"Our flag was still there"

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Yesterday, January 6, 2021, was a dark day for the United States of America. It was a day you might see in a third-world country. Or a dictatorship. It was a day I never thought I would see in our country. It was a day that made me sad but also made me angry. It made me wonder if I was seeing things. How could this be happening in our country.

 

It started with a gathering of his supporters and a speech he made to them. Near the beginning of the speech, he repeated an idea he's been using for more than four years. This is his first step in destroying our Democracy. He wants us to not know the truth about what is going on:

"The media is the biggest problem we have as far as I’m concerned, single biggest problem, the fake news and the big tech."

Once we don't believe the newspapers and the major networks, he can feed us any lies he wants and there is no way to check them. Then he incited a mob into, first, marching down to the US Capitol:

"After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you. We’re going to walk down. We’re going to walk down any one you want, but I think right here. We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women."

and, second, forcefully taking over the Capitol in order to pressure Congress and the Vice President into overturning the election - which he lost:

"...you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong."

"And we fight. We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore."

"We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing..."

 The title of this post is one of the lines from our National Anthem. I had to get up early this morning to take my wife to the hospital for an operation. She needed to be there at 6 AM so we needed to leave around 5 AM. So, I turned the news on around 4:30 just as the days news was starting and they started off with the National Anthem. It was a beautiful rendition and when the singer got to the line, "Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there," it made me realize that we have been through trials before and our flag continues to fly. In spite of the worst dealings of the man who is our president, our country will continue. We will thrive after he is gone. It was very moving.

In the end, the vice president the the Congress did do the right thing and confirmed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had won the 2020 election and would be the next President and Vice President of the United States of America. That means, we don't have to live with the current president much longer.

You can read the full transcript of his speech at this site.

Welcome 2021

 

We made it! It seemed to take forever. But, as my son points out, "What is really different?" The number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths keep growing. The inoculations are not nearly as far along as planned. Many businesses are in big trouble. There are still millions of people unemployed and most are in bad financial health. People are way behind in rent and mortgage payments. While there are protections for now, how much longer can those last? Yes, we've turned a page on the calendar and we can say we made it through 2020 (at least most of us can say that) but what are we facing in 2021?

This is NOT going to be easy. There is a ton of work to do. We still need to help our neighbors and watch that we don't take things for granted. It is easier than ever to get infected with Covid-19. It is more critical now than ever for us to be vigilant to the needs in our community.

I am a Christian and I believe that Jesus loves us and will help us. But that does not mean that life is easy. It does not mean that we are not in danger. I have something to say to my fellow Christians. It is very important that we help our neighbors out. Who is our neighbor? The people who like us and the people who hate us. The people next door and the people around the world.Other Christians and people who are not Christians. I cannot believe that my fellow Christians are downplaying these problems just so a lying con-man won't be made to look bad. Understand this - he already looks bad and he is making the Church look bad in its support of him.

Yes we are to forgive him. Yes we are to pray for him. Yes, we wish he succeeds - at least we hope that he succeeds in being the President. We should not wish that he builds his own ego and power at the expense of the poor and rejected in our country and the world.

We can only stop this pandemic and get our lives back by ignoring the direction set out by that lying con-man who is our President for about 20 more days. After that, we need to turn this country away from the ignorance he projected. Please join me in fighting the battle that Jesus wants us to fight.