Insurrection

Americans, including me, were assaulted yesterday via the siege of the Capitol by domestic terrorists incited by the occupant of the Oval Office.

Comfort items - dark chocolate almond and sea salt Bark Thins and NF's warm plaid throw - to watch and counter the upsetting news of January 6, 2021.

It feels obligatory to acknowledge yesterday's unprecedented mob insurrection and siege of the Capitol and Congress, my Congress, our Congress, incited by Donald J. Trump, whom I have never since January 20, 2017 referred to by the title "President" - because while his election may have been legal, I never considered him to represent me.  We in New York City knew his true nature from the outset, and outright rejected and denounced him.  We knew yesterday could be a possibility, so we decried him loudly, which should have been a warning to others.

Apparently half the country nonetheless refuses to listen, still.

I witnessed it on television, while I was supposed to be working.  We had awakened to projections overnight for one of Georgia's Senate races - the Reverend Raphael Warnok won his special election; Jon Ossoff's was too close to call.  (They were the subjects of my postcard get out the vote efforts for weeks and weeks; that's been one of my few extracurricular activities during this strange COVID period.  Helpfully, my group met remotely on Mondays, one of my off days.) So in between work emails and reviewing documents, I turned on the news or scanned the papers or social media online to see if anyone would call the Ossoff race.  And, separately, what was supposed to be the relatively routine, ceremonial Congressional certification of the Electoral College votes to confirm Joe Biden as the next President was also in progress.

And then, sometime after 2 PM, everything changed, and the rioters breached the Capitol.  At first it just made me sad that there were so many gullible, deluded people so far removed from reality.  And then they moved beyond the lobby and it was clear they would advance by force and intimidation into the chambers, and that made me so, so, so angry - the sense of entitlement of those wretches. 

So all productivity went down the drain.  I gave in to social media and television for the balance of the day.  And I decided that I would chalk those hours up to sick time - because it made me ill to watch.  But I gave myself license to do it, to get the news, to process, to communicate with my friends.  

New year, self care.  Balance.  Sure, work; but bear witness to history too.

[Edited January 8, 2021.]