The Mob on Jan 6th, and The Importance of Grief
January 6th 2021 was a difficult day to be a citizen of the United States. I felt shame for the state that the country was in. But through the long night and into the morning of the 7th, I saw things come together, and a possibility for renewal.
The Insurrection
A mob had violently stormed congress in a haphazard insurrection, so far five people have lost their lives, the capital was invaded and looted, and two Improvised Explosive Devices were sent to major party headquarters. This happened in the United States of America.
These events were inspired by a president that has been harbouring continuously debunked conspiratorial beliefs, refusing to concede to an election he lost. His loss is unsurprising, as this is a nation where public opinion is relevant for elections, and the public has had consistently negative opinions of him for more or less his whole time in office. Yet he has spent the intervening time since the election in an attempt to undo the election results, and spreading misinformation.
Donald Trump describes himself as a winner, yet he forces himself to lose the same election over, and over, and over again without facing the reality…
He should be no stranger to loss, as there have been more than enough business failings to teach that lesson, yet the lesson remains un-leared.
A person’s ability to lose is vital for their character. It is in loss, in grief, that we come to a point where deep changes are made, and character is manifest. And character matters.
Loss in Suspension
On January 6th the ungrieved loss of his followers was palpable. They have been held in suspension for months, fed misinformation and debunked reports that have served to keep them in a state of denial. Denial which turned to rage in an eruption into the mob’s haphazard insurrection the world has watched.
Though obviously condemning the mob action and violence, I do not blame Donald Trump’s supporters for their denial.
They invested their hopes and dreams of renewal in someone, and they lost. It’s painful to lose your hopes and dreams. They needed a leader that would help them through their grief, from which new hopes, and new dreams might spring. Instead they have been held in a state of suspension for months, fed misinformation that thrives off their denial. All the fact checkers in the world can’t replace a lost dream left ungrieved.
It is a hard loss, and in a moment like that, they needed a leader with a deep and profound ability to grieve, and reconnect to core beliefs of what it means to be a citizen of the United States. Instead, they had Donald Trump.
And so I have compassion for them. Part of my intent of this piece is to spread that compassion. I hope they find people who can help them process their loss, their leader won’t do it, he can’t even do it for himself.
I am also reminded of the riots in June on the other side of the political divide we have suffered. Where there too was a suspension of grief. Held up by innaction and injustice for the loss of life, many of which (though not all) were innocent, as well as a great many other inequities. Inequities laid plain by the vast difference in the police response to the recent insurrection compared to June, where tear gas was used outside the white house on demonstrators that showed no signs of violence.
No party, and no demographic, has a monopoly on loss. It is a universal condition that we all can relate to. Some may argue that one group or another has greater or lesser amounts or justification for their loss. But the fact is we all have them, and we all need to grieve our losses.
The need for grief has reached a fever pitch, but it is not new. As a people, we have largely been cut off from our grief for a while. I sense a need for a larger exploration of that; but it is very early on January 7th, it has been a long night, and I have a main point to get back to.
Return to Civility in Ritual Counting
I had previously thought that the counting of electoral votes by congress was a pointless and unnecessary formality. Even in the unlikely scenario that enough objections were sustained to affect the outcome of the election, they would be sent back to the states which would cast the same vote. But the events of the day had me watching the deliberations until their conclusion in the very early hours.
The rioters were cleared and the members of congress and senators returned, many of which shocked into a moment of reflection. They returned to their deliberations in the ritual formality they came from, and I saw the proceeding take on a new role.
Reflection, and Airing of Grievances
I saw Senator Loeffler, fresh from her own election loss, turn towards her conscience, air her grievances, appeal to democracy, and rescind the objection she planned to make for counting her state’s electors. I admire her for that.
I saw many others turn to their conscience, reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law and the will of the people and act accordingly, even if it meant airing an objection. Objections they all knew had no possibility, or even likely intent, of changing the outcome. But those objections themselves had a part to play.
Although many of the objections may have been motivated by political pandering to avoid the wrath of Trump and his supporters upending re-election bids; I saw through all that, to a deeper need in our nation at this time.
De-litteralizing the objections as attempts to replace the will of the voters, and instead seeing them as an airing of grievances, and a reaffirmation of the rule of law and the principles of democracy.
The overwhelming majority of objections were about things everyone knew were not substantial enough to change the certification of the votes; like how the Pennsylvania supreme court does not have the authority to extend the ballot receipt deadline only the legislator does, although the amount of ballots it would affect were not enough to change the vote. Though inconsequential, most objections had some ground in the rule of law. While the congressional votes to exclude the people’s decision were unconscionable, the airing of grievances was appropriate.
Affirmation of Values
Whether the person speaking was for or against the objection, they were both affirming the rule of law, the democratic process, and it’s ideals. There were many speakers on the political right who expressed their own feeling of loss for the outcome, while affirming the importance of accepting the will of the people. Those being foundationational principles deeper than the partisan divides culminating to this moment.
Before the capitol was invaded, there was also a pause of reflection and re-affirmation of values. I saw Mitch McConnel, of all people, say “we can not keep drifting apart into two separate tribes, with a separate set of facts, and separate realities; with nothing in common except our hostility towards each other, and mistrust for the few National institutions that we all still share.” Then later he said “The United States Senate has a higher calling than an endless spiral of partisan vengeance.”
I am sure McConnel’s leadership had a part to play in the return to civility that followed into the early hours. Though I disagree with a great deal of what Senator McConnel has done of the years, and how in many ways he has fed that very sentiment of partisan vengeance, I nevertheless appreciate him greatly in this moment. I wish him all the strength to live up to what he has said, be a strong leader for his party and ideals, and bring them together into a new synthesis, because we need it… badly…
Even to the cynic, who might see those appeals to the values of democracy as lip service, the fact that those values are still held in such regard to receive such praise and affirmation is important.
Character Matters
It would have been far better if Trump himself had conceded when the outcome was clear, when his recounts failed to gain him votes, when his legal battles were thrown out, or when the electoral college vote was cast; he owed that to his supporters, and has failed them as a leader, and they are suffering for it.
None of Donald Trump’s behavior should be surprising. He has harbored conspiratorial beliefs long before he was elected, getting into politics by baseless claims that Obama’s birth certificate was forged; he has been known in the business world to surround himself with sycophants; he said himself in 2016 that he would only accept the results of an election if he wins; he has been notorious in business for ungrounded lawsuits; and his constant self aggrandizement has been a hallmark of his attitude for decades. It is his character, and we have known it all along, if we cared to look, or cared to care.
Character matters. I hope we learned that.
But at the very least, it is reassuring to me to see that there appears to be some amount of checks and balances on character as well. Hidden inside the formalities.
Restoration
I feel that though shaking and tragic, the events of January 6th may serve as an important moment in our history, where the tides of division reached their highest mark before turning back.
The poem “East Coker” by T.S.Eliot has been on my mind a lot recently, and for a lot of different reasons. But regarding the state of our country in this moment, these lines resonate the most:
Our only health is the disease
If we obey the dying nurse
Whose constant care is not to please
But to remind of our, and Adam’s curse,
And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse.
Our Sickness grew worse. May we be restored.