I Feel Like Jor-El
I’ve spent the majority of this morning watching the January 6th Committee kick off their investigation. Today featured the testimony of four police officers, two from the Capitol Police and two from DC Metro. Each had their own horror stories to tell — from the guy who was tased multiple times at the base of his skull (until he lost consciousness for 4 minutes) to the guy who nearly died trapped in a doorway. There was also a recounting of the racial epithets hurled at officers of color.
It was moving and brutal to be reminded of what we all watched unfold live on TV. I have nothing but respect for the officers, and this is from a person who has written about defunding the police and been very critical of law enforcement. The two are not mutually exclusive. A person can want police officers to show more humanity and empathy for the communities they protect and serve while also admiring the sacrifices they make during a terrorist attack.
Numerous Republicans have called the terrorists of January 6th “tourists” and said the insurrection was “non-violent and peaceful” and even today, while these brave officers recount their stories, members of Congress continue to spread this false narrative. Some are even more concerned with how the captured terrorists are being treated than the welfare of the officers who defended and protected them. See for yourself:
Just like 9/11, January 6th is a day in which I don’t think I’ll ever forget where I was or what I was doing. We were getting ready to go to IKEA (of all places) when I saw something trending on Twitter. I’d watched some of the “Stop the Steal” rally throughout the morning and had taken note of all the violent rhetoric on display. The President, in his closing remarks, told his supporters to march with him down to the Capitol in order to “cheer on” the “brave congressmen and women” who were trying to overturn a free and fair election. And did he tell them to be peaceful about it? NAH. He told them that they needed to show “strength” so they could “take back” the country.
Did these morons really think he’d be with them? It just shows who gullible they are. And while the attacks were happening, what did Trump do? NOT MUCH from what we know. Hopefully, this investigation will reveal more of what was going on inside the White House during it. A few hours into the terrorist attack, he released this weak video in which he told the terrorists that he “loved them”.
Disgraceful.
Officer Harry Dunn, in some of the most poignant remarks of today, said this:
I think we know who the man was that sent this violent mob to the Capitol.
All of this brings me to my main point. This past weekend I was hanging out with a friend and we were talking about Biden and if he’s doing a good job/done enough. My friend was adamant that Biden has been doing a really good job. I disagreed. I don’t think he’s done nearly enough. And yeah, sure, he has to work with Congress. But does that stop Republicans when they get power? Hell no. They get stuff done no matter what, even if they have to bend laws and decorum to do it. And that’s what we need right now.
See, our country is a ship, and baby, it is WAY off course. We don’t need a steady hand. We don’t need minor course corrections or a return to normalcy. We need massive, sweeping change, the likes of which haven’t been done since The Great Depression. And this is why I feel like Jor-El.
For those of you who don’t know, Jor-El is Superman’s father. As the lore goes, Jor-El saw that Krypton (their home planet) was in BIG trouble. But no one was willing to do anything about it. No matter how much he begged and pleaded with the government in charge, they refused to enact the plans necessary to save their society. In the end, Jor-El was right and just about every single Kryptonian died.
Any of this sounding familiar?
Whether it is the newest outbreak of COVID ripping across our country, killing more of our fellow citizens each day, or the blurred facts of the January 6th insurrection, there is a massive group of people in this country who do not wish to see the writing on the wall. They ignore experts, clinging to some misguided notion of “free-doom”.
Our planet is on fire. Both on the land and the sea.
I’ve never seen or imagined anything like this happening. THE OCEAN IS ON FIRE Y’ALL!! And sure, ok, it’s the gas inside the ocean that’s on fire but man… it doesn’t seem good. Just like the wildfires in Oregon, or Minnesota, or Canada, or California, or the ones that torched like half of Australia not long ago, things are not getting better. They are getting much, much worse.
And yet, people do not seem to realize that a “return to normalcy” is about the worst thing we can do, aside from giving the Orange Maniac another term in office. Normalcy is what got us here. Normalcy is what brought about MAGA. We need more than normal. We need radical, immediate change. Or else there will not be a pleasant home for children to live in.
What do we want to leave to future generations? A place where oil companies drill in wildlife refuges? Where fires burn out of control for months on end? Where viruses spread out of control because we can’t get people to wear masks or get vaccines? COVID is changing, growing, evolving before our very eyes. And in time, unless it is stopped, it will become as dangerous as any plague we’ve seen before. More than half a MILLION Americans have died from it. At what number will they finally listen?
Like Jor-El, I fear I am destined to witness the destruction of our way of life. Either from climate change or civil war, or some unknown horror yet to pass. It is overwhelming and I am often unable to put it all into words.
The clock is ticking. We don’t have much time left. We can turn this thing around but only by pushing us twice as hard in the opposite direction. What does this mean? It means investing in education and communities. It means changing how police interact with the people they serve. It means forcing companies to pay not a minimum wage but a livable one to help close the wealth gap. It means cutting carbon emissions and putting in place environmental regulations with teeth. It means providing healthcare for everyone. It means guaranteeing housing to those who need it. It means stopping the sale of guns to anyone and everyone. It means ending a pointless, destructive war on drugs that has done far more harm than good. It means facing up to our racial history with honesty and open minds.
I’m sure there are plenty of things I left out. Turning one thing around won’t cut it. If we are going to get this ship back on course, we need to move ALL OF IT. We are running out of time.
Unlike Kal-El (Superman), we do not have a spacecraft in which to seek shelter. There is no Earth-2 to go to. The only ship we have is sinking. It is time to put the tablespoons away and start doing some serious work.
Our future depends on it.