This Inauguration Day was a gut punch
There are a few days that live with me forever. For one reason or another, Dec. 7, 1941, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. and Sept. 11, 2001. These are all days that tore at the heart of our country.
Then came Jan. 6, 2021. I was glued to the TV for over 10 hours, not believing what was happening. But unlike on Dec. 7 or Sept. 11, these were Americans attacking our Capitol threating our government. Now only a short four years later, it’s as if it never happened.
How can this be? We fought a 20-year war after Sept. 11. Is it that easy for so many to forget? To believe in a lie? To erase what happened on that day or do they just not care? On Jan. 20, our Capitol Rotonda was filled with many of those who were there in fear for their lives witnessing the horror of that day along with so many others. As if this is just any day.
How could this man be sworn in as president in the same spot where all that violence took place? Because of him.
Did anyone there feel uncomfortable? Was the hair on their backs standing up? Did they feel a little sick to their stomachs? Was any one of them having flashbacks to that day. Or is it all forgotten?
I didn’t understand then and I still don’t. Jan. 20 was a gut punch that I will feel forever.
Karen Fahlgren
Itasca