Constable: Attack from our own evokes gut punch of Sept. 11
“We are no longer the America we were,” began the column I wrote on Sept. 11, 2001.
The legendary Studs Terkel concurred during a telephone interview that morning as we talked about the attacks on our nation.
“We are stunned, startled, horrified and outraged, as one should be in the face of horror,” he said. “It is something that happens in the Third World, and we see it and casually say, ‘Yes.' And now it's happened here. That makes it different, doesn't it?”
Terkel was talking about the jets piloted by foreign terrorists that slammed into the twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 innocent people. Wednesday's chaos, with one reported death and several injuries, fell far short of that. But Terkel's words could be used to describe the scene of domestic invaders occupying the U.S. Capitol as if we were a Third World nation.
The feeling of vulnerability and uncertainty of what happens now in the land we love is the same. It's gut-wrenching. Tragic. Sad. And it makes us sick to our stomachs. None of it seems real. Thugs storming the Capitol, climbing the walls, breaking windows, waving the battle flag of the army we defeated in 1865, and sitting at the seat of power, leaving notes reading, “We will not back down.”
President George W. Bush took in the tragic scene nearly 20 years ago and proclaimed, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.”
President Donald Trump can't make that speech because he fueled the anarchy now rolling over our democracy. He told Americans that our democracy was broken, corrupt, fraudulent, cowardly, and needed to be fixed by people who were strong enough and courageous enough to march down the street and make the government surrender to their demands.
His words have incited anger and violence since he was a candidate. He urged supporters to rough up hecklers at rallies and labeled supposed critics as enemies of the people. His America, and many of his fellow Republicans, tolerated shows of force and sedition. Now, this violence is his legacy.
“I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order — respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!” Trump said on Twitter in the hours after he egged on the anarchists attempting a coup on his behalf. In a taped message, he told the attackers that “we love you, you are very special,” that he felt their pain. Then he doubled-down on his claim that the election was “stolen” from him, and Twitter suspended his account.
Our Constitution, our law enforcement, our courts and all 50 of our states said the election was fair and that Trump would have to relinquish the White House on Jan. 20 to the choice of the people, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“America is so much better than what we see today,” Biden said, talking of decency, honor, tolerance, respect and democracy as an unruly mob still occupied the Capitol. “We must step up. This is the United States of America.”
It's heartbreaking to see people lose faith in our nation. The supporters of Black Lives Matter who protested racial injustice last summer didn't pretend to be soldiers fighting to overthrow the government. The supporters of Trump who protested a legal election that is a foundation of our government staged a coup. And we let them. The supporters of law and order would never accept Black or Muslim rioters breaking into a joint session of Congress, and they should be just as vigilant with white Trump supporters.
We are, or should be, better than this.
Legislators returned to work hours after the insurrection. Every elected official must denounce this uprising. We can, and do, disagree about tax rates, police funding, school vouchers, abortion, immigration and other issues, but we can't attack the United States of America.
We had a Civil War once to decide what kind of nation we wanted to be. No sane person can imagine us enduring a second Civil War.
We survived Wednesday's coup attempt. In 13 days our nation's leadership will change, and we need to come together.