Much as baseball fans in 1919 couldn’t believe their beloved Chicago White Sox had fallen to the depths of a cheating scandal, and thus the famous “say-it-isn’t-so-Joe” phrase, we found ourselves Wednesday afternoon totally amazed and at a loss to accept or believe that the greatest nation in the world has made itself look like one of the scandal-ridden nations which face a coup every time an election is held.

Are there really radicals attacking the halls of Congress? Has the National Guard been summoned to save our elected officials from a possibly deadly confrontation with our own people?

Shame is not a big enough word for everyone responsible for this and everyone partaking in it. People who traveled to D.C. on Tuesday night to be in the middle of this were well aware of the possible direction the protests could take.

Many of these same people railed against the protesters this past summer who got out of control and damaged businesses and attacked law enforcement. By comparison, that was child’s play. These are serious crimes these “patriots” were committing Wednesday.

This isn’t on anyone else but Donald Trump for antagonizing his faithful followers, of which I would have been counted until now.

Americans don’t do things this way. Reality is no longer in his realm. He has dropped the mantle of most powerful man in the world and has created a legacy for himself as the person who manipulated his followers to destroy the country in order to save his pride at having lost the election.

This cannot be defended. It cannot be rationalized. It probably isn’t possible for Joe Biden or any other politician to ever match the damage done by Trump since Nov. 4, 2020. His antics since the day after the election have put an unmistakable blemish on our democracy forever.

Remember Watergate? That was nothing. Remember Clinton and Lewinsky? That was nothing. This rivals slavery as the worst action ever condoned by this country.

What do we do once peace is restored? Will there be aftershock protests like aftershocks from earthquakes? How many Americans might die at the hands of other Americans? Have we swung the door open for groups like Antifa and the Proud Boys to reign hate and violence upon our youth?

There is reason to be proud of loyalty and membership in many aspects of life. It is OK to be a Republican or a Democrat. It’s OK to be a liberal or a conservative.

It’s good to stand up and support causes you believe in until you lose touch with good sense and instead start thinking it’s OK to win your way by any means necessary. If there ever really was a good reason to claim cheating or dishonesty in this election, that time had already passed.

Wednesday was too late for that, and any sensible person knew it. But radical, violent, uncontrollable criminals took over our capital, our government and our nation Wednesday. The shame is overwhelming.

Now how the hell do we fix it?

And, please, wear your mask.

— RV