Missing What's (Not) There

    When that midnight hour was striking on December 31st a few nights ago, I imbibed a bit more than usual.  I should preface this by saying that my "usual" is generally a single beer at night, or sometimes a small glass of whiskey...but rarely.  Now have me over at someone's house and you may get reports that I can really "hold my own."  But overall, such overly zealous celebrations are rare for me (hey, I'm not a kid anymore).  But this New Year's eve was to be a reason to celebrate, a true welcoming of a new beginning and a hint that this coming year would be radically different.  Less than a week later, the world watched in semi-shock to see just how different.  Those of you outside the U.S. might be wondering, is it that easy to storm and forcibly get into the Capitol of the United States?  As commentators asked that night, apparently so...if you were white.  Contrast the heavy police and sometimes military presence in Portland or Michigan some months back during the Black Lives Matter protests.  Was it true?  Did some police really take selfies with the rioters?  Were those who broke in (and possible stole important papers or documents) simply allowed to walk out without being arrested or detained?  And with a force of 1700 (not all were on duty), how is it that the Capitol police were overrun?

Instagram Photo: Evy Mages

    Unfortunately for the small group of those hoping for a coup d'état, the Capitol building that houses Congress is (obviously) packed with cameras, their images only adding to the pictures taken by the media and the selfies many of the charging mob posted; and being a federal building, forced entry and damage done here is a federal crime and is generally turned over the FBI (a good version of how quickly the FBI can put together and identify people can be viewed in the Hollywood version of the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon).  Federal crimes mean federal prisons and unfortunately for the rioters, their charges and trials (84 have now been arrested and additional "suspect" images are appearing on social media for further arrests) will appear too late for the possibility of Trump issuing them a pardon.*  Our country now goes into a waiting period of wondering what else may happen, with both questions and rumors all over the place: does Trump having a military (or private) plane ready to whisk him to Scotland (just in case, the country has informed him that their borders are locked down due to Covid-19); will New York and other states issue criminal charges to Trump on 12:01 PM, January 20th due to alleged illegal financial dealings since at that time Trump becomes little more than an ordinary citizen (as with other former presidents, he will continue to receive Secret Service protection but little else); will Trump declare bankruptcy for the 7th time to default on the hundreds of millions of dollars in debt he will face from both banks and creditors (his followers donating to his "re-elect me in 2024" campaign hopefully realize that in the fine print of his campaign plea notes that only 1/4 of their money goes to the campaign and the rest goes to Trump's personal finances).  So Happy, but strange, New Year 2021...     

     The Times Square ball, now fully digitized and blaring with ads, should have given us a preview that things might be about to change.  The virus had reduced the normally packed and joyous crowd there to just a handful, each of whom was doing their best to convey the celebration they so badly wanted; but there was to be no true celebration here, especially as the world teetered on instability: --countries and presidents not wanting to acknowledge their declining power among a changing populace; --viral mutations that were rapidly adapting to our antibodies and taking over older versions of themselves (the second variant now accounts for 60% of the cases in the UK according to stats from December; studies are only beginning on the 3rd variant); --economies questioning if paper money will be worth keeping (digital Bitcoin has now gone up 300%+ in a year); --and cruise ships still wondering if they'll ever get the okay to start sailing again (most remain on government orders to stay anchored at sea without monetary bailouts or help, while the airlines are poised to get yet another round of financial help said US News).  

     This was a preview of a still-changing world and one which was changing rather quickly.  But despite the calamity we may need to step back and take a broader view of what happened and where we go from here.  Out of a group of protesters that perhaps numbered a few thousand, only a few hundred chose to cause damage (5 people including a police officer have so far died from the melee) and many of those leading the break-in had appeared at earlier armed protests as members of white supremacy groups or conspiracy theorists (most were not wearing masks and clustered close together); as for the police, they were quick to lock down the chambers and escort the two houses of Congress into the matrix of tunnels that would lead them to safety (where they were protected by a military-like detail outside, said one Congressperson).  But calls soon began to emerge as to what Trump could do in his remaining days: could he declare a nuclear strike on Iran to provoke a war (the answer is yes, but the military could override that decision if they felt it was little more than a political ploy); could he be removed from power immediately (yes, if the 25th Amendment was invoked by the Vice-President); could he pardon himself or his family before any criminal charges were even filed (murky at best since it's never been tested; but if so such pardons only apply to federal charges and not ones brought by states or other countries); could he hide in exile at one of his golf resorts (not according to what the neighbors at his Mar A Lago resort are saying, said an opinion in the Washington Post).  More importantly, what documents or national security information might have been taken as desks and drawers were emptied and thrown to the ground (an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi reported that a laptop had been taken).  And scientists are wondering if the insurrection will end up spreading the virus to the members of Congress and police who huddled together for safety, said The New York Times (it should be noted that with only 4% of the world's population, the U.S. still accounts for over 20% of coronavirus cases and is a leader in the number of people who have died from the Covid-19).

    The bigger question being asked is how and why this rioting mob spraying pepper spray and such into the eyes of Capitol police** were treated so differently.  If the charging crowd had been black, or Hispanic, or Muslim, or whatever, would there have been a different show of force and perhaps more injuries?  A quote from a book by Eric Weiner noted: When he looked around he saw a people splintered into warring factions and governed by rulers more interested in personal gain that public good.  This wasn't only immoral, he thought, but impractical.  (He) sensed there was a better way...His message landed with a deafening silence..."If words are not right, judgements are not clear."  Weiner was talking about Confucius (Weiner notes that Confucius also said: Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire, all some 500 years before Jesus Christ was born)   He notes another quote from Simone Weil who said: All our mistakes are due to the fact that thought has seized upon some idea too hastily, and being prematurely blocked, is not open to the truth.

    In a recent issue of AFAR, writer Emma John wrote that many of the public footpaths and public right-of-ways were being lost, buried by lack of use and overgrown bushes; in 2000 the British government said that any footpath not on the official record would be eliminated by 2026.  Another "mob" of thousands took to the paths, using old maps and finding and registering those "lost" paths.  Within a few months, she writes: ...every one of these forgotten paths had been identified.  Her story tells of walking along a trial she'd never noticed, "lined on both sides by tall hedges, the path made narrower by shoulder-high elder trees, which offered high fives as I passed."  Halfway up the gentle incline, a wooden stile spillld me into open space.  Looking back, I could see for miles.  To my left, stippled cows peered benevolently from their paddock.  To my right, a field of yellow rapeseed ran all the way to a cluster of houses and a stone-turreted church.  At the field's edges were more hills, embroidered with forest, above them a sky of urgent blue.  My breath caught.  I was looking at one of the prettiest views of the British countryside I had ever seen.  And I had never encountered it before, despite visiting this area for two decades.

     Yes, the institution of democracy in the United States got tested (after all, nearly half of our country wanted Trump to serve another four years); and obviously the divisions in the core values of our populace are being exposed.  Gen Z'er Jordan Salama wrote a piece in National Geographic that tried to express part of his generation's viewpoint: Such large and diverse crowds of young adults joined the protests of the killing of George Floyd in part because of what the pandemic was revealing about the systemic inequalities in our country...Humanity is in for a similarly urgent reckoning, I suspect, about the consequences of mistreating our planet.  As the virus does now, the global climate emergency has long alarmed our generation...For those of us at the beginning of our adult lives, the faltering start caused by the pandemic means that our choices will matter even more.  We need reminders so we don't forget what it felt like: Some suffered far more than others, but all of us were plunged into a period of questioning, of reevaluating, of trial...Don't underestimate our ability to overcome.  With this calamitous start to a new year, one could probably say the same for democracy.

   *National Geographic provides a quick summary of what happens when a sitting President refuses to hand over the reins on inauguration day.  

**In an article in the Washington Post, the former chief of the Capitol police (he resigned after the incident) said his officers were attacked: ... with metal pipes, chemical irritants and other weapons.  He said officers responded to reports of two pipe bombs, including one outside Republican National Committee headquarters, and a suspicious vehicle... reportedly a truck loaded with weapons, ammunition and bombmaking materials...its owner was arrested, police said.  Worth watching: CNN reporter Ali Zaslav posted a Twitter video of some of the damage inside the offices of Congress...