Storming the Capitol
By Javed Ellahie
CA

This morning I received a call from a friend, almost in tears, as he related his anguish at the events unfolding at the Capitol of the United States of America. My friend had visited America a decade ago, and now sitting 12,000 miles away in Pakistan, found himself in mourning at this assault on democracy.   He could not understand how this could happen in this great country, a country which was the beacon of democracy, a country to which fledgling democracies look to as a model, and as the minimal threshold for citizens right that their leaders must live up to.

I felt his exasperation and frustration, as I watched the same scenes, sitting 3,000 miles away in California.  I had not expected that Michael Cohen, the President's personal attorney's final paragraph in his book Disloyal would come true:
"Please remember what I testified to Congress, the second time. There is a serious danger that Donald Trump will not leave office easily, and there is a real chance of not having a peaceful transition. When he jokes about running again in 2024 and gets a crowd of thousands to chant ‘Trump 2024.’ He's not joking.  Trump never jokes."

What happened today, January 6, 2021, with President Trump's storm troopers climbing the fortress of Capitol Hill, may or may not live in infamy but it certainly was no joke as our elected Senators and Congresspersons were forced to flee and find safe hiding places. It was a day where there was damage to the Capitol but most egregious of all, resulted in the loss of a life.   This unidentified woman was indeed a patriot, concerned enough about the future of the United States, to risk and lose her life.  A life that must have had immense potential to benefit this country but instead was sacrificed at the altar of repetitious lies, untruths, misrepresentations and insults articulated by a President labelled as  "a racist, a misogynist, a homophobe, a xenophobe"  by Governor Pritzker.

What happens tomorrow, and in the days to come, will determine if American democracy, and democratic systems that look for America for guidance, will survive.

As non-democratic countries lead the world in economic growth, as racist "democratically" elected leaders hatemonger to maintain and expand their influence, and as ruthless dictators see this great democracy turning into a banana republic, the challenge for all Americans is to unite so as to ensure that the "government of the people, by the people, for the people" endures.  We must do so, while we still can.