Consequences

Twelve years ago a young, new president tried something few had dared do before. He trusted his instincts and listened to those who opposed him. He had already made history being the first Black elected as President of the United States.

He understood the stakes were high. But the nation was divided and needed to listen to one another if anything good was to happen. 

What did he do? He gave the first two years of his 8-year presidency to the possibility of cooperation and collaboration. He invited the opposition to sit down at the table and share their hopes and dreams, their proposals and plans for the future of the country. Their ideas. Their yearnings.

He did so in vain. They refused to even listen to him.

The two years passed, by-elections were held, and the President's plurality of votes in the House and Senate were lost. The rest of his two terms would be spent in abject opposition. Republicans versus Democrats. White people versus against just about everyone else. Gridlock and very little good was to come out of Congress for 18 more years.

Barack Obama's investment in trust in compromise and cooperation failed. Backfired. The rest is history.

What had started as hope and promise, was destroyed by obduracy and pigheadedness. What followed was growing tension, power grabs, lack of civility and even the head of white supremacy rising to the top. What is ugly became visible. Systemic racism took hold and upended government of, by and for the people.

January 6, 2021 is a date that will be remembered. It is a date that witnessed an insurrection by thousands of ill-informed and misdirected thugs who took over the Capitol Building of the United States of America. A woman protester died. Damage was done to building and contents. Capitol staff and elected officials were forced into hiding. Three other people outside the building died from medical complications. The Halls of Congress were overtaken and shut down.

All in the name of undoing a lawfully conducted, legitimate election that disappointed a sitting President who should never had been in office in the first place.

Even he is a consequence of lost opportunities for a better outcome. So many elected officials and professional staff focused on power and the fruits of that struggle that they lost sight of what should have been done. Many tried to repair damage and missteps over decades. But no progress was noted.

Today the reputation, history and promise of America lies in ruins because too few people worked to retain honor, decency and comity. The art of compromise, cooperation and collaboration nearly died entirely.

Even now one wonders if America's time on the world's stage is lost. Only people of good intentions and trust in one another can prove otherwise. Perhaps the consequences of their actions will finally make a difference?

Consequences. They will happen no matter what we do. 

May they be positive. May potential and progress of humankind benefit.

January 7, 20212