I read the letter titled “Photos of Jan. 6 show no fires or looting” and simply must respond. Mr. Keszler says, “good grief, we’re still obsessing about the ‘insurrection?’” then proceeds to use name calling in his opinion. I’m curious when intelligent discourse devolved to this childish rhetoric? Oh, wait, that former inhabitant of our White House brought this WWE mentality. Say it loud, call names, act like children to get our way or make our point. Is this how we’d allow our own children to behave? I certainly raised my children better than that. As adults we should at least stop with this level of immaturity that would not be allowed in grade school.
Moving on to the content of the letter to the editor, the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of the term “insurrection” is “a usually violent attempt to take control of a government.” This is exactly what happened that day. A group of people tried to take control of the peaceful transfer of power. To view it as anything less is sheer ignorance. Since when does the chant “Hang Mike Pence” constitute a peaceful demonstration? Or the creation of a gallows complete with a noose? Anyone who saw the videos of these people charging up the steps, running roughshod over the police, using bear spray, crashing windows to clamber in and striking police with flags and banners, chasing police down hallways and banging down doors can’t deny the violence. And to say there was no looting is absurd. There are pictures of insurrectionists in Nancy Pelosi’s office with feet up on her desk. Her laptop was stolen and there are pictures of an individual stealing a podium for goodness sake. And I’m quite certain if there had been retail stores within the Capitol they would have been looted. I certainly hope we obsess over this for years to come. This will be taught in high school history classes for years, hopefully. This should never happen again. This crowd tried to prevent the peaceful transition of the presidency. No matter how the Republican National Committee and Fox News try to frame this, it is not a peaceful protest. Is it how they’d speak if the Democrats had behaved in this manner?
And to compare the insurrection to Black Lives Matter protests doesn’t hold water. It’s not a moral equivalence. That is not to say those protests didn’t become violent as well, but the issues are simply not equivalent. How can one compare the protest of the murder of an individual to an attempt to overthrow the constitution? Perhaps a good reading of the constitution is in order.
F. Swanson,
Ridgefield
