Are we really better than this? – AL.com

This is a reworked column. I say reworked it is rewritten entirely because prior to the situation that unfolded Wednesday at the Capitol, I had already written my weekly offering, and it was about Congress.

It wasnt overly critical, but it didnt read like a thank you note. It was mostly light, poking slight fun at the fact that there are several members in the House and Senate who have been in office since prior to the microwave becoming commonplace. I made some humorous comparisons of how technology has evolved but Congress has not so much, and how appreciative we should all be that at least our phones and televisions are smart.

I cant say it was my deepest work to date, but anytime anyone writes a column it is best to kind of keep check of the pulse of the whole so to speak. There is a temperature of sorts, and it helps dictate the tone of what gets written. My tone was the right pitch, but to publish it now I feel would be in poor taste.

It is necessary when writing to have an awareness and understanding of current events, and yet at the same time you have to also have an almost complete indifference. You have to stay unbiased if you can.

So I had finished writing and was taking in a matinee horserace when I got a message about the breach at the Capitol. The horses were running at Delta Downs. It was a fast track. I prefer muddy, or better yet snow at the northern tracks. I think it adds more chance to the odds. And, when the lights hit the snowflakes against a backdrop of racing horses, its pretty.

We as Americans like pretty. We love things that look good. We like to look good. But are we good?

The phrase we are better than this has been repeated over and over since the disgraceful acts unfolded at the Capitol, but are we?

I wasnt overly surprised. I dont think anyone was. It has become normal to stomp around and riot. Watching looting and burning air on the news was a pastime for some during the shutdown.

We have watched politicians encourage the division on both sides of the aisle from the very top down. But now suddenly we are better than any of this? No we arent. We feel a little convicted maybe. Our consciences may be bothering us a bit, but no, we are not better than this. This is exactly who we are. This is who we have become and this is who we will continue to be unless there is a collective effort to be better.

It may start by dialing it back some of the rhetoric, and by having enough character to practice self-restraint rather than self-expression.

I think people were more surprised by how unprepared Capitol police were than by what happened. There was no preparedness. Especially considering the controversy that was surrounding the certification of the electoral votes.

I take it we are not defunding the police now? It seems we may should keep them. Maybe even hire a few. What happened at the Capitol Wednesday where at least five people lost their lives reemphasized why some people find it necessary to carry a pistol for protection and think it is important the Second Amendment be kept securebecause we are not all good. We are not all better than this. We arent even close. If we were this never would have happened.

Amanda Walker is a contributor with AL.com, The Selma Times Journal, Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Alabama Gazette. Contact her at Walkerworld77@msn.com or at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.

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Are we really better than this? - AL.com