Never Challenge Worse – ND #20

Trouble on the Horizon? – Photo: L. Weikel

Never Challenge Worse

Here we are, living the last week of 2021. If nothing else, I trust this year has been an object lesson in the truth of the adage: “never challenge worse.” Last year at this time, I cringed every time I saw someone declare how 2021 would haveto be better than the abysmal year we’d just experienced. And it didn’t take long for everything to fall apart to an even greater degree than it had before.

Even the dramatic inroads that were made vis-à-vis vaccine availability and the possibility that opened up to get the virus under control seemed promising – at first. But alas, we know how things unfolded in that area. I don’t need to hash and rehash here.

The same goes for our political leadership. We thought we dodged a bullet. And undoubtedly we did. But now it seems we’re realizing we better hope we’re capable of dodging a bazooka. Or maybe a grenade launcher. Or heaven forbid – a nuke. Because the bullet we dodged was, viewed with a longer-range lens, probably the least of our worries.

Can’t Close Our Eyes

And that’s the rub, isn’t it? We keep thinking, “It can’t get any worse.” And yet it does.

What do you remember thinking and feeling as you sat before your television or computer screen on January 6^th? I can tell you what I wrote about that night – fresh from the experience. This is my post from that night.

Even more surprising to me? I just searched my posts with the key word insurrection and discovered 26 entries. But even more chilling is my first mention of insurrection: the warning I wrote the night of September 21, 2020. I’m equally surprised by my entry the evening of January 3, 2021. And wow – I called it on the evening of January 6^th.

I’m not providing these links as proof that I’ve got some super cool oracular powers. Far from it! If you read the posts, you’ll see I actually just stated what was right before our eyes the whole time. And if I could see it, we all could see it. But our eyes seemed to be firmly slammed shut. I dare say the Capitol Police felt unheard and unseen.

Calm Before the Storm

I don’t want to be an alarmist. Indeed, I seek peace. I yearn for justice and equality. I do my best to promote communication and connection. But I’m feeling a sense of foreboding. This week feels like the calm before the storm.

My worry – as is being conveyed in other outlets; I don’t claim to be a singular sage – is the lack of accountability. The fact that 51 weeks have gone by with no major players or instigators being indicted is exponentially emboldening the insurrectionists. We cannot let this stand without imperiling everything we rely upon and hold dear in this country.

And I don’t think it will simply play out, lah-dee-dah, and disappear into the memory hole. No. I suspect within the very near future we’re going to see other additional direct attempts to subvert our democracy. Or perhaps we’ll finally see some well-investigated and highly documented indictments (and then convictions, if our system works at all).

Either way, I’m not betting 2022 is going to be a ‘relief.’ It may, however, bring relief. If we can manage to keep our republic.

(T+20)