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Well That Sucked
Jan. 7th, 2021 09:09 am
I don't want to think about what happened yesterday at the Capitol any more than I have to, but I can't stop. Every time I get a free moment, I'm seized by the urge to doomscroll on Twitter or check up on the Washington Post.
I suppose I keep hoping that there's some kind of positive momentum to come from this. The tone of the coverage from the media was really tough on Trump and his enablers, but after the rioters were removed from the Capitol and gently escorted off the streets of Washington, DC, everyone sounded eager to "just move on" to completing the business they set out to do.
There were still over 120 Republican Representatives and Senators willing to challenge the results of a free and fair election after local, state, federal officials and judges have debunked blatant lies and thrown out spurious suits citing a complete lack of evidence. Right-wing media is desperately propagating the lie that the attack was a false-flag operation staged by antifa protestors.
It's unreal that we're only "considering" invoking the 25th Amendment and impeachment is still unlikely to be a viable option. Even as the media talks about the GOP defecting from Trump, Congress adjourned after certifying Biden's election win. They won't reconvene until after the inauguration. To me, they shouldn't rest until everyone responsible for this travesty is held accountable.
But that's just not the way the world works. Armed white people can storm the Capitol building, cause chaos and terror, steal things from congressional offices, and very likely face little to no consequences. People protesting unjust laws and anti-social policies are maced, tased, arrested and abused. The blatant disparity in response from the DC police hurt more than a lot of the other injustices we had to endure through the last four years for some reason. It's obvious there won't be consequences even after we raise holy hell about it, which just emboldens the same actors to do worse next time.
I'm just so fed up with white supremacy, of having to live in a world where the state sanctions the murder of my people. Seeing the Tulsa massacre in "Watchmen" and "Lovecraft Country" really brought home how fundamental anti-black sentiment is in this country. So many people had no idea this act of domestic terrorism even happened, and I bet they would be equally shocked that it wasn't the only one. We sweep this under the rug in our country so people never have to reckon with it. And without that reckoning, things just won't get better.
Even with the results of the GA Senate runoff races giving control of the Senate to the Democrats, I'm not terribly optimistic things will get better. There is a third of the country out there who refuses to believe the election was legitimate; there is an entire political party spreading blatant lies and subverting democracy in order to hold on to power; there is an organized movement clamoring for a civil/race war, and they know the powers that be will look the other way if any one of them is caught. How can you hope for justice or fairness in an environment like this?
I'm so so tired. I know most of my friends feel the same way, and feel lost figuring out what to do about it. I wish I had an answer for allies trying to make things better, but honestly I think the only thing we can do is the hard work of allowing NO FURTHER QUARTER to authoritarian or fascist sympathizing. We need to fight it in any way we can; through boycotts and pressure campaigns, through deplatforming and shunning from our communities, through violence if necessary. I'm no longer willing to entertain the possibility of redemption for these people. They know what they're doing, and they won't stop until folks like me are dead or subjugated.
This kind of anger is not something I'll be able to sustain for long, I know. But at the very least, I'm just not going to fuck with people who flirt with this nonsense. I'm not interested in converting them. Just making sure they have nothing to do with me and that they have no power to enact their horrid ideology.
But honestly, I just wish, more than anything, that I didn't have to think about any of this. I'm tired of the persistent feeling that this is us teetering over the precipice and the breakdown of society has begun. I know that sounds hyperbolic, but this is how my anxiety works.
I'm really good at keeping shit together for the most part, at least.
I suppose I keep hoping that there's some kind of positive momentum to come from this. The tone of the coverage from the media was really tough on Trump and his enablers, but after the rioters were removed from the Capitol and gently escorted off the streets of Washington, DC, everyone sounded eager to "just move on" to completing the business they set out to do.
There were still over 120 Republican Representatives and Senators willing to challenge the results of a free and fair election after local, state, federal officials and judges have debunked blatant lies and thrown out spurious suits citing a complete lack of evidence. Right-wing media is desperately propagating the lie that the attack was a false-flag operation staged by antifa protestors.
It's unreal that we're only "considering" invoking the 25th Amendment and impeachment is still unlikely to be a viable option. Even as the media talks about the GOP defecting from Trump, Congress adjourned after certifying Biden's election win. They won't reconvene until after the inauguration. To me, they shouldn't rest until everyone responsible for this travesty is held accountable.
But that's just not the way the world works. Armed white people can storm the Capitol building, cause chaos and terror, steal things from congressional offices, and very likely face little to no consequences. People protesting unjust laws and anti-social policies are maced, tased, arrested and abused. The blatant disparity in response from the DC police hurt more than a lot of the other injustices we had to endure through the last four years for some reason. It's obvious there won't be consequences even after we raise holy hell about it, which just emboldens the same actors to do worse next time.
I'm just so fed up with white supremacy, of having to live in a world where the state sanctions the murder of my people. Seeing the Tulsa massacre in "Watchmen" and "Lovecraft Country" really brought home how fundamental anti-black sentiment is in this country. So many people had no idea this act of domestic terrorism even happened, and I bet they would be equally shocked that it wasn't the only one. We sweep this under the rug in our country so people never have to reckon with it. And without that reckoning, things just won't get better.
Even with the results of the GA Senate runoff races giving control of the Senate to the Democrats, I'm not terribly optimistic things will get better. There is a third of the country out there who refuses to believe the election was legitimate; there is an entire political party spreading blatant lies and subverting democracy in order to hold on to power; there is an organized movement clamoring for a civil/race war, and they know the powers that be will look the other way if any one of them is caught. How can you hope for justice or fairness in an environment like this?
I'm so so tired. I know most of my friends feel the same way, and feel lost figuring out what to do about it. I wish I had an answer for allies trying to make things better, but honestly I think the only thing we can do is the hard work of allowing NO FURTHER QUARTER to authoritarian or fascist sympathizing. We need to fight it in any way we can; through boycotts and pressure campaigns, through deplatforming and shunning from our communities, through violence if necessary. I'm no longer willing to entertain the possibility of redemption for these people. They know what they're doing, and they won't stop until folks like me are dead or subjugated.
This kind of anger is not something I'll be able to sustain for long, I know. But at the very least, I'm just not going to fuck with people who flirt with this nonsense. I'm not interested in converting them. Just making sure they have nothing to do with me and that they have no power to enact their horrid ideology.
But honestly, I just wish, more than anything, that I didn't have to think about any of this. I'm tired of the persistent feeling that this is us teetering over the precipice and the breakdown of society has begun. I know that sounds hyperbolic, but this is how my anxiety works.
I'm really good at keeping shit together for the most part, at least.
