Editor’s note: Karen Harris Tully is a writer who lives in Raymond and has agreed to keep a journal to share with Daily World readers during the odd and uncertain time we’re all navigating.

Dear Journal:

I think Wednesday, January 6, was the most bipolar day I’ve ever experienced in America. I can’t think of any other single day with such highs and lows for our country. It started off, for me, with a celebration of Ossoff and Warnock’s wins in Georgia. Mitch McConnell would no longer get to play the Grim Reaper (his nickname for himself). 535 elected members of Congress, and for five years, ONE MAN from Kentucky held the power to single-handedly stop any legislation he didn’t like. Over 400 bipartisan bills passed in the House died on his desk, never to get a vote in the Senate, never seeing the light of day, including relief bills to help hurting people across the U.S. during a pandemic. So yeah, I was planning on a glass of champagne that night.

And THEN, all hell breaks loose at the Capitol. Now, I understand they were angry, and I’m all for a good peaceful protest, but when armed rioters break into and take over the U.S. Capitol, the seat of our government, bashing police with metal pipes, tear gas and tazers, and threatening our elected congresspeople, that’s not a protest anymore, it’s sedition. Five people have died, including a police officer, and at least 56 officers injured. Rioters, carried the losing, racist flag of the confederacy through our house of Congress. Others took down the American Flag and hoisted a Trump flag on the U.S. Capitol building. It was insanity to watch, a new low for our country and for this president, who encouraged these people to come on that day, saying it would be “wild.” And then when it got out of hand, when he finally spoke up, what did he say? “We love you, you’re very special.”

How do I explain this day to my kids? They’re not dumb or blind. They know something big happened and they’re asking, especially my observant oldest. Of course, they are. Why did these people do this, these people wearing “Trump” all over their clothes and flags, some of them in ridiculous costumes while breaking into, looting, and hurting people in the U.S. Capitol building?

All I can say is that they wanted to overturn the election results, and it didn’t work. The electoral votes were certified, if only a little late. If there was proof of fraud, not rumor or hearsay, but actual PROOF, it would have been presented in court at over 50 court cases. Many of the judges were Trump-appointed. But all those cases were thrown out. And yet. The President continues to spew self-serving lies of a stolen election, and THIS is where it has gotten us. A mob breaking into and looting our U.S. Capitol. Killing people. All involved should be deeply ashamed of themselves, but what’s more, they need to be held accountable.

Song of the day: Wild World, Cat Stevens

Karen Harris Tully is a novelist living in Raymond with her husband and two small children. She writes sci-fi/fantasy for teens and adults and can be found at www.karenharristully.com.