Politics

Insurrection: My Prayer for Our Country

By Terry Cassel

After a sick and sordid 50 year career of cheating, stealing and lying, corruptly conning banks, employees, associates, vendors, and ordinary people out of their money, ruining thousands of lives, running multiple businesses into bankruptcy, and so much more (sexual predation, incitements to mob violence, etc), mob boss wannabe Donald Trump, now buried under a mountain of lawsuits and pending criminal indictments, I believe, is certain to face trial and likely be convicted of serious crimes.

At a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021 former U.S. President Trump repeats his unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Trump had presented more than 50 lawsuits to state and federal judges – many appointed by Trump – which were all investigated and then dismissed as no merit in facts. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

As for paying the price for the insurrection, all power rests with the DOJ. You want to have faith in Merrick Garland and his prosecutors to do the right thing, not just to bring this gangster sociopath to justice, but also to prevent any future Trumps from trying to pull this stuff off again.

Members of U.S. Capitol Police try to fend off a mob of supporters of former U.S. President Trump’s Big Steal lie. One man uses a flag pole like a spear as the domestic terrorists storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, January 6, 2021. Photograph courtesy of Leah Millis | Reuters via Wikimedia Commons.

A Washington, D.C., police officer was beaten during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by Peter Stager (in red box) with a flag pole after being dragged by Jeffrey Sabol (leaning over officer with baton in hand). The crowd screamed, ‘Shoot him with his own gun.’ This stopped when the officer pleaded that he had a wife and children. The following day the officer suffered a heart attack. Photograph courtesy of FBI via Wikimedia Commons.

What troubles me in the long run is the number of elected Republicans who continue to suck up to their disgraced former president, and continue to raise prodigious sums of money, just as Trump does, and even more disturbingly, the loyal unflinching Trump cult, those millions who continue to support, even adore this man and what he represents.

Of the 874 domestic terrorists currently apprehended, interviews with the DOJ revealed that 30% of the rioters had not bothered to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I search for signs the tide is turning and we are creeping back from the brink, re-engaging with democracy and rejecting the tyrannical minority rule of the radical right. Bring back moderation, thoughtfulness, maturity, kindness, generosity, courage, patriotism, fairness, truth, and strength – the best of our political system, Republicans and Democrats alike.

That is my prayer for America.