January 6, 2021 - a day that will live in infamy. Yet it was not a terrorist attack, Senator Cruz. And claiming that it was even briefly represented a lapse of good judgment on your part.
Whether we describe the disruption of Congress with the entry of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. as a mostly peaceful protest, a riot, or a terrorist attack makes a great deal of difference.
During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Senator Ted Cruz decried all violence against police officers in the strongest possible terms, and that is proper. We must all agree that law enforcement is to be respected, honored, and protected as its members strive mightily in our neighborhoods, cities, states, and nation to serve faithfully.
Yet even there it is worth pointing out that the vast majority of concerned Americans who went to the capital city of these United States of America a year ago to march and make their voices heard were similarly motivated to the brave officers who patrol our streets upholding the laws of this land.
Democrats have made much political hay out of trying to flip the narrative. As they see it, they are the law, and their will and whim reigns forevermore. Complaints from flyover country therefore represent a coup against the established order and the right side of history.
Yet a much stronger and more durable argument can be made that law-abiding, God-fearing citizens who objected to the certification of the 2020 Election better represented the rule of law, and that Democrat operatives carried out the real coup - with some success, I might add.
Peacefully assembling and petitioning our government for a redress of grievances is a sacred right protected by our Constitution. Above that, however, the Constitution is not the source of this right, but rather an acknowledgement of the God-given right which exists transcendental. Human governments are always made of fallible men, and sometimes those men err. And when they err, they should be respectfully invited to correct themselves before God.
Similarly, with the utmost respect for the senator from Texas, it is a poor use of language and tact to describe January 6, 2021 as a terrorist attack. And it is good to hear Ted Cruz admit as much the day after.
All the same, we do well to consider why Senator Cruz made this blunder, whether intentionally or not.
Yet more crucially, we need to resist the temptation to adopt a kind of conservative cancel culture even as we strive to be wise as serpents. The harmless as doves piece may mean we need better representation than Senator Cruz. I hope not, but it may.
Even so, let us take care that we remain gracious rather than embittered and vengeful. Our enemies do enough of that, and if we become like that I dare say we have given up on conserving truth, beauty, and goodness in this country.
