I Am So Angry

 I am so angry, I could spit.

Why?

This

 

25,000 National Guard troops deployed to Washington, D.C.

to protect the Inauguration of the 46th President of the United States 

and this

National Guard troops and fencing on the Mall

This is Washington, D.C. in January, 2021. This is the capital city of my country. The area around the Capitol complex is normally a beautiful park. The Mall is lined with museums reminding us of our national history -- yes, the dark and shameful parts, but also the great and good. Monuments and memorials celebrate our heroes, the people who faced and fought wars to secure our Republic. And  those who led the fight to extend liberty to all. 

It is a walking city, meaning that it is best seen on foot at human speed. I have always felt safe in its subway system and on its streets at dusk as the lights come on at the Lincoln Memorial or at dawn as I first saw the rising sun streaming across the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Razor wire! Razor wire around the Capitol. Subway stations closed and fences across the Mall to keep us out. This is so wrong.

How did this city that I was so proud of come to look like this?

It was because of

This

and chants of "Get Pence" and "Get Pelosi"

And because of these

  

inspired and incited by

his lies

and the politics of hate

His GOP enablers and apologists are also complicit.

Shame on all of them.