It has been years since an article has moved me to write to an author with a national platform. This one deserves my personal thanks.
"Some polls have sought to answer the question of how widespread belief in QAnon is. Anecdotally, it seems just about everyone I know has been surprised to find that some normal relative or friend of theirs is a believer in the conspiracy. I don’t know exactly how many people genuinely believe in it. But after Epstein and Russiagate and everything else, I understand why the temptation exists.
Until they riot, these are not people who deserve contempt. They don’t need to be patronized by lofty essays from those of us in coastal enclaves. When people get contempt and condescension, they’re more inclined to put all their trust in leaders like Trump. When people have nobody to trust but a politician, that’s not good news. Politicians, as a rule, are liars. That’s how normal people get angry enough to riot.
As the curtain closes on Trump’s presidency, the political class faces the reality that a wide swath of decent, everyday Americans now trust fringe voices. The crucial first step towards a solution is acknowledging people have indeed been lied to, and their lack of trust is a reasonable response to bipartisan institutional failure."
BTW, I think that QAnon is one of the most destructive forces in America today and was a motivator of many of those who participated on the assault of the Capitol.
I just spent a couple of hours reading the posts on this blog from the very first one, on June 4, 2006, until the last one written at the end of 2019. I haven't been a prolific or consistent blogger, writing only 176 posts over fourteen and a half years. It has been comforting to me, and has put this week's events in a little better perspective to see that, even in the years that I've been documenting world events from my point of view, there have been forgotten dark days and slow, even unpredictable, recovery out of them.
For a long time, I was intensely interested in the Iraq war and our soldiers who served there. The post, below, provides perspective of the origins and evolution of this blog.
We are a nation that is deeply divided as we approach the inauguration of Joe Biden who defeated Donald Trump for the presidency. It feels as if we are on the brink of civil war. On the day that Congress was convened to count the electoral college votes, some supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol building, causing both chambers of Congress to run for cover. One unarmed female protestor was shot dead, a police officer died of injuries sustained in the chaos, three more people died of medical causes, likely because of the stress and excitement of the event.
Most people seem to blame President Trump for the riot. They claim he incited the crowd to violence in this speech:
I disagree with the majority, and note that he specifically said: "We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."
There can definitely be debate as to whether he was wise to use the rhetoric that he did in the speech, but no one can say that he directly called for violence in this speech. I believe that he didn't "indirectly" call for violence, either, but my opinion seems to be in the minority. There is serious talk about putting him through another impeachment with only ten days left in his term. This is simply pouring gasoline on the fire of discontent that is burning among 73 million Americans who voted for President Trump's reelection.
In the days that have followed the assault on the Capitol, Twitter and Facebook have permanently banned President Trump from posting. Another social media platform, Parler, that has been increasingly favored by conservatives, has been booted by Amazon; it is pulling its web hosting service tonight. Apple and Google are not allowing the Parler app to be downloaded from their app stores. Thousands, if not millions, of Twitter and Facebook users are leaving those platforms in protest, and Parler is going to be incapacitated, at least in the short run. In a nutshell, five of the biggest companies in the world (Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon) have cut off the ability for Donald Trump to communicate directly to the masses and have greatly impeded the communication routes for conservatives.
Our country has been in various states of lockdown since last March when we became aware of the COVID-19 Corona virus. Our state of Minnesota has been especially locked down due to executive orders of our governor. States with Democrat governors tend to be the ones experiencing the tightest lockdowns. In this state, it is prohibited to gather with more than one other household, even in our own homes. There are no exceptions for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Restaurants and bars have been closed for inside dining for almost two months, although they will be allowed to open at 50% capacity tomorrow. Companies are urged to have their employees work at home. Masks are required in all public places. Children must attend school via online learning from home. Church attendance is heavily restricted. The effect of this has been to isolate most of us. There are no "water-cooler" conversations, no banter at the bars, no debates about politics at family gatherings.
In May, the country was plunged into civil unrest over the death of a black man, George Floyd, while being arrested by Minneapolis police. Riots have caused damage or destruction of 1500 businesses in Minneapolis alone. Many cities across the nation experienced riots over the following months, but not to the extent of Minneapolis.
We have become a nation largely radicalized to one side or the other - right or left. We get information through Facebook and Twitter that are designed to feed us content that we favor, thereby reinforcing, not challenging, our views. If we watch television for "the news," we generally choose channels that are biased toward the left or the right. There is nothing "in the middle."
Feelings about the virus and the response to it, the "righteousness" of the riots, and the Presidential campaigns and election are ripping families apart and years-long friendships are ruined. Do political disagreements always occur? Yes, but not to this extent. This is different. This is serious.
The year 2020 was very hard year for most Americans, and for the world. We eagerly flipped the calendar to 2021. We have ten days until inauguration day. It seems that the nation is holding its breath to see whatever the next day will bring. Hopefully, after January 20, we will be able to pick up conversations with whom we have disagreed over the last year and look forward to brighter days ahead.
This blog was started by a military mom who wanted to contribute her voice to the debate in the war on terror. She remained hopeful that all was not lost and believed that it would take a joint effort by the military, politicians, and the media (yes, the media!) to preserve the freedoms and blessings that our country enjoyed.
Nearly fifteen years later, she is a grandma of five, and farmer, who is using this blog as a means to document her views of the events currently happening in our country.
