A series of essays....
 |
| A VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL BEFORE IT WAS BURNED DURING THE WAR OF 1812. (ARTIST UNKNOWN) |
Courtesy PhotoQuest/Getty Images
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
‘Tis the season for keeping my favorite ‘soothing hydration’ body lotion, packed with a triple hydration complex and a one percent punch of Aloe Vera, close at hand at all times. Not messing around here, folks! Between the naturally freezing temps outdoors (not that I am out there too often these days) and the artificial heat indoors, my skin begins to dry and crack like an unloved piece of leather furniture. Ugh!
Truthfully, constant hand-wringing feels less uncomfortable when the skin becomes softer and more supple to the touch.
Right along with you, there has been a lot of hand-wringing going on in my household and this past year has been nothing short of eye-opening! It has rewritten, so far, at least one full chapter from the ‘book of life’ and has made us realize how flexible we have to be when it comes to any and all things that deviate from what we had always considered to be ‘the norm.’ Indeed, we have entered the age of what we recognize as modified normalcy and this concept is changing how we feel, think, and react to ideas every single day.
For example: When someone coughed or sneezed nearby us prior to March of 2020, we might not have liked being too close to them for fear of getting a cold. We never dreamt of associating these uncontrollable body functions as possible symptoms of a deadly, air-borne disease.
Taught as a small child that the Catholic Church represented the religious philosophies of my parents, I passed from one parochial school to another for seven years, totally at the whim of my father’s job and a series of promotions. Gratefully, my early studies included the understanding that others followed their own path towards spiritual enlightenment. By the time I reached high school and we stopped our nomadic lifestyle as a family, I was well aware of and interested in the religious beliefs connected with friends and acquaintances. I felt more worldly and mature for embracing this knowledge.
Similarly, my social studies class and local, small town politics taught me that not all politicians followed the same belief in which rules and regulations should guide them in order to assist the people who helped put them in office in the first place. But, one thing I was pretty certain of was that the Constitution of the United States of America, the official ‘rule book’ written for and adopted by the people, was forever beyond reproach. Ratified in 1788, it has been in operation since 1789 and has become the world’s longest surviving written charter of government.
The brazen coup attempt we saw play out on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, this past Wednesday, reflected a group of miscreants who pledged their allegiance to a white, nationalist cult bent on overthrowing our government. Seduced and brainwashed by their own president and his minions, their obsession and devotion to him overpowered any sense of right from wrong.
It is frightening to see how they have become increasingly emboldened by their newfound capabilities and are strengthened and encouraged by their toxic leadership. My fear is that they will only become more sophisticated in their attempts at treason and many more people will die, historical buildings may be completely destroyed, and judging by the numerous children we see within their gatherings, future generations will learn the ‘rules of hopelessness’ taught to them by their parents and cult leaders.
You can’t hold people accountable by just putting the truth in their faces; you have to hold them accountable by putting them in jail and making them pay for their crimes. This is when they might begin to understand the reality of their actions and possibly feel a semblance of remorse. The people who have disparaged what our government truly stands for must be accountable for their actions—right now!
We have met the enemy in this case and, regrettably, the “deplorables” are our own people and not the British this time around. They arrived at our ‘Shining City on the Hill’ from every state, pulled together by hate and pushed forward by their fear of missing out on being a part of something that accepts them for who they are. (You can fill in that blank on this one.) They are people who surround us in our daily lives, linked together and taunted by what they deem a cause greater than themselves with no regard for our safety, their own safety, or the well being of those they love.
Regrettably, they have championed the thuggery of this deplorable president.
Losing their lord and master as leader of this great nation is something too difficult for them to understand, especially considering that this man continues to grind the untruth of his imaginary win over Joe Biden into them day and night, forcing them to react to his pettiness. So, I ask you, who needs to be accountable for his own actions? He may have broken all of the rules set forth by our Constitution, laughed in the face of justice whenever possible, and led poor fools into the fray by means of brainwashing, and gotten away with all of the above, but HE MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS OWN ACTIONS! To dismiss them now would be a failure this country and our government simply cannot afford.
The arrow of time only points forward in this new year. We have learned so much in the past several years: MAGA hats fade from red to pink. The Senate Majority Leader (Mitch McConnell) can fall from his pedestal of power, eventually, just like any other entity. And, hopefully, people can be guided in the right direction and see beyond the trail of lies that have been held in front of their eyes for so long.
If our neighbors, co-workers, and acquaintances are our enemies today, ideas must change; inviting a civil war into our already coronavirus riddled lives is a doubled-dosed recipe for immediate disaster. We must cut the head off of the snake—today! This president of the next thirteen days must be stopped, even after he leaves office, and must never be considered relevant, again. He must not be allowed to lead anyone else, Americans or Republicans in general, down this path of fantasy and ultimate destruction. May this new year be the beginning of our healing process; the ultimate soothing lotion aimed to appease our eager longing for peace and required understanding.
Promise to take good care of yourselves and those you love.
Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
