This post was written on Memorial Day 2021 (Monday, May 31st, 2021).
On Memorial Day, many Americans remember their relatives who died or were injured defending our democracy and ideals of freedom. They might even visit a cemetery where a fallen family veteran rests or take part in a small patriotic parade.
But most Americans will just be having a backyard barbecue or taking a day trip to the beach or public park. Or watching professional sports on tv. It is a three-day vacation in a time of a receding pandemic and the beginning of summer.
The surreal, violent, and ultimately unsuccessful insurrection by mostly middle aged, middle class, mostly educated, white Americans is back in the news as the Republicans refused to allow a non-partisan investigation of the activities on and around January 6th. The insurrectionists believed that their leader, Donald Trump, was cheated out of a second term in the Oval Office by a deliberate fraudulent miscount of ballots masterminded by the Democratic Party.
And they were going to make spectacle of their grievances for the media.