The trickle down effects from the Capitol insurrection are great and damaging:
- people lost their lives
- people were injured badly
- people were threatened and terrorized
- justice was obstructed
- public buildings were vandalized, looted
- many in law enforcement, maintenance, and government had to work excessive overtime
- children and other family members were left without their loved ones who died, were injured, or had to work so many extra hours
- business owners lost money due to the violence and curfews
- the government workers lost time and capacity for the good work possible
- people's hard work was ruined via vandalism, stolen property
- the whole country was terrorized by watching and learning about what happened
President Trump and his teammates not only incited this deadly insurrection, vandalism, looting, violence, obstruction of justice, injury, and death, but they watched it from the safety of the White House for hours without acting to stop it.
All of our actions have consequences, and it is within our choice to work for as much good as we can or to upset and wreck the people and places around us.
Trump clearly worked to incite the rage by spreading lies, hate, disrespect and telling people to fight--he created a war-like scenario, and acted as commander-in-chief of the angry mob he led. He deceived them, telling them that he would walk to the Capitol with them, but no, like any demented, violent, evil leader, he slipped away to watch the carnage from the safety of the White House--he let them do his dirty work, and the fact that he didn't act to stop it for hours leads one to believe he likely reveled in the destruction, injury, obstruction of justice, and death.
We all have to think about the consequences of our actions great and small. I'm sure that most of us have initiatied action or spoken words that at one time or another caused some small pain or harm unintentionally. And, it is likely, that we owned our behavior and worked to do better and not create the same kind of hurt again. It is human nature to err--yet, if we are warned again and again about our actions, and if our actions clearly break the law or our oaths of service, then we must suffer much greater consequences including prosecution, conviction, fines, service, and likely jail time too. No one is above the law, and all of us have the responsibility to act with as much positiive, responsible, good action and words as we can to build better and contribute rather than hurt, harm, and take away.
Our actions have consequences.
It is important to consider this fact with all you do, and it's also important to relay this message to all you love. As an educator, I was witness to families who embraced this lesson. When they or their children erred, they dissected the problem, worked on it, took responsibility, and made better. There were also families that blamed everyone else for their problems, never took responsibility, and continued to waste people's time and cause disruption. Those who didn't take responsibility generally met with bigger and bigger problems as time went on, while those that did take responsibility met with greater positivity and good living.
Our actions have consequences.
As a leader, Donald Trump, did not provide his dedicated followers with paths to betterment, instead he used and abused them for his own selfish desires, obsessions, and personal power, wealth, privilege, and pleasure. He wasn't thinking about their good living, health, families, or what was right and good, but instead, he was narrow minded thinking only of himself.
As President of the United States, he had limitless opportunity to forward the good, but instead he worked for hate and divide instead in many, many ways:
- Using words to spread hateful lies, disrespect, slander, exaggeration and propaganda that hurt people's reputations and put them in danger of death threats and even murder and death. As President, his words are powerful, and he used his powerful words to make the country more hateful, divided, dangerous and destructive. Think about how much stress and danger he has caused for countless individuals with his words. In worst case scenarios like El Paso, Kenosha, Charlottesville, the Pittsburgh Synagogue, and now The Capitol, his words led others to visciously harm and kill people--people whose families know suffer their injuries and loss. Little children, moms and dads who have lost someone they loved dearly, someone they relied on daily--gone because one man and his team of inhumane, selfish, destructive cronies used hateful words to incite violence.
- Ineffective teamwork including not trusting, understanding, appointing or working with the dedicated, intelligent experts that have the knowledge and skill to build our country up and serve the people in countless ways. Instead Trump and his disastrous team turned their backs on brilliant scientists, experienced military leaders, innovative/dedicated lawmakers, and leaders in every field because he thinks he knows it all--this was not only a lost opportunity for betterment, but it was deadly. If he had listened to experts about the threat of a pandemic, and then listened to the details of this pandemic, and let the scientists, medical professionals, and lawmakers do the good work possible, we would not still have a raging pandemic in our midst. Instead his ignorance and irresponsibility exasperated the pandemic and led to too many lives and livelihoods lost. This same kind of ignorant, self-serving, irresponsible effort was used by Trump with regard to the great problems the country faces in countless areas and the great potential possible when public leaders truly work for the interests of the people, environment, and good government.
- Trump's narrow will to work for his rich cronies, family members, and himself, left the rest of us behind with unjust tax laws, tremendous wealth for a small percentage of Americans, and again lost potential for all that's possible to uplift the lives of every American.
Trump has been a dangerous and destructive self-serving President of the United States. He has led to death and destruction in unthinkable ways. He has threatened and obstructed our good government, been unfaithful to his oath of office, and incited violence, vandalism, injury, and death. He must face the consequences.
And while few of us will every be in the situation where we can wage such torment and destruction on others, we all have responsibility in our small spheres to work for as much humanity, dignity, and good living as possible for ourselves and others. We are all responsible for our actions, and we must consider the consequences of what we choose to do before we act, and then own the consequences of our behavior, good or bad, after we have spoken or acted.
After reading posts this morning, I do believe that if you supported Trump in any way, you must publicly renounce that support, and call for his removal, impeachment, prosecution, conviction, jail time, fines, and potential loss of citizenship. To stand with Trump, is to stand against the United States and the safety and health of its good government, people, public spaces, and environment.
If you have always stood against Trump, you must continue that call with a commitment to work for betterment in the United States which means a commitment to work against our too long supports for White supremacy in all ways, and you must work for sufficient wages, just work conditions, quality accessible schools/health care, a clean protected environment, and accountability to the laws we have or legal ways to change the laws and make them better. Onward.