Never Forget

"Let's have trial by combat." Rudy Giuliani

"We're coming for you." Donald Trump, Jr.

"Because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong." President Donald Trump

With those words, the president and his enablers lit a fuse under an already fired up group of protesters filled with delusions of a stolen election. The MAGA crowd listened to their leader and marched to the seat of democracy, the US capitol. Initially content to yell and chant outside the building, some agitators decided more needed to be done and stormed the building. The capitol police were able to stop the horde only briefly as the number of rioters severely outnumbered the number of officers.

Inside the building, Vice President Mike Pence, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), were quickly whisked away to safety. Other lawmakers will told to shelter in place as the horde quickly streamed into the capitol building. Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC instituted a 6:00pm curfew. Meanwhile in the White House, the president watched the spark he created ignite into a roaring flame and did nothing. He finally tweeted to let everyone know that this is basically what happens when you go against him. Twitter and Facebook suspend his ability to use their platforms because he was doing more harm than good.

After several hours, the capitol was cleared, roughly 60 people arrested, and four people dead including capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, and 15-year veteran of the force. There were security failures for sure but if not for the work of the capitol police on the ground, this could have been a whole lot worse. If not for the brave capitol staff who secured the electoral vote certificates during the breached, democracy could have been turned upside down. The efforts of the mob ultimately failed and the certification was complete in the middle of the night.

But like 9/11, we should never forget what happened at the US capitol. We should never forget that a group of domestic terrorist stormed the building to try and subvert the democratic process. We should also not forget those who helped bring about this chaos and January 6, 2021 should forever be an albatross around the necks. In the face of a national election, over 60 lost court cases, and not a single piece of evidence of large-scale voter fraud, some politicians found it much more important to further their political aspirations than to ensure the will of the people was followed.

We are at a time in our history where we need to decide what we want as a country and who we want representing us. For too long, we have had politicians make a career out of public service to fuel their own selfish ambitions, at a cost to the American people. We will have another election in two years and that is the time to make changes. Every eligible voter need to look at their representatives and ask themselves two questions:

1. Has this person done what is in the best interest of their constituents?

2. Does this person represent me and my values well?

If the answer is no, it is time to move them along. I do not mean we should replace republicans with democrats or vice versa. Rather we should replace bad actors with people who will represent our interests at the seat of government. If you are a republican and your current representative does not match your values or interests, find another republican who will. As the late Sen. John McCain said, "Elections have consequences." We have seen that play out a lot over the last four years. Now is the time to get to the voting booth and make necessary changes.

Republicans who incited the rioters

Ted Cruz, Tex.

Josh Hawley, Mo.

Cindy Hyde-Smith, Miss.

John Kennedy, La.

Cynthia Lummis, Wyo.

Roger Marshall, Kan.

Rick Scott, Fla.

Tommy Tuberville, Ala.

Robert B. Aderholt, Ala.

Mo Brooks, Ala.

Jerry Carl, Ala.

Barry Moore, Ala.

Gary Palmer, Ala.

Mike Rogers, Ala.

Andy Biggs, Ariz.

Paul Gosar, Ariz.

Debbie Lesko, Ariz.

David Schweikert, Ariz.

Rick Crawford, Ark.

Ken Calvert, Calif.

Mike Garcia, Calif.

Darrell Issa, Calif.

Doug LaMalfa, Calif.

Kevin McCarthy, Calif.

Devin Nunes, Calif.

Jay Obernolte, Calif.

Lauren Boebert, Colo.

Doug Lamborn, Colo.

Kat Cammack, Fla.

Mario Diaz-Balart, Fla.

Byron Donalds, Fla.

Neal Dunn, Fla.

Scott Franklin, Fla.

Matt Gaetz, Fla.

Carlos Gimenez, Fla.

Brian Mast, Fla.

Bill Posey, Fla.

John Rutherford, Fla.

Greg Steube, Fla.

Daniel Webster, Fla.

Rick Allen, Ga.

Earl L. "Buddy" Carter, Ga.

Andrew Clyde, Ga.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ga.

Jody Hice, Ga.

Barry Loudermilk, Ga.

Russ Fulcher, Idaho

Mike Bost, Ill.

Mary Miller, Ill.

Jim Baird, Ind.

Jim Banks, Ind.

Greg Pence, Ind.

Jackie Walorski, Ind.

Ron Estes, Kan.

Jacob LaTurner, Kan.

Tracey Mann, Kan.

Harold Rogers, Ky.

Garret Graves, La.

Clay Higgins, La.

Mike Johnson, La.

Steve Scalise, La.

Andy Harris, Md.

Jack Bergman, Mich.

Lisa McClain, Mich.

Tim Walberg, Mich.

Michelle Fischbach, Minn.

Jim Hagedorn, Minn.

Michael Guest, Miss.

Trent Kelly, Miss.

Steven Palazzo, Miss.

Sam Graves, Mo.

Vicky Hartzler, Mo.

Billy Long, Mo.

Blaine Luetkemeyer, Mo.

Jason Smith, Mo.

Matt Rosendale, Mont.

Dan Bishop, N.C.

Ted Budd, N.C.

Madison Cawthorn, N.C.

Virginia Foxx, N.C.

Richard Hudson, N.C.

Gregory F. Murphy, N.C.

David Rouzer, N.C.

Jeff Van Drew, N.J.

Yvette Herrell, N.M.

Chris Jacobs, N.Y.

Nicole Malliotakis, N.Y.

Elise M. Stefanik, N.Y.

Lee Zeldin, N.Y.

Adrian Smith, Neb.

Steve Chabot, Ohio

Warren Davidson, Ohio

Bob Gibbs, Ohio

Bill Johnson, Ohio

Jim Jordan, Ohio

Stephanie Bice, Okla.

Tom Cole, Okla.

Hern, Okla.

Frank Lucas, Okla.

Markwayne Mullin, Okla.

Cliff Bentz, Ore.

John Joyce, Pa.

Fred Keller, Pa.

Mike Kelly, Pa.

Daniel Meuser, Pa.

Scott Perry, Pa.

Guy Reschenthaler, Pa.

Lloyd Smucker, Pa.

Glenn Thompson, Pa.

Jeff Duncan, S.C.

Ralph Norman, S.C.

Tom Rice, S.C.

William Timmons, S.C.

Joe Wilson, S.C.

Tim Burchett, Tenn.

Scott DesJarlais, Tenn.

Chuck Fleischmann, Tenn.

Mark E. Green, Tenn.

Diana Harshbarger, Tenn.

David Kustoff, Tenn.

John Rose, Tenn.

Jodey Arrington, Texas

Brian Babin, Texas

Michael C. Burgess, Texas

John R. Carter, Texas

Michael Cloud, Texas

Pat Fallon, Texas

Louie Gohmert, Texas

Lance Gooden, Texas

Ronny Jackson, Texas

Troy Nehls, Texas

August Pfluger, Texas

Pete Sessions, Texas

Beth Van Duyne, Texas

Randy Weber, Texas

Roger Williams, Texas

Ron Wright, Texas

Burgess Owens, Utah

Chris Stewart, Utah

Ben Cline, Va.

Bob Good, Va.

Morgan Griffith, Va.

Robert J. Wittman, Va.

Carol Miller, W.Va.

Alexander X. Mooney, W.Va.

Scott Fitzgerald, Wis.

Tom Tiffany, Wis.