  

That's what I thought as I watched the horror of the invasion of the Capitol building in Washington DC unfold. A still photo of one of the "protesters" carrying a Confederate flag through the halls of the people's house was horrifying. We never had that happen during the Civil War. 

It didn't change the minds of the Republicans who "objected" to what was a clear victory by President-Elect Joseph Biden. Watching a senator from Missouri complain about my state of Pennsylvania's change in election laws was mind boggling to me. He also pumped his fist in the air and, in my opinion, helped incite this mob of thugs.

To see the President of the United States tell these people that "we" are going to march to the Capitol was ludicrous. He turned around and went back to the White House. He complained about mail in votes prior to the election and then insisted that he had actually won. After approximately 60 lawsuits nothing changed. He finally decided to more or less admit he lost the election - after the melee at the Capitol. 

I kept remembering the chant "The Whole World Is Watching." The people who did this don't care. I wonder if we can heal the breach in this nation.