The day that almost broke America

January 6th, 2021. Across the country, many of us were still home, staying close to our living room TVs, trying to make it through the long, uncertain months of a pandemic that hadn’t ended. We had watched Trump’s rhetoric escalate with threats, and we had seen the warning signs. And I think a lot of us woke up early that morning already uneasy, bracing for the moment we all feared might come, wondering if this would be the day that democracy actually broke.

And I’ve thought about that day so many times since. About how that same bone-deep cold must have wrapped around our forefathers at different moments in this country’s history, when they stood on battlefields or waited on the edge of revolution. But even with all their flaws, I don’t believe they could have imagined what was to come later that day, that a president of the United States would stand before an indoctrinated crowd, point them at the Capitol, and tell them to go fight their own country. But that’s exactly what he did. And the mob of loyalists, conspiracists, and cowards did exactly what he asked.

I know I’m not alone in saying this. I thought that would be the moment. I thought that January 6th would be the line that no one could cross. That we would finally have a moment of clarity in this country. That people, regardless of party, regardless of ideology, would see what happened with their own eyes and say, “No. This is too far.” I thought that the violence, the blood, the rage, the Confederate flags inside the rotunda, the chants to hang the Vice President, the beating of police officers, the smashing of windows, the evacuation of lawmakers, I thought that would be enough. I thought that would wake everyone up and that we would finally rid our country of Trump and his MAGA cult. And I was wrong.

That is what breaks me. Not the man himself, we know what he is. We’ve always known. He’s transparent in his cruelty, unoriginal in his manipulation, predictable in his greed. He never hid it. What breaks me is the people. Our neighbors, coworkers, old friends, and the family members we used to laugh with around holiday tables. The ones who watched January 6th unfold and decided they were okay with it. And that’s what we’re up against now, not just a political opponent, or a policy debate, but a movement that saw blood on the Capitol steps and felt proud of it. This stopped being political a long time ago. It’s a war over what kind of country we’re going to be and whether truth, law, decency, or basic humanity are going to mean anything at all. It’s a collapse in shared reality, a fundamental divide in what we believe is right and wrong. And that’s what makes this so hard.

And maybe you’re like me right now. Maybe your primary emotions aren’t just sadness or grief. Maybe you're angry, too. And that’s okay. I’m also angry because five years after January 6th, we still don’t see an opposition party acting like this is an emergency and willing to call this what it is in the way this moment demands. Meanwhile, the other side continues to build its machinery of control. Their pipeline of power, propaganda, and violence just keeps absorbing more of the very systems we thought would protect us.

And January 6th was not just a crisis, it was a warning. It showed us exactly how far they were willing to go. It was the clearest signal we could have been given, and still, we did almost nothing with the time that followed. We had four years to do something, to bring consequences, legislate protections, to take meaningful action, and instead, we created the perfect conditions for it to happen again. And I don’t think I’m the only one who feels betrayed by that. The people who put their bodies between the mob and the lawmakers that day, the Capitol Police officers, the staffers, the everyday workers, they deserve more than that. They deserve justice. And they deserve a resistance that understands what it’s really fighting. Because what’s coming is going to be worse if we don’t finally act like we understand what we’re up against.

And I’m not just angry at Trump. I’m angry at the people who still support him to this day. Especially now, after everything he’s put us through. And everything he’s put our country and the world through over the past twelve months. None of this should be happening. We should not be living in a country where a convicted felon is the president. Where the very people who stormed the Capitol are not only walking free, but in some cases, working for ICE, the modern-day equivalent of the Gestapo.

Today, I spent some time in the comment sections of posts about January 6th. The smugness and denial left me deeply disappointed. So much willful ignorance. And I remembered why I’ve often chosen not to block people like that when they comment on my words. We need to make sure that they are known as the modern-day Nazi sympathizers. And I’m not mincing words about that anymore. They want to believe they’re the heroes in history, but they’re not. They’re the ones who would’ve watched from the sidewalk as the trains rolled by and said nothing. Or worse, joined in. And the thing is, they think this loyalty makes them safe. They think that by aligning themselves with power, by parroting the slogans and wearing the hat, they’re earning a place at the table. But they’ve forgotten something important: men like Trump don’t care about them. They never did. They’re not part of the plan. They’re just tools. And when they’ve served their purpose, they’ll be discarded like everyone else who stood in his way.

And now, whatever is happening with him, whether it’s cognitive decline, emotional instability, or both, he has no internal brakes left. No boundaries. No ability to stop himself. And that makes him even more dangerous. Because what we’re seeing now isn’t just cruelty. It’s escalation. It’s a man who already didn’t care about anyone on this planet, now completely unbound by consequence or capacity. And that’s the worst kind of man, who is willing to burn everything down just to feel like he’s still in control.

But here’s the thing, he’s only this dangerous because so many people still let him be. His decline should be disqualifying, but instead, it’s defended. He’s being propped up by millions who would rather lose the truth than admit they were wrong.

We’ve all had to face hard truths. Every one of us. We’ve all believed things that didn’t hold up. We’ve all had moments where we had to sit with discomfort, admit we were wrong, and choose to grow. That’s not a failure of character. That’s part of being human. But what’s so painful right now, what makes this moment feel so heavy, is watching people refuse to do that. Watching them look straight at the stakes in front of us, democracy, war, safety, the planet, and still decide to dig deeper into the lie. Because the lie makes them feel powerful. Righteous. Less afraid. And it’s not just sad. It’s dangerous. Because the longer they choose that lie, the more ground we lose. The more truth we surrender. The harder it becomes to find our way back.

I reread his speech from that day. He stood on that stage and told them exactly what he knew would get them radicalized for the moment. “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” He told them the election had been stolen. That they were under attack. That their victory had been taken from them by “radical-left Democrats” and the “fake news media.” “We will never give up, we will never concede,” he said. “It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.” He said they would stop the steal. And they believed him. He promised them evidence of a landslide victory. He gave them none. He gave them rage and permission to act. And the crowd responded. They chanted, “Fight for Trump.” And they did.

They marched to the Capitol. They smashed windows. They carried zip ties and beat officers with flagpoles. They erected a gallows and called for the Vice President to be hanged. And all of it happened exactly the way he told them to make it happen. They followed instructions. They were loyal. And Mike Pence did the one decent thing in his political career. He certified the results. He knew what it would cost him. And it did. And that matters. It was a line he chose not to cross. But he could’ve done more, sooner. He could’ve invoked the 25th Amendment. But he didn’t. And now look where we are.

And just in case anyone thought this would be the year we finally faced the truth, this morning, on the fifth anniversary of the attack, the White House published a new page on its official government website claiming that Democrats “staged the real insurrection.” It blames the Capitol Police for escalating the violence. It defends Trump’s supporters and reframes January 6 as a peaceful protest. It claims the “stolen election” was certified that day. They are using WhiteHouse.gov to launder lies. Over 1,600 people were charged in connection with the attack. Over 1,000 plead guilty. Federal courts have confirmed again and again that what happened was violent, coordinated, and criminal. And yet, this administration is replacing the evidentiary record with propaganda.

If you’re angry or overwhelmed, you’re not alone. So many of us are carrying that same heaviness right now. But the way we get through this is together. We keep going. We speak up. We hold the line. And when we finally get to the other side, and we will, we’ll rebuild this country into what it should have been all along. Not just because it’s worth saving, but because we never stopped believing it could be better. We didn’t give up. We didn’t go quiet. We demanded that our elected officials act like public servants, not bystanders. January 6th was a dark day in our country’s history, but we made it through. And we will make it through whatever is coming next.

I still have hope for America. And I hope you do too.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

P.S. If you’ve made it this far, chances are we see things the same way. You can make a difference right now by subscribing to my Substack. There is a free option and the option to help me reach a wider audience with a $5/month paid subscription. Your support allows me to cover more ground and keep telling the truth about the lies and destruction unfolding in our country.