We endure
I have a song in my heart and a spring in my step.
Yesterday, I was on the phone with my boss, discussing some paperwork I need to turn in for my disaster service work assignment.
I've had the good fortune of being sympatico with all of my bosses as a bookslinger and information jockey. Of course, we turned to discussing the putsch.
As true Americans, we were horrified by the coup attempt. And as more information comes out, this was an organized coup attempt, and not just a mindless mob.
But we are also children of Holy Mother Church. As such, we are well-versed in the theology of the felix culpa, the fortunate fall. I've written about this bit of theology in other essays, but to recap: Adam's sin was a tragedy which brought death into the world. But without his sin, there would have been no need for the saving grace of Christ. Out of evil, comes good.
We both agreed that out of the evil of Trump's coup, much good will come.
We're already seeing it. Yes, the dead-enders will immolate themselves once Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are inaugurated. May they make a spectacular bonfire. But the majority of Americans, even those who voted for Trump, are recoiling in horror at how close the Abyss came to swallowing up this country. Some Republicans—too few, yes—are also coming to the realization that their party has been suborned by a fascist personality cult. From that acceptance, perhaps—like Stuart Stevens—they will also accept that Trump wasn't the cause, but the culmination. Incite the mob, and the mob will eventually turn on you.
The Republic bent. The Republic shook. But the Republic remained.
In less than two weeks, Joe Biden will take office. In less than two weeks, Democrats will officially assume control of the Senate.
We have to remember what a sea change the victories of Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia will bring in. For at least two years, Democrats will control the agenda. Yes, the filibuster will still be in place. But much can be done via reconciliation. And there is no filibuster for judicial appointments.
President Biden will be able to have his Cabinet. There's no filibuster for that either.
Merrick Garland will be Attorney General. He will restore the Department of Justice to its luster. And have no doubt: He will pursue the putschists, however far up he has to go.
The traitorous filth who will be expelled from the Oval Office in twelve days gambled. He unleashed a mob seeking blood. Now he and they will face the full fury of an enraged people. The justice system he has spent four years subverting will now turn its laser eye on him and his followers, both low and high. Expect the knock at the door from the FBI. (We're already seeing it, with the agency raiding and seizing documents from Tennessee Republican state lawmakers in connection to the coup.)
January 6 will be both a day of mourning and a day of celebration. Mourning for the violence meted upon our Republic. But celebration for the fact that the Republic held firm.
It is up to us to hold the line. It is up to us to safeguard this nation. And it is up to us to continue to work to make this Republic fulfill its limitless promise.
America endures. America evolves. Those who have bet against that have always lost, and will always lose.