Our country has so much class.
During the riot at the U.S. Capitol, our congressional members showed that America is in good hands. They were cool and calm in a crisis.
View what our leaders did.
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, our statesmen and women were sitting calmly in the Capitol, counting electoral votes — doing what America has done peacefully for over 200 years.
Suddenly, people stormed the building, climbing all over it like wicked little ants, crashing through windows, hunting down Senate and House members, trying to hang then Vice President Mike Pence and kidnap House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Like enraged villagers with torches and pitchforks, bashing cops with American flags, protesters gone wild.
Our congressmen and women hid in fear for two hours. Their hearts pounding, hearing gunshots, windows breaking, screams, and wild threats. It was total chaos.
When the noise died down and all was clear, what did they do? Did they whimper and cry? Did they run home and have 10 cocktails to get over it? Did they pop Xanax pills and hide under their beds?
No. After the scariest moment of their lives they did not cower. They calmly stood up, straightened their ties and continued with the business of our country. God bless ‘em.
They dusted themselves off, sat down at their desks ready to go. James Bond would be proud. Pence gathered up his papers and calmly said, “Let’s get to work.”
It went smoothly as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were voted in, and all was good in the world again. After so long the dark cloud had finally lifted.
Like I said, America is in good hands.
To put the icing on the big American cake, to show our country doesn’t miss one single step moving forward, two weeks later the inauguration went off without a hitch.
What a grand event it was. The trumpets blared. The fantastic production began.
Harris with a beaming smile walked through the door, dignitaries stepped out, and there was Pence giving honor to his party. Then came our new president, Biden, and his wife, Jill.
Lady Gaga in her gaudy dress sang our anthem so clear and beautiful. Jennifer Lopez sang free and wild, and Garth Brooks performed proudly. Then came that young lady poet, Amanda Gorman. Wow.
She pounded out her poem, “The Hill We Must Climb,” revealing the theme of America, “Democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.” She ended with words that rippled up my arms and stuck in my throat, “The new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Biden in his great speech said it clearly, “America has been challenged anew and America has risen to the challenge … At this hour, my friends, Democracy has prevailed.”
A new chapter begins, what a country.
Dennis Gregory writes a bi-weekly column for West Hawaii Today and welcomes your comments at makewavess@yahoo.com
