How did this happen?
It’s a question you might ask yourself standing on the sidewalk in the damp morning as you watch your house burn.
No doubt the pyromaniac is to blame. He told you he would light the things you hold dear on fire. Time and again he warned — bragged — that unless you did exactly as he demanded he would scorch the earth under your feet.
Who brought the flamethrower into your home despite your protests? Your housemates who dismissed his threats as harmless and ignored the signs that he is unstable and reckless; are they at fault?
What about the enablers around him? The people who encouraged him to set aflame the place you call home, the ones who told him he was right to destroy the foundation upon which you and previous generations had lived and worked; are they culpable too?
They are the same ones who even now stand behind you cheering as the flames do their damage and the lunatic smirks and hints that he’ll do it again. Because he can. And they want him to.
Asking how this happened, some dismiss it as finger-pointing, may not put out the fire. But if you are to rebuild and start over then it is imperative to understand what brought you to this moment.
On Wednesday President Donald Trump’s supporters momentarily took over the nation’s capital.
Armed with weapons and cellphones, they broke into the Capitol building while representatives and senators counted votes that would hand the presidency to someone other than Trump.
They did so at his urging, their aim to “stop the steal,” despite no evidence that November’s presidential election was corrupted.
At one point they removed the American flag and in its place fastened a banner that bore Trump’s name.
This is where we are, though it should come as no surprise.
For months Trump has been lying to his followers, telling them the election was stolen from him. He has exhorted them to do something about it.
The country is on fire. How do we extinguish the flames and how do we rebuild so that it doesn’t happen again? Do we even want to?
