Things aren't always what they seem. Except...

Judy and I were out for a walk to our neighborhood Starbucks at a shopping area where there’s rebuilding following a fire three years ago. An empty lot, once the gardening area of a great hardware store, stands across the walkway from the new building.

We observed a truck backed into that empty lot, the driver’s door left hanging open, and a man with a spray can in hand, spraying something on a narrow block wall. We could see the graffiti, a couple of large pink areas outlined in black and some black writing in the upper right-hand corner. Was the man adding the finishing touches? I said, “Look! That guy’s tagging in there!”

Whipping out our cell phones, we took pictures of the perp. Judy moved to a different angle to get a photo of the license plate on the front of the truck. Hmmm. No license plate and nothing on the truck to identify it or the trailer attached to it. The whole time, the man kept at it.

Once we had our coffees in hand and rounded the back side of the complex, we saw some of the construction workers and met the job boss for the rebuilding project. We told him what we’d observed, and he said he’d let the building manager know.

Satisfied we’d done our neighborly duty, we continued on our way past the empty lot. To our surprise, the man was still there! But now he wielded a different tool, some kind of long piece that he used to spray the wall. We moved to get a better look and discovered the graffiti was gone. The wall was restored to like-new! The man wasn’t tagging. He was un-tagging!

While I returned to the job boss to say we had been in error, Judy stepped over to speak with the man. He told her he was a “graffiti exterminator.” He was preparing the surfaces for repainting.

Things are not always what they seem.

But about that rioting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, insurrection was precisely what we saw—no matter how many politicians say it was a “normal tourist day.” We watched in horror with our own eyes, felt it in our guts, gasped with every blow thrown. We know better. We witnessed. It was exactly as it seemed.

~ xoA ~

Photos from Getty Images

Where were you on January 6th?

A pleasant January morning with a soak in our hot tub followed by a leisurely breakfast rapidly turned ugly. Afternoon in Washington DC, the undeterred rampage by thousands of insurrectionists on the U.S. Capitol building and democracy unfolded right before our eyes. It was a window into way too much of America.

An unruly mob—rioters who represented nearly half of American voters—paraded through the Rotunda waving Trump flags, confederate flags, white supremacy flags. Fired up by the President at a pre-march rally, they converged on the Capitol with a purpose: to disrupt, take over, create chaos, and instill fear. 

And they did. Our stomachs roiled as we witnessed the scene. We feared for the Senators, Representatives, and their staff, for all the building’s government workers. And, we feared for the government itself as we watched this mob’s brand of “patriotism”, their absolute assault on democracy.

With the passage of a few days, we’ve learned of the five deaths that occurred on the Capitol grounds and the arrest of a number of rioters. We’ve heard the false-sounding remorse of a few folks who “made a bad decision” by being there.

But this should be far from finished. Relentless investigation, diligent apprehension, and vigorous prosecution must take place. And the President must go.

We Americans horrified, saddened and angered by the actions of some of our fellow countrymen and women on January 6^th must do something, too. We have to stand our ground that these behaviors and attitudes are intolerable. Reluctant to “cause a problem” or create discomfort, we silence ourselves, and that silence is taken for agreement. We need to muster the courage to speak up.

We are obliged to press our government representatives who have upheld and joined in perpetuating the lies that incited these rioters and have made a mockery of democracy. We have to hold them accountable until we can vote them out.

Though these are difficult and scary times, we must persevere. As Maya Angelou said, “Having courage doesn’t mean that we are unafraid. Having courage and showing courage mean we face our fears…” We must have the courage to speak out and to hold those perverse Representatives’ and Senators’ feet to the fire and not let the embers of what we saw, felt, and experienced die out.

~ xoA ~

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash