The events of the past week converted the U.S. Capitol into a house of horrors

Pick your poison.

If you work at the U.S. Capitol, you could very well face an insurrection against the United States of America by a pack of invaders who the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia says could be charged with sedition and conspiracy.

And, if you manage to survive marauders storming the Capitol, you may catch COVID.

That is an onerous Hobson’s Choice.

The events of the past week converted the U.S. Capitol into a house of horrors. Those who spent hours barricaded under desks, hiding in broom closets, or locked in restrooms are now suddenly expected right back at work as the House impeaches President Trump for the second time in 13 months and launches a Senate trial.

Why anyone would feel comfortable working inside the U.S. Capitol? Be it a lawmaker? An aide? A journalist? A U.S. Capitol Police officer? A custodian?

And the last few days proved you don’t need airplanes, hijackers, box cutters, chemical weapons, nerve agents, or even firearms to take out the Capitol.

You just need people.

That’s ironic. The Capitol serves as the "the people’s house." The legislative branch is supposed to be representatives of the people and the states. You can erect all of the barricades you want around the U.S. Capitol. Build automated barricades on the streets embroidering the Capitol complex. Keep the Air Force jet fighters hot 24/7 at Joint Base Andrews across the Potomac to shoot down an intruding plane. Dispatch sniffer dogs about the Capitol grounds. Inspect the automobile trunks of staffers who park in the Rayburn garage across the street from the Capitol. Look for guns among tourists entering the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

But, it turns out, the weapon to pierce the Capitol wasn’t a gun. It wasn’t a bomb. It wasn’t a truck. People were the weapon.

And it’s what the people who invaded the Capitol brought with them. Not the homemade napalm, the handguns and the Flex-Cuffs.

The "tools of conquest" were their thoughts. Beliefs. Grievances. Anger. Hostility.

The insurrectionists were armed with enough rage, malevolence, and rancor to attempt to tear down the Constitutionally-mandated legislative branch of government and sidetrack the counting of the Electoral College mandated by the 12th Amendment.

These were ideas, shifted into gear by people who believed they could extract a dividend by sacking the Capitol, maybe taking hostages, and perhaps assassinating American leaders.

You can’t defend against that if that’s what people think. And, if they have enough people who believe that who - egged on by the President of the United States - are willing to bull rush the doors and plow underfoot an outmanned U.S. Capitol Police force, then the gig us up.

Re: The events of the past week converted the U.S. Capitol into a house of horrors

What has happened to this country in just these last four years truly saddens me. Add to that the dumbing down of this country via social media, conspiracy sites, and lack of education and I have no idea how this country ever bounces back. Creating a deep divide and a completely alternate reality was always the fear after Trump took office, it feels as if it is an insurmountable amount of damage to overcome.

Re: The events of the past week converted the U.S. Capitol into a house of horrors

I have faith in democracy. I see this failed coup as a reiteration of how strong our country can be. Maybe this was the capitulation that we need to move forward...to grow stronger...to quiet the voices of hate.