Insurrection

Posted: January 27, 2021

Addressing the storming of the Capitol

A failure in execution and preparation allowed the “Stop the Steal” protesters to breach the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

It’s not clear whether the Capitol Police treated the protesters passively because they were white or rather because officers have become ambivalent about using force since the events last summer.

Sympathizers of the people who caused January 6th’s chaos have also compared the protests and conflict last summer to the insurrection at the Capitol. This argument fails to account for the reasoning behind both protests (racial injustice vs. a disproved conspiracy theory), not to mention that it was an attack on democracy.

Either way, America is fortunate that the first people to cause an insurrection had no plan once they entered the Capitol building. To be fair, this probably wasn’t the first wildly ambitious plan they’d cooked up over Parler, but it probably was the first one to succeed.

Insurrection is a grave act, but Americans shouldn’t fear the guy waving and holding the House Chamber’s podium.

The true villains are the instigators who regularly feed misinformation over the internet to masses of these people, because they can’t be discredited in their own echo-chamber.

Rumors and half-truths were once a mild crime, but now that one rumor can escalate to a viral tweet over a platform where no one understands the context, the bar needs to be set higher. People need to be held accountable for spreading misinformation, even if it seems harmless (to an extent, obviously).

If there’s anything that can cripple our country more than polarization, it’s apathy.

You may also like…

Film review: Oppenheimer

Nolan combines technical brilliance with riveting storytelling On July 21, Christopher Nolan released his twelfth feature film, Oppenheimer, which may prove to be one of the greatest feats in cinema over the last decade. The film follows the life of the "Father of the...

Future of the ice arena decided

Arena's fate doomed by increasing costs, declining use In March 2023, the Minnehaha Academy Board of Trustees made the official decision to remove the ice arena located at the lower school campus. While the rink has had many renovations over the years, it has been a...

Elaine Ekstedt: A half-century at MA

Tracing her path to a golden year Fifty years ago, the average gas price was 39 cents per gallon. Fifty years ago, The Godfather won Best Picture at the Oscars. Fifty years ago, the Watergate trial was underway. Fifty years ago, the U.S. ended its involvement in the...

Student businesses: an alternate option

Summer is just around the corner and so are work hours. Many students dread getting a job, but find the idea of starting their own business attractive. In a study conducted by CNBC (a news network), it was reported that 60% of teens wanted to start their own business....

Destinations around the neighborhood

Some people prefer lemonade. Some people enjoy horchata. Others caramel lattes. And the occasional person who just drinks water. With about a third of the MA community restricted to transportation by foot or by pedal, the locations accessible from school are limited....