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Under Siege
On January 6th in the U.S., the capitol building was under siege. Elected officials crouched in hiding places, silent; doors barricaded, taking tips from their staffers experienced in such tactics through over a decade of American schooling in which lock down drills and actual lock downs were as commonplace as fire drills. By the end of the day, insurgents were cleared from the area in a tumultuous day that left four dead. Later that night, the electoral process that had been deferred came to its completion. Legal election results upheld.
On January 13th, those same elected officials stood before one another and recounted the events of the 6th, many calling for the impeachment of the outgoing president who encouraged the insurrection. On January 20th, the inauguration of a new president took place; safety, security and beauty intact. The threat held at bay. Residents of Washington, D.C. able to move freely in their beloved city, to go to the grocery store and buy food, to Netflix and chill in their homes, to walk their dogs in safety.
Across the world on January 13th, another capital city faced a rebel threat in response to election results the previous month. However, in that capital, Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, the rebel forces were not driven out. Rebels remain in the capital nearly one month later and have successfully cut off food supplies to the 900,000 residents…
