Rising from the Rubble

For me, the events of the past week were particularly daunting to address due to the strong emotions they elicit and varying political views that folks have. What a fine line to walk as a leader. When the news broke, I let my team know that they should take whatever time they needed to help their children understand what was happening, to process it themselves and/or to witness history - however ugly it may be.

Personally, as I watched the events unfold at The Capitol, I felt mostly heartbroken, but with a side of fear.

I felt heartbroken for our country and for the people here who feel left out or left behind in the wake of a tumultuous year. I thought about what emotions or life circumstances might drive a person to attack a global bastion of Democracy, in the name of Patriotism, endangering their own lives and potentially impacting the lives of their families. And I was struck by the gross disparity in response to this event and to the BLM protests we saw over the Spring and Summer. My heart hurt for our country, to see just how far away we have gotten from the intentions of the Founders as outlined in our Constitution and The Federalist Papers.

I felt afraid because our Democracy is fragile and it seemed that I was witnessing it coming within a millimeter of its life on live television. I couldn't help but think about the consequences of that fragile Democracy being broken and the United States of America being plunged into even more division and unrest than we already are. What the consequences would be globally of the greatest Democracy in the world stumbling and the way such a thing would empower the autocrats and dictators around the world who would be emboldened by such an event. And I thought about how very vulnerable we are to attack from those regimes in the waning days of one administration as we bridge to the new, amidst such unrest and discord.

But later that day, as our Senators and Representatives stood back up, dusted themselves off, took a deep breath and walked back into the Chamber to complete the Constitutional duty that had been so violently interrupted, I felt hopeful. I felt relieved. I felt proud. So very proud to live in a country whose steely resolution to model Democracy for the world, quite literally picked itself up and went about the business of Democracy amidst the rubble of rebellion.

#GodBlessAmerica