MLK DAY, January 18th, 2021. Let Us Pray

from The Washington Post:  41 minutes of fear: A video timeline from inside the Capitol siege

from The New Yorker: A Reporter’s Footage from Inside the Capitol Siege

Before I begin this week's episode, I would ask all my readers to view these 2 videos, one, a compilation from The Washington Post, the other from The New Yorker's Luke Mogelson. It is a factual, clear, timeline of the attack on the Capitol. [Note: if you use the link below The Washington Post video there is no sound, but there are lots of maps so you can follow the progress of the insurrections as they move into and through the building.] Understanding the timeline and what happened in the Senate chamber is not to make a political statement; although there are many to be made, every single one of We, the People, need to see how our Capitol was breached. Understanding the why superficially is not enough; there is a deeper, more complex, more complete why which the incoming administration must fully dissect and examine if we are to ever move forward.  

There is a transcript of what was said in the Senate chamber attached to the Mogelson video, but it's the part at 8:00 minutes in that should shake the core of our republic at its very roots:

[Man at Podium] Let's all say a prayer in this sacred space.

Thank you heavenly father for gracing us

with this opportunity.

[indistinct]

Thanks to our heavenly father.

[Man] Amen.

For this opportunity to stand up

for our God-given unalienable rights.

Thank you heavenly father for

being the inspiration needed to these police officers

to allow us into the building,

to allow us to exercise our rights,

to allow us to send a message

to all the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists,

that this is our nation, not theirs,

that we will not allow the America,

the American way of the United States of America to go down.

Thank you divine, omniscient, omnipotent,

and omnipresent creator God

for filling this chamber with your white light and love,

with your white light of harmony.

Thank you for filling this chamber with patriots

that love you. Yes lord.

And that love Christ.

Thank you divine, omniscient, omnipotent,

and omnipresent creator God for blessing

each and every one of us here and now.

Amen. Thank you divine

creator God for surrounding [indistinct]

with the divine omnipresent white light

of love and protection, peace and harmony.

Thank you for allowing the United States of America

to be reborn.

Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists,

the globalists, and the traitors within our government.

We love you and we thank you, in Christ's holy name we pray.

[Crowd] Amen.

They believe they are defending the Constitution. They believe they are following in the footsteps of our Founding Fathers. And they believe the rest of us are the traitors. Especially the non-Christians. 

Now, let me make something crystal clear here. 

I AM NOT TAKING THEIR SIDE.

I AM NOT EXCUSING THEIR BEHAVIOR.

I AM NOT DEFENDING THEIR ACTIONS.

Okay, got that? Good. Now you may read on.

 Horn man left this on the desk

We, the People, cannot ignore this protest. It doesn't matter that they have been fed a pile of bullshit and are trying to spread it around. What matters is that they believe Donald Trump's tenure in office has been illegally suspended. Once you can grasp that concept, you have a chance to understand these people are not going to just go away; they will continue to demonstrate and demand some form of recall. And if those demands are not met, they will turn to violent insurrection. As the guy in the horns wrote on the paper in the Senate, "Justice Is Coming." Their justice, based on their belief that they are the true patriots here. 

A lot of people may have had a wake-up call on January 6th, but not everyone. Sunday morning, an interviewee on FACE THE NATION said 49% of Republicans remain unconvinced Biden/Harris won. Maybe that's 25% of the entire population? I don't know. But I still think 25% of anything is significant and requires attention. They will not be swept under the rug, nor will they just go away. This percentage must be recognized, and their grievances must be taken seriously. To do otherwise will grow the rebellion. I'm suggesting We, the People, adopt their policies; I am strongly suggesting that we start listening to what they are saying so facts and reality can be targeted to that audience. 

Most of you, dear readers, do not believe that Wednesday afternoon the Good Fairy of Kindness will descend on the nation's capital to sprinkle magic dust to change all hearts and minds. Let me reassure you: pixies are not coming to fix this. Reality is reality and that is what we must confront. To ignore that segment of the population is to do so at our own peril.

We, the People, must recognize this is far from over. 

**********************

But today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and we know there is another fight for the soul of this nation that is far from over. 

My friend Eric, a Minnesotan living in exile on the West Coast, posted the following status on FaceBook: 

I’m disappointed in myself that I hadn’t read his Letter from Birmingham Jail before now. Fortunately for my edification – though, sadly for the march of progress – it is as relevant to our present moment as it was to the moment for which it was written almost 58 years ago.

Too much time has passed since I read the Letter from Birmingham Jail, and Eric is correct, it is as relevant now as it was then. What is equally important is to read the open letter from the eight white clergymen from Birmingham, published on April 12th, 1963, who believed the demonstrations were inappropriate and unnecessary. The "outsiders" to whom they refer tacitly includes Dr. King and those who demonstrated with him. 

However, we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders. We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely. 

We agree rather with certain local Negro leadership which has called for honest and open negotiation of racial issues in our area. And we believe this kind of facing of issues can best be accomplished by citizens of our own metropolitan area, white and Negro, meeting with their knowledge and experience of the local situation. All of us need to face that responsibility and find proper channels for its accomplishment. 

All things considered, this is talking about Alabama in the 1960s. Untimely? It's not like there was a whole lotta progress over the last 100 years. 

In his letter, Dr King takes issue with these clergymen most eloquently. He writes:

You deplore the demonstrations that are presently taking place in Birmingham. But I am sorry that your statement did not express a similar concern for the conditions that brought the demonstrations into being. I am sure that each of you would want to go beyond the superficial social analyst who looks merely at effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. I would not hesitate to say that it is unfortunate that so-called demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham at this time, but I would say in more emphatic terms that it is even more unfortunate that the white power structure of this city left the Negro community with no other alternative.

We are a deeply divided nation that is still struggling with the injustice Dr. King saw and experienced in 1963. There is no denying the existence of the chasm between Black and White America then or now. It's there. Recognition of its existence is crucial and Dr. King bluntly states his disappointment with the religious leaders of Alabama in no uncertain terms:

I have heard numerous religious leaders of the South call upon their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers say, follow this decree because integration is morally right and the Negro is your brother. In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on the sidelines and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, “Those are social issues which the gospel has nothing to do with,” and I have watched so many churches commit themselves to a completely otherworldly religion which made a strange distinction between bodies and souls, the sacred and the secular

Dr. King, throughout the letter, spells out the exasperation of those denied a voice in deciding their own lives. He returns to the theme of self-determination again and again, reminding the other religious leaders that they have an obligation to treat all fairly and with respect. In the deep south of the 1960s segregation was the norm, and not high on the list of things to change no matter what pastors said from the pulpit. It's not enough to mouth the words; the words must contain intent, and that intent has to move outside the walls of the houses of worship to be put into practice. 

At the time the two letters were written, Dr. King and those fighting for civil rights were viewed much the same way most of us are viewing the insurrectionists. 

Yeah. Really. 

And therein lies one of the bigger problems: We, the People, in order to form a more perfect union, have to provide transparency in our government so that those who believe the DNC is running a pedophile ring in a Philly pizzeria can be brought in from that cold, cold night. The generally disenfranchised who have been sucked into this morass have to be nudged out. And it has to be done at the Congressional district level. 

If our elected legislators are honest about wanting to heal the rift, they will have to have words with intent, and intent pasted to the soles of their shoes as they walk their own districts. There needs to be an agreement about how the midterm elections are going to unfold...from tone and tenor to money and pacs. There must be a show of dissenting, CIVIL opinion and a demonstration of respect between the contenders. They don't have to agree, they just have to be civil and respectful of each other. Debate is not a synonym for name-calling and shouting. Debate should be a presentation of ideas. 

Yeah, I'm asking a lot. But if you're reading this, how about sending it to your Congressperson with a note saying, "It's time to get this right. Let's have a midterm campaign about ideas. Let's say 'no' to dark money and smear ads. Let's listen to what each side has to say." 

Yeah, yeah, just call me the Wifely Pollyanna. But here's the thing, it has to start someplace. Sure, it will begin with Joe Biden's inaugural address on Wednesday, but let's ask our legislators not to stop there... but to keep going. 

Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

And for those members of Congress who aided the insurrection with maps, tours, and directions: throw their sorry asses right out of Congress with expulsion. No matter what they thought about the election, their job was to protect both the Constitution and the republic. When they put their own colleagues at risk, their oath of office was shattered.

I mean, whaddya think the insurrectionists would've done to Nancy Pelosi had they found her?

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Day

Planning on watching the Inauguration?

Get outta the sweats and dress up a little.

You'll feel better and maybe even a little hopeful.

Me? I'm gonna wear my pearls.