Carnage in Washington, DC

I had not planned on the comments below being the first for this year. I had hoped to speak to my hopes and expectations for 2021. I had hoped to talk about our hopeful future once we conquer COVID-19.

I had hoped to speak to how happy my life has been for my past six months. Instead of talking about those things--and more, the events of January 6th, 2021 have pre-empted the comments I wanted to address. So I will save them for another day.

This Wednesday will be a blemish on our country's history. The theatrics of it all need not ever have happened, but they did.

Some thoughts about today: I woke up to a world where it was apparent the Democrats were going to take control of the Senate. I was elated. That balloon quickly was deflated with three huge pricks after hearing that the Donald's son and Rudi Giuliani whipped up the ugly crowd to a frenzy, prepping the crowd for the Mafioso-in-Chief. When I heard his remarks, his delusions, his pomposity, I was dumbfounded... not surprised in the least, though.

And then the unthinkable. The desecration, the violence, the outrageousness of this day. 

I  gave 21 years of my life serving the whims of the Commander-in-Chief, eight of those years under a President I disagreed with. Doesn't matter. I served. I gave an oath to defend our Constitution, our country from enemies, foreign and domestic and to follow the orders of our Commander-in-Chief. Lord, I am thankful I retired from the Navy the year before he took office.

I never actually thought those attacks would come from within, Maybe I should have. Timothy McVeigh was American, after all. And surely, I would never have thought such violence would be instigated by a delusional despot sitting in the White House.

Am I angry? No. But I want to be. What I am is sad. I am shocked. I am appalled, and I am weary of the drama we have been through for the past four years. But that will change in two weeks. Now, that said, President-elect Biden has a rough road ahead of him. Trump has laid countless land mines that are going to be with us for quite some time. Biden, Vice-President-elect Harris, and the Democrats had best be on their toes.

All I can say is, I pray for kindness. I pray for peace. I pray for unity. I pray for us all.