Jan. 6, 2021, has been added, appropriately, we believe, to the list of infamous national dates that pretty much everyone in the United States recognizes.
Start with Dec. 7, 1941, when air and naval forces of the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, plunging the United States into World War II.
The next big one is probably Sept. 11, 2001. Islamic terrorists slammed commercial jets into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a rural location in Peninsula, killing thousands of Americans and ushering in years of unrelenting war in the Middle East.
Now add to the list Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of outgoing-President Donald Trump attempted an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
While just one person lost their life in the melee, many were injured and members of Congress were sent running for cover as the mob, stoked by Trump and goaded by other Trump supporters, inflicted millions of dollars in damage and rocked a nation to its very core.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of that grim day. In the past 12 months, federal investigators have arrested dozens of people, a handful have been convicted and jailed and the physical damage to the building has been largely repaired.
What most certainly has not been repaired is the ugliness in American politics that spawned the whole thing.
Trump is still out there, peddling the fiction that he actually won the election, albeit to increasingly smaller audiences, we’re told.
His supporters on and offline have developed a veritable cottage industry around the discredited election fraud theme.
And right-wing authoritarianism has gained a foothold around the globe.
The 2022 midterm elections are looming with the promise of more of the same. But what can average Americans here in Superiorland and beyond do?
Our advice is, beyond anything else, don’t give up. Get educated and spread the good word that despite its warts and wants, the U.S. will not only survive but thrive.
The future isn’t in the hands of either political party, it’s in yours.
Be a leader for truth. Be the change.