January 6, an anniversary that cannot be celebrated

The fallout from January 6, 2021 and the lies and mistruths that fueled a previously unimaginable insurrection has rained down on us for the past year. Perhaps, in my role as a member of the State Government Committee in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, I have experienced it more than most.

I have witnessed many of my Republican colleagues in the legislature eagerly embrace the lies that the 2020 elections were corrupt and stolen, while all of them won their own elections in the same polling places and on the same ballots they now say were somehow illegitimate. I have watched them undermine public confidence in voting while simultaneously seeking ways to make it harder for others to vote and trust in our democracy. We sat through hearings and suffered the testimony of conspiracy theorists and extremists who were once on the fringes of political thinking, and now, I fear, have captured the heart and soul of the Republican Party.

It is disheartening and at the same time motivating. The election officials, especially Republican election officials, who stood for the integrity of our election process in the face of political and personal consequences were inspiring. The Capitol Police who faced great harm and even the possibility of death defending the peoples’ house were exemplary. The grassroots sleuths who voluntarily poured over thousands of images from January 6 and used social media to help federal officials bring riotous perpetrators to justice was beyond all expectations.

There are those who say we nearly lost our Democracy a year ago. Others warn us the insurrection is still under way and finding expression in Republican controlled state legislatures passing voter suppression laws, attempted take overs of local schoolboards and governments pushed by white supremacist groups and a ceaseless onslaught of authoritarian chatter from the talking heads of hate radio and rightwing primetime television celebrities.

These are indeed frightening times. However, rather than be frightened, we need to be inspired and steeled against the purveyors of lies, the promoters of insurrection and the perpetrators of domestic terrorism and violence.

I, for one, in my capacity as a Pennsylvania legislator, will continue to oppose those who seek to undermine our democracy. I will fight all efforts to make it harder for any people to vote. And, I will use my platform to highlight truth and shine a light on the liars and the opportunists who put their political interests above the interests of the people we serve.