'The curtain now goes up on the next act in the most serious battle for our way of life since 9/11. Will you join the fight?' errollouis writes on what we need to do to protect our democracy
Photo: Jon Cherry/Getty Images Real life is not a Hollywood movie, so there will be no ominous music or blinding special effects to signal that the final battle is at hand. But that moment unmistakably arrived when a violent mob invaded the Capitol a year ago, with the explicit goal of hunting and killing lawmakers to overturn the results of the presidential election and keep Donald Trump in power.
“Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and incited, and those who called on them to do so, held a dagger at the throat of America and American democracy,” a visibly angry President Biden said from inside the Capitol. “Look folks, now it’s up to all of us — We, the People — to stand for the rule of law, to preserve the flame of democracy, to keep the promise of America alive.
Thomas Webster, an ex-Marine and former NYPD cop who once served on Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s personal security detail, traveled to the insurrection with body armor and a pistol, and spent months in jail, charged for attacking officers defending the Capitol. And 34-year-old Matthew Greene of Syracuse, a member of the violent Proud Boys extremist group, recently pleaded guilty to felony charges including conspiracy, and is set to be sentenced in March.
In the book On Tyranny, a brooding mediation about how democracies fall apart, Yale historian Timothy Snyder notes that protecting our system requires more than merely showing up to vote every so often. “Nobody in my district ever talks to me about the election,” she said when I asked her about the insurrection, contending that her constituents are more concerned with gas prices and the state of the economy. A group within her district organized a protest rally in response, underscoring the importance of letting those in power know that these days, democracy and its defense are always on the agenda.
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