Has America forgotten about Jan. 6 already? Or does it just not care?
While we "tune out" from politics and "move on" from the insurrection at the Capitol, those responsible plot their next attack on our democracy.
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin made a great point in a recent online chat with readers, observing how many Americans choose to tune out from politics rather than engage with the issues central to our democracy, including its very survival. She wrote,
“…many Americans are distracted or have short memories of Jan. 6. They continue to tune out all politics as if ignoring the source of their irritation is an acceptable substitute for responsible citizenship.”
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how Americans so quickly have seemed to “move on” from the catastrophic events of Jan. 6, when our very democracy was attacked by the lies of Donald Trump and the violence of his followers. The insurrection at the Capitol should have had a searing impact on the national psyche similar 9/11 or Pearl Harbor, not because the cost in human life was similar (it wasn’t), but because it represented the same kind of attack on the foundation of American society, our freedom and liberty. Only instead of an attack by outsiders against a symbol of our military might or economic strength, this attack came from within against the heart of our system of representative government that was born from the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
Yet, while I continue to feel a level of trauma and dread from the events of that day, and a fear that it could happen again with more dire consequences, may others have put that day squarely in the rear view mirror, among them former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
We live in dangerous times, and much of that danger lies in the apathy of the American people. How many Americans are much more invested in the fortunes of their favorite football or baseball team than they are in the survival of democracy? As Rubin astutely noted, many simply shun any notion of responsibility for protecting our freedoms and democracy because they find anything that smacks of politics distasteful; in fact, they often wear their disinterest in politics as a badge of honor, seemingly oblivious to the fact that failing to engage in the civic functions of our society only emboldens those who are trying to undermine and corrupt them.
How many times do we still hear the tired refrain of “they’re all the same” when it comes to politics, when the truth is that only one politician and only one political movement have ever tried to overthrow the results of a national election through lies and violence. And while some Republicans have tried to distance themselves from that truth, others, such as Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, have staked their quest for elective office on the support of those who wholeheartedly continue to embrace the Big Lie and show utter contempt for both the truth and democracy. Youngkin’s race for governor is but a preview of what we will see during the midterm elections, when Republicans will try with all their might to ride the “Big Lie” and various other assaults on our democracy, including voter suppression, to seize the power that Trump’s followers were unable to at the Capitol.
It’s time to wake up, America, and confront those who continue to peddle the “Big Lie” and seek to undermine and weaken our democracy for their own gain. Because if they succeed some day, it will be impossible to tune out their despotism of hate and corruption, and future generations will rightfully ask why so many sat idly by while the world’s greatest democracy crumbed before their eyes.