We are not taking what happened in 2021 seriously enough.
The US Capitol can be seen through the fence.
(Kevin Deitch/Getty Images)
Washington DC looked so beautiful this morning, covered in the first snow of 2025. It was as if fate was trying to whitewash January 6, four years ago, that bloody, heinous crime against democracy that smashed windows and doors, claimed five lives and injured more than 150 people. If any of the survivors took today’s beautiful snow as a positive sign, I appreciate it for them. But in general I do not appreciate whiteness.
Today I thought about how every 9/11 for about 20 years, NBC News and then MSNBC have aired many hours of their own coverage of the day, beginning when Today’s show received the first information about this unimaginable attack, as well as the gory details. Please don’t think I’m mixing tragedies. So many more people died on 9/11; so many buildings were destroyed, not just damaged. The only comparison is that 9/11 was committed by the US’s external enemies. We were attacked by our own people on January 6, 2021. And they were encouraged by their president. And there were ugly scenes that should have been saved.
So couldn’t we spend an hour showing when things were at their worst four years ago today? I’m not even sure if it would. For me, it was when I found out my daughter was trapped in the House of Representatives office building. But there were much more dramatic moments, bloodier moments, a police beating and poor Ashley Babbitt getting shot.
In a better country, we would have a national commemoration. In this country we pretend it was all a misunderstanding.
Don’t get me wrong. The results of the 2024 election were clear. (As in 2020.) Not a mandate, not a collapse. But victory. So Vice President Kamala Harris did the right thing.
“Peaceful transfer of power is one of the most important principles of American democracy,” she said. “Like any other principle, it is what distinguishes our system of government from monarchy or tyranny.”
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And hello, I heard she’s called “Madam President,” a formality in each state’s Electoral College report.
We knew that Kamala would be very careful, very humble and confirm Trump’s victory. I felt like it was my job to watch her get up and do her job, while I guess Speaker Mike Johnson had the right to sit down? Anything. She knew what her job was, and she did it.
Always with grace, not always with joy. I noticed that when the Republican Party of Texas jumped up and gave a standing ovation, she didn’t smile. But she also rarely smiled for her own votes, while Mike Johnson giggled and clapped for GOP victories. But she rejoiced when Trump crossed the line.
But it hurt. You know, you always have the woman who does the work and doesn’t get the credit. I know men have done it before. But after she lost to that gargoyle, I could see her being cheerful and doing her job. It was painful. That’s all.
And soon we will be looking at the possibility that 1,600 criminals on January 6, many of them violent, will be pardoned.
I was happy that the Vice President was able to swear in Representative Latif Simon. She was one of Harris’s wards. She will take the place of our beloved Barbara Lee. We will go further.
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