January 6, 2021: One Year Later
Eulogizing January 6 was an object lesson in political polarization.
Without a doubt, the biggest news story this week was the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. That’s significant, not least because it’s not like this was a slow news week.
The three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery by chasing him down like an animal and shooting him to death in a coastal Georgia subdivision were sentenced to life in prison. Winter storms battered the South and Mid-Atlantic causing hours-long traffic snarls and one man to get hit with a $600 Uber ride. (It was later refunded.) Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s memorial service was held on Saturday afternoon; he was eulogized by sitting and former presidents.
But the hardest hitting and most anguished news story of the week was witnessing the media parse out what happened on January 6, 2021. Even the simple act of figuring out what to call the events of that harrowing day is fraught with ideological baggage, as Ted Cruz learned when he referred to it as a “terrorist attack.” (He later went on Fox News to apologize to Tucker Carlson for telling the truth.)
Among the many ponderous retrospectives and sober think pieces that appeared this week reflecting on the events at the capitol that day, I was struck (though not exactly surprised) by how illustrative of our current political moment this commemoration turned out to be.
Many referenced September 11, 2001, another cauterizing event in American history that, for a brief moment, seemed to unify the country, a shining (final?) unification before plunging us into the darkness of the last two decades.
I spent most of this week reading and listening to these commemorations, and I have gathered some of my favorites here.
A panel of three young people (one from just up the road in Carmel, Indiana) joined host Jenn White on NPR’s 1A. It’s a fascinating listen because these young folks are the future of the American electorate, and that (mostly) gives me hope.
Also on 1A this week was a discussion of the law enforcement response to the capitol insurrection and what has changed in the last year in terms of accountability, intelligence, and national security.
A similar piece on WBUR’s On Point detailed the Department of Justice’s investigation into the attack and the homegrown insurrectionists responsible for the mayhem, many of whom are white collar professionals.
On Point’s Meghna Chakrabarti interviews Maryland representative Jamie Raskin in a touching discussion that weaves the tragedy of the day with Raskin’s personal tragedy in losing his adult son to suicide just days before the capitol attack.
An opinion essay by columnist Will Bunch on the deterioration of American public education and the “21st century’s civic meltdown” on January 6, 2021.
President Joe Biden delivered a speech Thursday afternoon that was at times fiery and tearful, earning predictable condemnation from conservatives like Lindsey Graham and praise from the likes of Stephen Colbert. He called out former President Donald J. Trump by name for his election lies and attempts to undo American democracy. Watch the full speech here: