I just watched the Presidential Address regarding The January 6th Capitol Riot. This day weighs heavily on me, because it is a sight, I didn’t think I would ever see from our great nation, and knowing that if people had left and not stood by and watched and participated with the more violent members of their group, they would have never had the numbers to breach the capitol and leave many people dead and injured and damaged the capitol and wounded our democracy.
Here are some excerpts from some of the most striking parts of his speech to me:
“Our Democracy endured… Clio stood watch over this hall… Even during the civil war, that never ever happened. American poles being used as spears… police officers assaulted.. over 140 police officers were injured. More afraid that day than fighting in Iraq.. we saw it with our own eyes… rioters…literally erecting gallows to hang the Vice President of America. We didn’t see a former president, who had just rallied mobs to attack.. watching it all on television, doing nothing for hours…while our nation’s Capitol was under siege.”
“The true patriots are the more than 150 Americans who peacefully expressed their vote at the ballot box, the election workers who protected the integrity of the vote, and the heroes who defended the Capitol. You can’t love your country only when you win, you can’t obey the law only when it’s convenient.”
“From China to Russia and beyond they are betting that democracy’s days are numbered…democracy is too slow, bogged down by division to succeed in today’s rapidly changing complicated world. They’re betting America will become more like them and less like us.”
“Our founding fathers…set in motion an experiment that literally changed the world, here in America the people would rule, power would be transferred peacefully. All people are created equal. The mob that attacked this capitol could not be further away from the core American Value.”
I left out much of what President Biden said, and my excerpt does not fully convey the full message of his speech.
You can watch the full speech here: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/06/watch-live-president-joe-biden-addresses-jan-6-capitol-riot-anniversary.html
Here is a video from the New York Times – “Day of Rage” a synchronized and mapped out video of thousands of hours of evidence: https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000007606996/capitol-riot-trump-supporters.html
Here is a short video from the Associated Press about January 6th: https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-siege-video-documents-riot-8233cf9850c2859ca8e412090f7b6159
This video shows the 3 hour video from the Capitol Tunnel without sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a3RGlu5yLs