It Ain't Over

The lingering threat of January 6

Photo credit: Chip Somodevilla

Like almost every other journalist or journalistic organization this week, we marked the one year anniversary of the insurrection of January 6 here on Steady. We talked about the dangers of that day, what preceded it, and what has followed. We considered the many unanswered questions that remain. Our tone was one of apprehension and sadness. Across America, there was no shortage of eloquent and urgent reflections. 

But of course there are also counter narratives engulfing almost the entirety of the Republican Party. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens fervently believe that what happened that day was not that big a deal, a one-off mob, or, and this is bone-chilling, something to actually celebrate. 

Under these arguments, drawing comparisons between January 6 and other days of infamy, such as Pearl Harbor or 9/11, is outrageous because the level of violence, the loss of life, and the immediate threats each posed to American existence are not in the same universe. To be sure, the nature of analogies is that they are far from perfect. But attacks aren’t always physical, although there was certainly a lot of physical harm done to the police officers on 1/6. Our communal soul, our hopes, our confidence, the mechanisms that make our governance and way of life possible can also be assaulted. And they were. Grievously.

I am not one that believes we are headed into a widespread violent civil conflict, although we must always be alert to the possibility. Rather, what we saw, and continue to see, is that one of our two major political parties is infused with a motivating energy that at best can be called anti-democratic. Much of it is downright authoritarian, with elements of white nationalism bubbling towards the surface. 

All of this means that even as the dates of the calendar move forward, we cannot allow ourselves to turn the page on January 6. Yes the protective barriers around the Capitol have come down, but the guardrails for our democracy remain tenuous.

With all that’s going on, with the virus surging, climate change accelerating, racial injustice festering, economic anxieties persisting, and all the other threats to our health and happiness demanding our attention, it is tempting to put the threat to our democracy on the back burner. But none of these other challenges will be possible to solve if we lose the means to solve them.

That is why we will continue to cover the events of January 6, and the broader currents they represent, with consistency here at Steady. We know many of you agree with these sentiments. 

How do we know? It’s not just an educated guess. You’ve told us. 

Let us just pause for a moment and say, folks, I will contend that the comments section of Steady is one of the most impressive of any such forums on the Internet. Okay, I may be biased, but the care, thought, wisdom, eloquence, empathy, and courage you put into sharing your thoughts is inspiring and deeply comforting. I love to read them, and what makes me particularly happy is when you engage with each other in respectful and reasoned dialogue. Our greatest hope for creating Steady was to build a community of shared experiences and interactions. 

I recognize that a lot of what is said can be jet fuel for the ego, especially for a former news anchor. I am deeply grateful for the kind words about what Steady means to so many of you, as well as my work over the years. 

But I have always been more interested in hearing others talk than in hearing myself speak. That’s one big reason why I became a reporter. And so when you share your personal stories, raise new ideas, or even challenge some of what we have said, I am particularly pleased. 

So with that in mind we thought of rolling out a new feature today. Please tell us, in the comments, what you think of it. The idea is to, with some regularity, pull some of your thoughts out from the comments section and share them, with my responses, in Steady posts. 

We will start today with a few from our January 6 essay.

The first note is from Flo Chapgier

We can never, ever despair. 

My dad was this forever optimistic and courageous man. He had been arrested, as a political prisoner, by the Gestapo in France in 1943 for giving fake financial numbers to the Nazis, as he was heading a small national bank. He came back from an Austrian concentration camp, freed by the American Army. His view was that if you are courageous, courage is its own reward, it multiplies itself inside you. 

Steady is such a lovely thing thank you to everyone here.

Thank you Flo for the kind words and sharing the story of your father. Many of you were moved by this personal recollection, as was I. There is so much to take from this note, including the wisdom of “courage is its own reward.” 

In this story we can also find another important lesson. Throughout history, even when evil is ascendent and pervasive, there has been no shortage of brave individuals who are willing to risk everything, even their own lives, to resist. The history books tend to be filled with the names of the famous or infamous, but those who would lead our world into a more just and equitable future cannot accomplish change without the collective action of mass movements. And mass movements require men and women like Flo’s father, or those who marched with Dr. King, or registered voters with Stacey Abrams, or served another shift on the Covid ward. 

Let us find hope in the optimism of this brave man we learned about here. It is echoed in the countless people right now, as we write or read this, who are doing their part to help fix our world, and thus multiplying the courage within themselves. 

Our next note is from Susan Leshner

As always, Dan, I need to read your many essays several times to find the hidden insights that you so deftly impart to us, but this one was very special as there was one statement that really stood out to me: "Looking back at other dates of 'infamy,' it is striking how many of them brought this country closer together, whereas this one is driving us apart." 

At first I agreed with that statement wholeheartedly, but after reading it over and over again, I realized, as a former American history teacher, that with two of our major "infamy" events there was a fearful and hateful reaction in our coming together. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States, especially on the West Coast and in Hawaii, gathered our Japanese citizens together and put them into internment camps because of the possible fear that they would support Japan and be a 'fifth column' in this country against our government. 

Then after September 11, 2001, which horror I lived through when my office building was hit by the first of four planes, there were immediate reactions against our Muslim citizens and their places of worship, again out of fear of more attacks and possibly returned hatred. 

This is just my opinion but what is different now with the January 6th event is that not only this was a group of Americans believing in "the Big Lie" attacking those who did not believe in it, but that it was all out in the open, the blinders had been pulled off and in a way the fragility of our Democratic Republic was laid bare...and Benjamin Franklin's famous statement echoed once again...we have "a Republic, if we can keep it." 

Actually that statement gives me hope and a rallying cry...we have a republic and we NEED to keep it. Let us use January 6th as the starting date when those of us who believe in 'America' begin to fight back to keep it 'America.' After all, we are the most inclusive, diverse, multinational, multi-religious nation on this planet and it must survive.

Thank you Susan for this thoughtful note. There is a lot to unpack. First, I cannot imagine the terror you felt on 9/11. We do not honor enough those who survived that day and what you had to go through.

It also is an important corrective to remember that even in previous moments of seeming national unity, like World War II or after 9/11, some Americans were persecuted for their cultural backgrounds or religious beliefs. Both of those events led to wars in which Japanese Americans and then Muslim Americans fought bravely for the highest ideals of their nation, ideals that were not, at that same time, being extended equally to their families back on the home front. Such is and has always been, the chasm of our national story, the differences that often exist between our most noble aspirations and our reality. 

And that brings us to your final point, that fighting for our government and our nation, what we want it to be, will always be a process that requires effort and cultivation. This is so true. The challenge that was laid out in the preamble of our Constitution, was “to form a more perfect union,” a beautiful phrase that recognizes a journey of continued effort. It’s a challenge, but an inspiring one. And Susan, I share your hope. 

We have a note from Sue, who commented yesterday morning. 

I am very late in commenting on the hopeful and heartfelt Steady reflections on Jan. 6, 2021. Our individual memory about this incident is clear. However, as a country, I doubt our collective memory will withstand time and the onslaught of Fox News, Qanon and the radio outlets mentioned by another reader. The only way that we can hope to turn ourselves around as a country is to remember January 6 and to VOTE in November. What frightens me almost more than the horror we witnessed is the hopelessness that can keep us away from the polls. In America, the only power we have as individuals is our vote. Otherwise we most assuredly will suffer the tragedies of other autocracies. If we could brave the pandemic at its peak and vote in droves in November of 2020, we must do so again, and not be cowed by the threats of the people who pretend to be patriotic Americans.

First of all Sue, it is never too late to comment. We are pleased that people get to these newsletters whenever they are able. We understand. You all get a lot of emails, and our notes are often a bit long, and take time to take in. 

There is understandably a lot of fear about how January 6 will be remembered. And as you rightfully note the fate is not fixed. It truly depends on what happens going forward, and when it comes to our government that means whom we elect. The most important response we can collectively take to the events of that tragic day is to elect women and men who will fight for our democracy. This is not a matter of policy. We can disagree about how we tax ourselves or what government services we support. We cannot allow ourselves to disagree, however, on whether we should respect the verdicts of free and fair elections, or the rule of law. 

And finally, I wanted to pull out a comment from Claire in response to our New Year’s message. 

Your very important message, stressing the need to take care of ourselves and our Health and have hope for the future resonated with me. Due to an unfortunate fall on Christmas day when hitting a patch of ice out on a walk I ended up with a broken arm. A homeowner seeing it came out and helped me out, driving me home. My neighbors who I was to have dinner with drove me to the ER. I was there for five hours for x-rays, waiting for it to be read, and then a CT scan and waiting for that to be read . All the time the various healthcare workers were so professional and kind. I was so extremely grateful for the kindness of strangers as well as my friends so willing to help me out. Ironically a difficult day ended up turning out to give me a whole new outlook of gratefulness and yes hope because humans have kindness naturally built into them.

I cannot think of a more hopeful note, Claire. Thanks for sharing it with us and we hope you recover quickly. The truth is that it is often when we are most struggling that we find how many people are eager to offer a helping hand and the love and support we need. This need not only be true on the individual level. May we work tougher to nurture a community of helpers willing and eager to do the hard work to forge that more perfect union. Even when we have stumbled or fallen, even when something is broken, we can find the will to rise up and heal. 

I want to thank all of you again for sharing your thoughts. Please keep them coming. And please help us expand the voices of this community by sharing it with others.

Steady.