To Tell the Truth

 (blog by Kim)

Yesterday and last night we witnessed terrifying events that revealed clearly the kind of harvest that seeds of poison produce. The people who stormed the Capitol were called “thugs” by many of the Senators who felt threatened and violated by their invasion into their sacred spaces. However, those inside the Senate who continued to raise objections to the democratic electoral process were also thugs, masquerading in elegant suits and ties. The masquerading thugs inside shamelessly continued to give credence to the outside thugs, emboldening them to continue their drive for vengeance and domination. Those Senators were trying to authenticate and validate lies, and in so doing they were encouraging these kinds of violent mob actions to be repeated in state capitols around the country.

More than once, Senators said that they were only voicing the concerns of "the people." Would they think it right to “voice the concerns” of the Ku Klux Klan to preserve white America (after all, Klansmen are people, too)? Would they feel an obligation to voice the neo-Nazi's desire to return to an America with segregation, where white supremacy and white privilege were not questioned? For those of you who are uncomfortable with my analogy, did you not see the Confederate flag inside the Capitol? Did you not see the photo of the gallows with a noose outside the Capitol? Do the Senators not see that any repetition of those “concerns” continues to fuel this terrible poison and prejudice?  

These Senators were claiming only to “voice concerns” of constituents, but I suspect many of them were simply trying to avoid the repercussion of having the Trump team put up a challenge to them in their next primary election, a direct threat voiced by President Trump’s son earlier that morning. What cowardice to cave into such threats. If those Senators fear the reprisal of having to run against a more dedicated follower of Trump, then they need to dig a little deeper for some courage to do their work, to knock on doors in every precinct, every district, all over their state. They need to have the courage to find out about their constituents and represent them well, and not just placate the base of the Trump wing of their party. I wonder if they have forgotten what being an elected official is all about. It is not about defaming the Constitution in order to avoid being challenged by a more conservative candidate with a rabid following. I was disappointed that no one on the Senate floor talked about that last night. 

Many of the Senators did say we just need to speak the truth. I  agree. However, lies that get repeated so often and for so long start sounding like truth for a segment of the population of the United States, especially when those lies corroborate one's own personal prejudices. And it has taken this terrible event for some of these Senators, for the first time, to shake off at least one of those lies and speak a simple truth about the election: Joe Biden won and Donald Trump lost. Still, it seems too late to convince many followers of our 45th President what the full truth is. 

The problem has not only been with the Senators who have been repeating lies; many others have been silent in the face of lies, and I was relieved to hear some of them finally speak the truth. Their silence, which has endured for years, is part of the fertilizer that has nourished such a bountiful harvest of violence and aggression. Not only silence on the part of elected officials—it is also the troubling silence on the part of many of us—the people—who have seen and heard things from neighbors or co-workers or family members that made us uncomfortable, but didn’t speak up for fear of upsetting someone or getting into an argument. Silence does not make the poison go away; it gives it space to grow. As Martin Luther King said, “It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people.”

It is time to continue to speak the truth, even though it may not convince the attacking mob outside or the complicit Senators inside. Continue to speak it because these thugs, both inside and out, will not go away. The mob we saw yesterday did not disappear. It has just taken a temporary time out to plan their comeback. I think Professor Snape from the Harry Potter series has some advice for us when they do come back. He describes the forces behind a mob like that as “many, varied, every-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible. Your defenses must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo.” We have work to do. And we must be prepared. As Professor Snape's colleague Mad Eye Moody admonished: “Constant vigilance!”