I’ve now reached the venerable status that causes me to flashback to other historic events in my life that felt shattering. I was a child during the Cuban missile crisis, fifth grade when JFK was shot. 9/11 began our chaotic 21st century. I was a Congressman during the great recession and spent four years doing the people/s business on the floor of the House of Representatives. To witness armed Capitol Hill police barricaded in the chamber, guns draw, the look of high intensity danger on their faces with an angry and violent mob of our fellow citizens peering through the broken glass, broke my heart. It has also stiffened my resolve.
Too many Americans are looking with approval at what happened yesterday as the beginning of something. According to polls, 45% of Republicans approve of the attempted coup. Apparently they want armed insurrection. There is an antidote. Swift justice for the President, his enablers and seditious co-conspirators. Swift justice for the mob and any law enforcement who enabled the assault. Swift Justice for domestic terrorists across the country in Oregon, Michigan, New Hampshire and elsewhere who are even now assembling weapons and plotting further attacks as we reel from yesterday’s events. Where is the condemnation from Republicans of conscience? Silence is complicity. Where are the cries of outrage from Republican leaders in NH? Your silence is complicity. It’s past time for Mr. Trump to resign, be removed and impeached. He’s a national disgrace and source of shame for all who were complicit in enabling him.
That a large number of our fellow citizens condone sedition is a stark reminder of the great fragility of the American Experiment. We are a young country and our democracy is not guaranteed. It is up to us as citizens to be resolute and unafraid in seeking justice and calling out those who enable sedition and foment insurrection whoever and wherever they may be.
Written by:
Paul Hodes
Hodes has been a US Congressman, community leader, lawyer, and performing artist. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire’s 2nd district 2007-2011. Always a friend to the arts, President Obama appointed Hodes to the National Council for the Arts in 2012.