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Why Have We Forgotten How To Commemorate An Attack On Our Nation?
Gallows constructed on US Capitol grounds, January 6, 2021
Gallows constructed on US Capitol grounds, January 6, 2021

It comes as a sad if not tragic fact that while we as a nation know how to commemorate an attack on our country by foreign terrorists, we have failed when it comes to an attack on us by domestic terrorists. It’s all a bit like a school shooting, isn’t it? We can get an accurate body count, we can learn who is responsible from police, prosecutors, and the courts, but we cannot come to agreement on what caused the terrible incident.

Within days of September 11, 2001, we knew the names of the 19 terrorists who crashed the jetliners into the twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. At the same time we learned that a single man was behind the attacks: Osama bin Laden. A strategy for how to deal with the attack by foreign terrorists on our soil was agreed upon quickly: we would dispatch soldiers to Afghanistan to hunt down those responsible and punish them, beginning with the terrorists’ leader, bin Laden.

We all know that bin Laden was not found and killed until ten years after the attack and that retaliation against others responsible for 9/11, namely the Taliban, went wildly astray over the next two decades. We know that trillions in treasure and thousands of American lives were wasted over the next 20 years, and we know that all we accomplished in the end was a return to the status quo in Afghanistan and further disarray in Iraq, which had nothing to do with the attack in the first place.

But as the saying goes, at least we have not suffered another terrorist attack of the magnitude of 9/11 on our country since then.

Now here we are on the third anniversary of the assault on our democracy that took place on January 6, 2021, and we not managed to make sure that another such attack will not take place in this country, nor have we punished the man responsible for the attack on our democracy in the first place. After a very brief respite during which some leaders in the Republican Party put the blame for the Jan. 6 insurrection where it belongs, on the man who instigated it, the Republican Party took a sharp turn in response to yelps and complaints from its base voters and began a campaign to hide its own Terrorist in Chief, Donald Trump, behind a smokescreen of lies, deflection, and an attack on institutions in our democratically elected government such as the Department of Justice, the FBI, the judiciary, and the current occupant of the White House, President Joe Biden.

The assault on January 6, 2021, was not just a violent attack on the Capitol building that ended up with five dead and 140 police officers injured, some seriously enough to end their careers in law enforcement. It was an attempt to subvert our Constitution and system of government by preventing a peaceful transition of power from one president to another. The attack by al Qaeda on September 11, 2001 was a threat to our way of life, destroying not only lives but businesses, the freedom to travel without fear, and with the partial destruction of the Pentagon, a threat to our national security.

But the attack on January 6, 2021 was worse, because it deepened the fracture of our country into warring political camps and furthered dysfunction in our governmental structures so that shutting down the government by one political party over its inability to pass its political agenda has now become a normal way of doing political business in the Congress.

We are weaker as a nation today than we were after 9/11 in ways that are immeasurable. The angry refusal of Republicans to pass aid to our ally Ukraine in its fight for its existence as a sovereign state against the outlaw regime of Vladimir Putin has weakened the NATO alliance and strengthened enemies of freedom around the globe, from Iranian radicals to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria to Hamas in Gaza to ISIS to the Houtis in Yemen to numberless factions fighting governments in Africa and amongst themselves in dozens of countries around the world, including Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, and now even political violence in Bangladesh.

The question is no longer if or when peace will descend into political conflict and violence but how many lives will be lost when it happens. The United States, once a beacon of freedom and stability for other nations to admire and emulate, has descended along with other nations into political conflict, sectarian violence, and threats against the lives of public officials like governors, members of Congress, judges, election officials and even public health officers down at county level. All of this has become what can be called a new political normality, along with mass shootings at schools and lies about public health emergencies like the COVID pandemic and the big lie that Donald Trump won the last presidential election.

We are unable as a nation to commemorate what we lost on January 6, 2021 because one man, Donald Trump, and his political party stand in the way of admitting what we saw with our own eyes: a mob instigated and given aid and comfort by Trump assaulted one of the pillars of our democracy, the Capitol building, and tried to overrun the Senate and the House of Representatives as they carried out the Constitutional duty of certifying electoral ballots and announcing the winner of the 2020 election.

There have been multiple recent stories about how attempts to rewrite what happened on January 6 by manipulating the visual record of Capitol surveillance cameras has “backfired” on the likes of Kevin McCarthy, Tucker Carlson, and now Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. It turns out that images of rioters breaking into the Capitol, attacking police officers, and in one disgraceful instance, carrying a Confederate battle flag through the halls of the Capitol are not easily explained away.

But even that fact has not dented the campaign by Trump and Republicans to deny what we saw with our own eyes. Now the Washington Post and New York Times both, in covering dueling speeches by President Biden on January 5 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and Donald Trump at a rally the same day in Sioux City, Iowa, are saying that the two campaigns are arguing not just about politics but reality itself.

What was real on September 11, 2001 was that the World Trade Center fell to the ground and the Pentagon was severely damaged and that thousands of Americans lost their lives to a terrorist attack by al Qaeda. What was real on January 6, 2021 was that the Capitol was violently attacked by domestic terrorists and our government came close to falling to a would be dictator.

All of us saw both attacks with our own eyes. That we cannot agree on what we saw on January 6, and instead a significant minority believes what they are told by a congenital liar and cheat, is something we will be living with throughout this election year. No matter how this election turns out, we and the rest of the world, will have to live with our failure for years if not decades to come.

It has taken us at least a century to begin to properly commemorate the disaster of the Civil War by taking down Confederate statues and renaming military installations for patriots instead of traitors. Here’s hoping it won’t take just as long for us to commemorate 1/6 with the unity and propriety that we commemorate 9/11.

Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has covered Watergate, the Stonewall riots, and wars in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels. You can subscribe to his daily columns at luciantruscott.substack.com and follow him on Twitter @LucianKTruscott and on Facebook at Lucian K. Truscott IV.

Please consider subscribing to Lucian Truscott Newsletter, from which this is reprinted with permission.

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As Trump Dithers, American Institutions Respond To Pandemic

Donald Trump continues to minimize the growing COVID-19 outbreak, even as the number of confirmed cases in the United States surpasses 1,000.

Despite his widely panned response, Trump has continued to claim his administration’s efforts have been a great success, ignoring reports about slow testing worsening the problem and a lack of proper training and medical gear for early responders.

“Our team is doing a great job with CoronaVirus [sic]!” he tweeted on Wednesday.

Amid the dearth of consistent information or clear guidance, states, localities, colleges, businesses, and event organizers are trying to fill the void and protect Americans from spreading COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

“This has been mostly a state and local effort. The federal government has been sort of behind the times,” the director of health services in Sacramento County, California, told Politico on Wednesday. “There clearly could have been testing kits available much more early than there were, [meaning] the entire country is [catching up].”

With little instruction beyond hand washing, staying home when sick, and avoiding touching the face, communities, employers, event planners, and institutions are taking an array of steps to keep their workers, constituents, and students safe.

Here is a partial list of what people are doing to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Governors and mayors

  • State of Emergency: Several state governors have declared states of emergency, allowing them more financial and logistical flexibility to respond to cases.
  • California: Santa Clarita County and the city of San Francisco instituted bans on “mass gatherings” of more than 1,000 people, beginning at midnight on Wednesday. The city of San Jose also adopted a moratorium on evictions of those who can’t pay rent due to the pandemic.
  • New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced on Tuesday that he would send the National Guard to New Rochelle in an effort to contain the cases in that community. On Wednesday, he blasted the federal response as verging on the “public health version of Hurricane Katrina” and urged state governments to take control.
  • Ohio: Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced Tuesday that the state would urge colleges to switch to remote classes and called for the cancellation of large indoor sporting events and concerts. “The decisions that we make as individuals in the next few days, the next several weeks will really determine how many lives are going be lost in Ohio,” he explained.
  • Washington: Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced Wednesday he would restrict gatherings of more than 250 people, including concerts and sporting events, in three counties. “This is not a time to be going out into public in close contact,” he said. “It’s just too dangerous.” Additionally, King County purchased a motel last week to quarantine coronavirus patients.
  • District of Columbia: The city Health Department urged Wednesday that all “non-essential mass gatherings, including conferences and conventions, be POSTPONED or cancelled.” It defined mass gatherings “events where 1,000 or more people congregate in a specific location.”
  • Rhode Island: Gov. Gina Marie Raimondo recommended on Wednesday that residents avoid events with more than 250 people.

Universities and colleges

  • Across the country, at least 130 institutions of higher learning are temporarily canceling in-person classes and replacing them with remote lectures. These include Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Indiana University, Princeton University, University of Florida, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and several schools in California and Washington.

Federal agencies

  • The Securities and Exchange Commission asked on Tuesday that its D.C.-based employees work remotely, after one staffer tested positive for coronavirus.
  • The Veterans Administration announced it would not allow visitors at the nursing homes it operates, noting those residents are especially vulnerable to COVID-19.

Media Outlets

  • The Los Angeles Times told reporters on Tuesday that it would limit non-essential reporter travel.
  • The New York Times announced on Tuesday its New York and D.C. newsrooms would receive “deep cleaning” after some employees attended a journalism conference with someone who later tested positive.
  • Talking Points Memo temporarily closed its offices starting Wednesday, switching to remote work.
  • The Washington Post encouraged employees to work from home, if possible, through the end of the month.

Businesses

  • Tech companies in the Seattle area: Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft all urged Seattle-area employees to work from home.
  • Twitter, Square: Jack Dorsey, the CEO of both Twitter and Square, announced last week that all employees would be encouraged to work from home, if possible.
  • Ride sharing: Lyft is giving drivers 200,000+ bottles of hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies.
  • MGM Resorts: The company announced its buffets would temporarily close at ARIA, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Luxor, and Excalabur resorts, starting this Sunday.
  • Broadway theaters: The Broadway League, which represents New York City’s Broadway theaters and producers, announced stepped-up efforts to disinfect theaters and backstage areas and to provide hand sanitizer in all Broadway theater lobbies.
  • Darden Restaurants: Following public pressure from Judd Legum’s Popular Information newsletter, the company that operates Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, and other dining chains, announced this week that it would begin offering paid leave to its employees.

Airlines

  • Multiple airlines, including Delta, JetBlue, United, and Southwest, sent messages out to customers announcing increased cleaning protocols for airplanes. “Hard surfaces such as lavatories, tray tables, window shades and armrests are thoroughly wiped down with a high-grade disinfectant and multi-purpose cleaner,” United said in a statement last week, noting that aircraft will be taken out of service for decontamination after passengers discovered to have the coronavirus fly.

School systems

  • Nationwide: According to Education Week, more than 1,250 K-12 schools have closed or are scheduled to do so over the coronavirus as of Wednesday morning. More than 856,000 students are affected. Many other systems are canceling overnight field trips and other travel.

Sports

  • March Madness: The NCAA said Wednesday that the annual March Madness basketball tournament would continue as scheduled but attendance would be limited to “essential staff” and some family members only. “While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement. “This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes.”
  • Ivy League basketball: The college sports conference announced Tuesday that it would cancel its annual basketball tournaments entirely.
  • BNP Paribas Open: The annual tennis tournament at Indian Wells, California, was canceled on Sunday. “We are very disappointed that the tournament will not take place, but the health and safety of the local community, fans, players, volunteers, sponsors, employees, vendors, and everyone involved with the event is of paramount importance,” said tournament director Tommy Haas. “We are prepared to hold the tournament on another date and will explore options.”
  • Professional leagues: Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League announced jointly on Monday that they would limit all team locker room and clubhouse access to players and essential employees only. While the leagues have not yet announced broad decisions to cancel games or ban spectators, state and local moratoriums on mass events in some areas are impacting local teams.

Large events

  • Music festivals: Coachella and Stagecoach both postponed their April festivals in California this week. The events are now rescheduled for October.
  • Cherry Blossom Festival: Washington, D.C., canceled or postponed all of its annual Cherry Blossom Festival events on Wednesday. “It is a difficult decision and one that we do not take lightly,” Diana Mayhew, president and CEO of the festival, said in a statement. “We have been working closely with the city government, WHO and CDC as well as our partners to determine the best course of action.”
  • South by Southwest: City officials in Austin announced Friday they would cancel the annual arts and technology festival. Hundreds of thousands were expected to attend.
  • Pearl Jam: The Seattle-based band announced Monday it would postpone the first leg of its PJ/Gigaton tour. “We’ve worked hard with all our management and business associates to find other solutions or options but the levels of risk to our audience and their communities is simply too high for our comfort level,” the band explained.
  • Federalist Society: The far-right legal group said Tuesday it would cancel its “in-person 2020 National Student Symposium.” It attributed the move both to “calls for increased efforts to contain the virus” and “the cancellations of several of our speakers.”
  • St. Patrick’s Day parades: Boston and Washington, D.C. both announced this week their annual parades would be canceled amid the outbreak.
  • Book festivals: Annual book festivals in ArizonaCalifornia, and Virginia were all canceled or postponed.
  • Google: Last week, the technology behemoth canceled its annual Google I/O developer conference.
  • E3: The Electronic Entertainment Expo, a major video game industry trade show, announced Wednesday that it would cancel its June 2020 conference. “This decision was not reached lightly, but it is the right one for the health and safety of all involved,” organizers explained.
  • American College of Physicians: The physicians’ organization opted to cancel its annual Internal Medicine Meeting for 2020. The group said the decision was made not only to model social distancing and avoid contributing to the spread of coronavirus, but also to not interfere with “the vital role of internal medicine physicians in diagnosing, managing and caring for their patients and communities on the front lines.”

Political campaigns

  • Joe Biden: The former vice president canceled his planned Tuesday night rally in Ohio. “We will continue to consult with public health officials and public health guidance and make announcements about future events in the coming days,” a spokesperson said.
  • Bernie Sanders: The Vermont senator also canceled his planned Tuesday rally in Ohio. His campaign later announced that “all future Bernie 2020 events will be evaluated on a case by case basis.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.