Ever heard of Galusha Grow? How about Preston Brooks? Or maybe Lolita Lebron rings a bell?
These minor players in American history and many others can attest to how the U.S. Capitol — specifically, the House of Representatives Chamber — has been blood-soaked and even ringing with gunfire throughout our nation’s history.
The misguided, conspiracy-obsessed malcontents who were allowed to rampage and roam free through the Capitol on Wednesday are living proof that discord tinged with violence remains an enduring tradition in its hallowed halls.
Travel back to 1856 and witness pro-slavery Democrat U.S. Rep. Preston Brooks almost caning Massachusetts Republican Sen. Charles Sumner to death.
Stick around a couple of years and you will witness U.S. Rep. Galusha Grow helping to incite a 50-person late-night brawl in 1858 on the House floor. An avowed racist and tough-looking character, Grow’s most significant historical claim is his status as the only incumbent House speaker to be defeated until Tom Foley in 1994.
Let’s not forget Lebron. Described in an online history report as a gun-wielding Puerto Rican nationalist, she stormed into the House chamber in 1954 with three compatriots and shot the place up, injuring five House members.
None of these historical antecedents diminish the repugnant behavior demonstrated by a mob largely made up of middle-aged white guys who, through some spectacular oversight in security planning, were allowed to trample hopelessly-outnumbered Capitol Police officers and riot in the Capitol.
The spectacle of rage-filled fanatics running loose while elected officials cower is one we won’t easily forget. I share the amazement and consternation of one news commentator who wondered how the protesters were allowed to wander “seemingly with ease and comfort” through the Capitol until law enforcement corralled them.
They were aided and abetted by cowards in Congress — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and his ilk — who insisted on challenging the presidential election results a full two months after ballots were cast. The election doubters should have worn their hearts on their sleeves and risked arrest by joining the hoodlums who share their political views.
If you are going to cast doubts on an election, at least demonstrate the courage of your convictions, but don’t slink back into the House Chamber and denounce the same mob you anointed with your tacit blessing.
The vast majority of Americans who voted for the outgoing president are people who work, save money, spend time with their kids and look forward, like the rest of us, to the day when they can stop wearing a damn mask and go on a trip somewhere.
If someone had done even half the planning necessary to be prepared for Wednesday’s assault, the day would have ended with the Capitol’s windows intact, no loss of life, and the fanatics at the core of the election protest rounded up and jailed, awaiting court appearances.
I share President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s belief that Americans can sit down and swap opposing viewpoints about the state of our nation. In the middle of Wednesday’s chaos, Biden told the nation, “there is never anything we can’t do when we do it together.”
I believe he is right and I like Biden’s optimism about our ability to drown darkness with light, to wash away hatred fueled by ignorance, and starve conspiracy theories nurtured by fear.
Hey, 2021’s eight days old — let’s go back to being Americans and get to work.
