“How many times have I walked through the Capitol over the years? I cannot tell you. It is one of my favorite places on Earth. I know it has been filled with imperfect women and men, and it has legislated cruelty as well as hope. But there’s a reason why that shining dome draws school children, immigrants, tourists, and Americans from all across the nation. It is a beacon for what we can be as a nation. It is not a place where I ever felt violence could coalesce with such murderous fury.
If ever I thought there was a place where you could feel safe, it was in the heart of Washington and the marbled dome to our democracy. I remember taking my children there, and countless guests from out of town. I remember visiting lawmakers and sources. I remember watching the pageantry of State of the Union addresses, and somber moments of national crisis. I never could have imagined what we witnessed on January 6.
I reflected on some of this in my first Sunday essay on Substack just a few weeks ago. And here I am returning to it again. I promise we will talk about many other things. But I just can’t let this go. And the more people, including many Republicans in Congress who were there that day, who were under attack, argue that we need to “unify” and move beyond it, well the more hopping mad I get.”
This is an excerpt from today’s #Steady essay. I hope you will read, and please consider subscribing.
"Since before its inception, America has been a clash between aspiration and reality, despair and hope. Our great gleaming Capitol, itself sitting upon a hill, is indeed a potent symbol for this nation’s promise of democracy. It is true that Abraham Lincoln was determined to keep the construction of the dome going during the Civil War and said in a quote we have heard many times over the last few weeks, “If people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on.” But that radiant Capitol has also been the stage for the worst of human impulses.
Very flawed men have used passionate oration not to promote our most noble values but to pass cruel legislation that enslaved, imprisoned, disinherited, cheated, and subjugated Black and Brown people. It is true that we have had orderly transfers of power, but many of the men who assumed our highest offices (and they had all been men until now) have used their power in ways that harmed rather than helped. And often those hurt were the most marginalized - racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, women, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and others. It is true that Dr. King let his dream ring out across the same precious real estate of the National Mall, but it was a dream born from generations of death and suffering and a dream that remains very much unfulfilled nearly sixty years later.
Now America in its recent years has become the very opposite of a symbol of hope. Under a treacherous, incompetent, and divisive regime we have destabilized the world order, more than promoted it. Donald Trump and his cronies sucked up to murderous dictators and chastised our allies. The world looked to America and saw chasms rather than community, a nation literally killing itself because it was turning its back on facts, and science, and common decency.
And then, January 6."
The first essay in my new endeavor, STEADY, is now available to read. If you like what you see, please consider subscribing or joining our email list (signing up is free -as will be a lot of the content.) You can read this essay in full here
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