Reposed in impervious information bubbles, they tend to experience events as the reversed-negative images seen by their opposite numbers. Each side -there generally seem to be two-claims moral authority from its mass of peaceful protestors, downplaying the death and destruction imposed by renegade mobs. Foundational facts are contested, lost in a moral chaos of half-truths.
What are the rest of us think? Credentialed, professional journalists increasingly, unapologetically operate as propagandists for their preferred causes. They could not reconcile their direct experiences with on-scene reporting focused largely or entirely on the “lunatic fringe” that sheared off and unleashed mayhem in both contexts. They credibly related that this was true of the vast majority. They participated peaceably, without incident. I have friends and acquaintances who participated in Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the summer, as well as others who joined the Stop the Steal demonstration on January 6. Citizens received disparate, conflicting, inconsistent information and interpretation through a plethora of conduits. The domestic disorder illuminated the absence of recognized, trusted guideposts in our politics or culture. In the absence of authoritative media reporting and commentary, Americans did not experience or comprehend these events together, as one nation. These historic moments unfolded before a nation riven by cross-cutting divisions. Their acting out had more in common with the ravenous Russian revenge unleashed in the Reichstag in April 1945 than a peaceable assembly protected by our First Amendment. Rioters expressed their contempt by defecating in the hallowed halls.
Some of the most solemn emblems of our national history were variously disrespected, manhandled, mocked, and defaced. Though she had previously served in the military, she defied repeated warnings, appearing to regard the scenario as merely another episode in a live action role-play rather than an active crime scene. She had thrust herself straight into the line of fire, hit at point-blank range. A rioter was shot in the neck, bleeding out on the scene. Another officer gave his life, cruelly battered by a fire extinguisher. With corrosive symbolism, an officer was battered with an American flag wielded by blood-lusting throng.
Vastly outnumbered police were overpowered. The scenes in the capitol were-and remain-traumatic. On January 6, the world watched in disbelief as the hallowed seat of American representative government was brought to a halt during one of its most solemn constitutional rituals: confirming the states’ presidential election results. Perhaps it was predestined that the flames of nihilism would eventually flare in Washington, D.C. In Seattle, authorities acceded to a lawless “autonomous zone,” a chilling preview of a dystopian future. Entire sections of cities were commandeered by anarchist groups, filling the void left by faltering law enforcement and cowering politicians. The thin blue line receded murder rates surged. Many businesses, large and small, often already curtailed or shuttered by coronavirus responses, were engulfed amid the melee. Police departments and other government facilities were attacked some were occupied, some were destroyed. Soon enough, rioting and looting spread throughout numerous urban areas. If our representative institutions remain paralytic amid the longstanding conflict between those holding the badge of law enforcement and black Americans, where were people to turn? The killing of Floyd released pent-up rage.
It streamed into an onrushing cataract of passion unleashed amid the longstanding lockdown imposed in a historic pandemic. The troubling tableau coursed through our collective consciousness. Traditional and social media instantaneously, continuously relayed the incident around the world. Floyd’s slowly expiring pleas for breath and life were captured by cellphones on the scene. The fuse was lit on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020.įor nearly nine minutes, a uniformed law enforcement officer who was white, remorselessly pinioned George Floyd, a suspected criminal who was black, in a chokehold. Even amid our horrific Civil War, the inner sanctum of our democratic republic was not breached and desecrated by Americans, setting upon ourselves.Īs shocking as the January 6 riot was, in near retrospect it was not entirely surprising. The devastating assault on our Capitol is without precedent. Wednesday, Januis a date which will live in infamy. Tyler Merbler, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons