A new Lincoln Project ad labels Rep. Kevin McCarthy a "traitor," freshman Georgia Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene gives the GOP more reasons to worry and the recall petition against Gov. Gavin Newsom picks up steam

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ...KEVIN MCCARTHY: It's hard to imagine things getting much worse for Rep. Kevin McCarthy. A new Lincoln Project advertisement brands McCarthy a "traitor," he has been criticized and denounced by The Washington Post and The New York Times and now he finds himself defending the indefensible:  a member of his own caucus, Georgia Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, who is so extreme in her conspiracy theories that  members of her own party have turned on her. McCarthy is under immense pressure to

denounce Greene, but so far he has yet to do so and in fact appointed the freshman lawmaker to an important committee. (Among other wacky theories, Greene has claimed the shooting at Parkland High School in Florida was a plot by liberals to rally support for gun control).To many, Greene is to the right what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is to the left: an extreme voice that does great harm the message of their own party. The latest Lincoln Project ad puts McCarthy squarely in the crosshairs, labeling him an unrepentant traitor who has put him own ambition and loyalty to Donald Trump over what is best for his country. All this must be odd for McCarthy, who since his first election to Congress in 2006 has enjoyed tremendous support both at home and in the halls of Congress. But his relationship with Trump and his refusal to deal harshly with Greene has led to nightly criticism on CNN, MSNBS and even CBS and put McCarthy in the unsettling position of being viewed as a right-wing seditionist who will stop at nothing to gain power.

 * ... KMAC BACK HOME: Meanwhile back home McCarthy remains popular in his 23rd Congressional District, but even in conservative Kern County there are signs his lock on the district may be eroding. Message boards routinely take him to task and denounce his relationship with Trump and speculation is rife with reports that a well heeled Democratic challenger could emerge to give McCarthy a serious run for his money. The latest name being promoted by local Democrats: well connected criminal defense lawyer David Torres who checks all the boxes: Army veteran, active in Democratic circles, Hispanic and a respected well known name that would be capable of raising money for a challenge. Torres told me he has been approached before to run against McCarthy and has not yet decided what to do.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I’m depressed, but not 'finding out that five attorneys on my impeachment defense team have quit on me' depressed."

 * ... RECALL NEWSOM: Another California politicians in the crosshairs is Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is facing a recall petition that has picked up steam with voters unhappy with the way he is handling the coronavirus. The recall effort has already collected a million signatures and has two months more to get 500,000 more to qualify of the ballot. "Things are going to hell here," said one Bakersfield attorney. "The 

EDD audit, taxes and the way he has handled the coronavirus is a mess."  Newsom's approval rating remains at a healthy 58 percent, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, so it's an open question whether there's enough mainstream support to kick out the governor. 

 * ... MEMORIES: You just have to love this picture of the east side of Chester Avenue north of 23rd Street around 1920. Courtesy of Richard Young and the source is the BAKERSFIELD and KERN PICTURE ALBUM by Don Pipkin and Chris Brewer. 

The emergence of a virus mutant that evades antibodies is terrifying epidemiologists, Amestoy's is demolished and the old owner of Trout's honky tonk is arrested, and Kern County gets a new director of public health

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... NEW VIRUS WORRIES: Medical scientists are alarmed - some terrified - about the emergence of a little known variance to the coronavirus that is devastating a city in Brazil. Known simply as the variant P.1, it emerged in December in Manaus, Brazil and within a month had caused a massive resurgence in

cases in a city of two million people. And here's the worrisome thing: the city had been devastated before by Covid-19, and so many residents had been infected and recovered that the city reached herd immunity. But the new strain, P.1, did not react to the antibodies and in effect may be evading the antibodies made by the previous virus."While we don't know exactly why this variant has been so apparently successful in Brazil, none of the explanations on the table are good," said epidemiologist Bill Hanage at Harvard. Experts further noted that this virus seems much deadlier than the mutated strains from South Africa and the United Kingdom, and the fact that is reinfected a city where herd immunity had been achieved is more than worrisome. Locally, Centric Health's Dr. Brij Bhambi called the Brazilian variant "frightening" and he will discuss the development Friday on The Richard Beene Show at 2 p.m. The show airs on KERN  NewsTalk 96.1 FM/1180 AM.

 * ... NEW PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR: Brynn Carrigan has been appointed the new director of the Kern County Public Health Department, succeeding the retiring Matt Constantine. Carrigan has served as assistant director of the office since 2012 and will work with Constantine until he leaves in March. She is a graduate of South High School and Cal State Bakersfield, earning a degree in business administration.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Finally earned some street cred this evening getting led away by police from an 'All You Can Eat' buffet."

 * ... TROUTS: The last owner of Trout's before it closed down for good, Thomas Rockwell, has been arrested in Sonoma for allegedly stealing money from a senior. If you remember, Rockwell disappeared from town along with the iconic Trout's neon sign that welcomed patrons to the bar on North Chester. No one knows where the Trout's sign is, and there are legions of people who want to see it preserved here in Bakersfield, possibly displayed with the other classic neon signs on display at Pioneer Village. The Californian's Steven Mayer broke the story on Rockwell and will be joining me on the radio today (Thursday) to discuss the case. Join us at 2:30 p.m. on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM. 

 * ... RIP AMESTOY'S: The bulldozers took care of what was left of the old Amestoy's bar on River Boulevard this week, moving in to demolish what was left of the iconic watering hole that served generations and hosted many a romance. Ever since the bar closed it has been the target of graffiti and vandals and it was set on fire at least three different times. RIP Amestoy's. Finally, Anthony Leary posted this remembering things he heard at Amestoy's over the years: "You'll never hear this again from Amastoy's: 'Pull your pants up turn your hat around... don't slam the dice.. last call you don't have to go home but you just can't stay here... OK you can stay but the rest of you have to go... get out from the back of my bar... thank ya thank ya thank ya... (and) we don't play that rap shit music in here." (photo courtesy of Anthony Leary)

 * ... MEMORIES: This photo of damage to a building at Chester and 19th Street was taken right after the 1952 earthquake. Credit: Kern County of Old Facebook page.

The Lincoln Project takes aim at Rep. Kevin McCarthy for his loyalty to ex President Trump, Southwest Airlines begins service to Fresno and the Mission of Kern County opens a new dormitory wing for the homeless

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... KEVIN MCCARTHY: Rep. Kevin McCarthy is wildly popular at home, but his national reputation has been seriously tarnished by his loyalty to ex president Trump and the "big lie" that massive fraud pushed the election to Joe Biden. And there are few harsher critics than the Lincoln Project, a group

founded by disaffected Republicans who say they are calling out people who put personal ambition over country. The Lincoln Project has singled out McCarthy as one of the ranking GOP leaders who has shown cowardice and lacked the courage to push back again Trump and do what is right for the country. You have probably seen the Lincoln Project hit pieces on McCarthy on local television (as well as the criticism leveled against McCarthy by his former boss, former Congressman Bill Thomas). Steve Schmidt, one of the Lincoln Project founders who has worked for various Republican candidates as John McCain, George Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger, took to Twitter the other day to continue his criticism of McCarthy. Below are screen shots of some of Schmidt's missives.

 * ... MISSION: The Mission of Kern County christened a new 40-bed dormitory wing this week, adding to Kern County's expanding ability to deal with its crushing homeless problem. Mission director Carlos Baldovinos, joined by Mayor Karen Goh and other dignitaries, held a ribbon cutting for the new wing, which Baldovinos predicted will be full of clients within weeks.

* ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I want to lose weight but I don't want to get caught up in one of those 'eat right and exercise' scams."

 * .... SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: Southwest Airlines has announced service to Fresno's Yosemite International Airport beginning in April. The airlines will operate three daily flights between Fresno and Las Vegas and one daily flight to Denver. "Bringing Southwest to Fresno has been our priority for a number of years," said Fresno airport director Kevin Meikle. Wouldn't it be nice if Southwest served Bakersfield?

 * ... OLD CALIFORNIA: I spotted this old map on the Kern County of Old Facebook page, an artifact and evidence of time gone by. The caption reads: "In the 1856, the area was an odd place on the map, in between southern California and Central California.  One of the last places to be pioneered and colonized. Roughly a triangle shape (a gore?) at the south end of the Great Valley, Buena Vista was renamed County of Kern and awarded vast mineral rich desert tracts from San Bernardino in 1866.

It was a vast, natural, grazing grounds. A kind of forgotten land, dominated by too much or too little water. Col. Baker made his way here from Visalia in the 1860s and found Christian Bohna's corn field soaking wet from that decade's El Nino. Baker bought him out and spent the next 15 years drying out (with help from La Nina) and schemed canals for agriculture and cities for people."

 * ... MEMORIES: Rows of trucks carrying cotton line up in the 1920s in this old picture from the Kern County History Fans Facebook page.

Billboards pop up in Kevin McCarthy's hometown saying he "must go," state Sen. Shannon Grove is ousted as head of the GOP in the state Senate, and South High School looks to get rid of its "Rebels" nickname

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... LOCAL POLITICOS: Two of the most prominent elected officials in Kern County - Congressman Kevin McCarthy and state Sen. Shannon Grove - are both facing political pressure because of their unwavering support for former President Donald Trump. McCarthy, of course, has been widely vilified for supporting Trump's unverified claims that the election was stolen, and on Thursday he told Politico that he believed that Trump did not "provoke" the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6. That

triggered a harsh response from his old mentor, former Congressman Bill Thomas, who labeled McCarthy a "hypocrite" and others have piled on as well, questioning whether McCarthy's future as a leader with the Republican Party will go unchallenged. And now, here in his hometown, someone is erecting billboards attacking McCarthy, a virtual unheard-of scenario not long ago.

 * ... SHANNON GROVE: As for Grove, it looks like her pro-Trump credentials at least partially led to her ouster as leader of the GOP in the State Senate. The Republican caucus ousted Grove from the leadership position this week, opting for the more moderate state Sen. Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita after the Republicans lost two seats in the Senate.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "My iPhone battery died and I have to wait 2 days for a new one like some kind of pioneer woman."

 * ... CSUB GIFT: Here's some good news for CSUB: it turns out a former Bakersfield resident has donated $500,000 to the CSUB athletics department to support the 10 women's teams at the university. The gift came from Shelly Carlin, who was a member of the national championship softball team at UCLA in 1981. Athletic director Ziggy Siegfried said the gift will lead to the establishment of the Athletics Director's Women's Excellence Fund, and will help CSUB softball reach the allowable maximum for scholarships (12) for the first time in program history. Carlin previously worked as chief human resources officer at Motorola and earlier pledged $170,000 to the school's softball program.

 * ... SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL: South High School, long known as home of the Rebels, has decided to abandon its nickname for something more politically correct. In a decision that undoubtedly will not be welcomed by many of South's alumni, the school administration said it was looking for input for a new suitable nickname. The South High Sycamores? Whatever the new name, you can bet it will be a phrase that will pass the political correctness test.

 * ... MEMORIES: From the Facebook page Kern County of Old comes these classic old pictures of downtown Bakersfield back in the day.

Kevin McCarthy can please no one: Not the radical right, certainly not the left and not the moderate center of the GOP. Plus can you still shed the coronavirus even after vaccination? And a horrendous accident on Alfred Harrell Highway

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... KEVIN MCCARTHY: The political fate of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, now into his eighth term in Congress, has never been more uncertain than it is now. And not because he is in immediate threat of losing his seat, but rather because never before has the popular congressman known simply as "Kevin" or "KMAC" around town come under such intense criticism. Consider for example the appearance of McCarthy's longtime mentor, former Congressman Bill Thomas, on KGET where he labeled McCarthy a "hypocrite" for

supporting the lies perpetuated by President Trump. It was a remarkable scene: Thomas seated next to KGET's Bob Price, taking his protege to task for not only voting against impeachment but for challenging the election results just hours after the U.S. Capitol was stormed by an angry mob. Thomas labeled the vote on impeachment "hypocrites and heroes, "noting that Rep. David Valadao had voted for impeachment. while McCarthy sides with the president. And then, on Sunday, McCarthy was the subject of a New York Times analysis in which it cited the Thomas criticism but also added that McCarthy was under fire by the extreme right of his party for not doing enough to defend the president. Said the Times: "Democrats and some Republicans called on him to step down. The anti-Trump Lincoln Project released an ad calling him a 'pathetic enabler' and urging his staff to 'pack up your desk and leave that loser behind.' A scathing Sacramento Bee editorial denounced him for having 'a soulless lack of principle' and for abusing his authority 'to promote big, dangerous lies about the election.' But in his home district — one of the most conservative in California — Mr. McCarthy has been under fire for not being loyal enough. The split illustrates the gulf between the national outrage over the violence at the Capitol and the local hold the president still has on conservative parts of the country. Mr. McCarthy’s district, which includes the city of Bakersfield and most of Kern and Tulare counties in the San Joaquin Valley south of Sacramento and north of Los Angeles, is a place where oil, agriculture and MAGA dominate." To be sure, McCarthy's support in the 23rd District is solid and even critics like Ken Mettler (mentioned in the Times article as a voice of the extreme right) have little chance of unseating McCarthy. But for the first time, McCarthy finds himself in the precarious position of pleasing no one - not the left, not the moderate wing of the GOP as seen in Bill Thomas, and not the radical right representing by Mettler and his ilk. Stay tuned.

 * ... BILL THOMAS ON THE RADIO: We will hear more from former Congressman Thomas this Tuesday when he appears on The Richard Beene Show to talk about the future of the Republican Party, the crisis facing our nation and his ideas on how the GOP can rebuild in a post Trump world. Thomas will come on at 2 p.m. Tuesday on NewsTalk 96.1 FM/1180 AM.

* ... CORONAVIRUS: Here is something to consider while you wait for your Covid-19 vaccine: once you are fully immunized, there is a chance you might still have the live virus and pass it on to others. That's the word from medical experts who are cautioning that there mere fact that you have been vaccinated does not mean you are done shedding the virus. The reason? Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines simply suppress the virus, and experts simply don't know if an asymptomatic person who has already been vaccinated may still be able to pass it on to others. That's way, the experts tell us, that reaching "herd immunity" (where 80 percent of the population has been vaccinated) is so important.

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "Lots of jokes about the My Pillow guy but ask yourself this: does anyone know who Biden’s pillow guy is?  we’re about to have a president who has no advisors from the pillow industry, let that sink in."

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: "Wow so when a dog humps someone's leg, it's cute and funny but when I do it, I'm not allowed to enter the church again. Is it because I'm brown?"

 * ... CAR ACCIDENT: Did you hear about the accident on Alfred Harrell Highway this weekend in which a 24-year-old driver was killed? The woman was east bound behind the wheel of a Ford Expedition when she apparently lost control and the truck flipped multiple times. Nine children were inside - the vehicle was not made to seat that many - and all miraculously survived. The children were between the ages of 5 months to 15 years.

 * ... MEMORIES: And just take a look at the old Kern County Courthouse around 1910 with the Beale Clock Tower in the background.

Former Congressman Bill Thomas pays to send a message about our current political troubles, seniors line up for the Covid-19 vaccines and the Bakersfield Museum of Art prepares for a virtual show on the Bakersfield Sound

Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... BILL THOMAS: When Bill Thomas retired from Congress as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, leaving his seat to his protege Kevin McCarthy, the world was a different place.  But even Thomas could never have seen what would become of the country he loves, and the institution of

Congress that he helped mold. Now, Thomas has come forth to let the world know where he stands by purchasing a full page advertisement in The Bakersfield Californian to highlight a letter from a former staff member, Will Le. In it, Le details the story of a disaffected moderate Republican whose party seems to have abandoned him. "It saddens me to see what has happened to the Republican Party over the last four years under the grips of Donald Trump and Trumpism," he wrote. "And it is with even more sadness that those who have supported him and cheered him on are those who I once worked with and greatly respected... I am a man without a party. Both parties have stooped to the lowest levels to drum up anger against a political and economic system that has worked so well for so many people of so many different backgrounds."

 * ... COVID-19 VACCINE: The state of California opened up the coronavirus vaccine to residents 65 and older, and there was a tsunami of a response. Express Pharmacy on Brimhall was overwhelmed the first day and other urgent care centers had similar experiences; And now experts are warning that even with both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, there is no guarantee that you might still have the virus and be unknowingly shedding it. "We just don't know yet," is how Dr. Brij Bhambi of Centric Health put it, saying researchers don't know if fully vaccinated people could still be contagious. The hope, of course, is achieving herd immunity across the country.

 * ... ART EXHIBIT: If you are a history buff and interested in the Bakersfield Sound, make sure you check out a new online exhibit from the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Called The Bakersfield Sound: Roll Out the Red Carpet, the exhibit will showcase major figures and stylings of the sound with costumes, guitars and posters from the era. Among those part of the exhibit is Felix Adamo, retired Bakersfield Californian photographer whose black and white shots of the time are can't miss items. The virtual exhibit will run from Jan. 28 to Aug. 28 this year. (Felix Adamo poses with some of his work below)

 

 * ... PARLER: There is a lot of chatter about Parler, the new social media website that caters to disaffected Republicans fed up with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The site has become a hotbed of rumors and conspiracy theorists have found it a home for their musings. Below is just one of the postings on Parler that speaks to conspiracies. Kicked off the Amazon hosting site, Parler is currently off line and it is not known when it will go back live.

 * ... MEMORIES: Enjoy these pictures of old Bakersfield, borrowed from some of the many websites that chronicle our history.

 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And how about this picture of the old Rainbow Gardens on South Union Avenue. Date unknown.

Immigrants respond to the attack on the Capitol with warnings of false prophets, Rep. Kevin McCarthy takes heat for his support of President Trump and CSUB gets a sweet over Cal Poly in men's basketball

 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... THE LONG TAIL OF THE CAPITOL ASSAULT: Some of the more visceral reactions to the assault on the U.S. Capitol have come from immigrants and their children, many of them people who left unstable governments for the promise of an America that offered stability and predictability. But the Capitol assault has left many of them questioning whether their adopted country has changed, and some are left wondering if America is

on the road to becoming just another nation perpetually at war with itself. Raji Brar, whose parents immigrated from India only to build an impressive business of Countryside markets and other businesses in the Bakersfield area, said the January 6 assault made her rethink the idea of an America that would always offer "safety and security." Dr. Brij Bhambi, a cardiologist and co-owner of Bakersfield Heart Hospital, wrote and essay warning of the dangers of false prophets who trade in lies, conspiracies an myths. 

 * ... KMAC: In the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol last week, Rep. Kevin McCarthy has come under enormous heat for failing to denounce President Trump's role in the events that led to five deaths and dozens of arrests. While strongly denouncing the violence as un-American, McCarthy is among a handful of Trump loyalists who are sticking with Trump while many of his GOP colleagues (Senators Ben Sasse and Lindsay Graham among them) have turned on the president. In a piece in the National Journal, writer Josh Kraushaar wrote this: "Time will tell whether McCarthy pays a political price for his political cowardice. He was coming off a successful election, with House Republicans benefiting from a Trump-fueled turnout surge while maintaining enough support from more traditional Republican voters to wildly beat expectations. His party is within striking distance of the majority in two years. But the GOP is also splitting apart, with a growing number of republican officials backing a complete break from Trump after this week's events. that split is forcing Republicans to choose between democracy and Trump. If the institutionalizes prevail in the looming GOP battle for the soul of their party, McCarthy will rue the day he chose to stay on the Trump ship until the bitter end."

 * ... PARLER: Die-hard supporters of President Trump have been moving their online social media accounts off sites like Facebook and Instagram to more conservative-leaning new websites like Parler, and now Big Tech has turned on Parler saying it has become a home for threats of violence. The above mentioned Rep. McCarthy established a Parler account along with Sen. Ted Cruz and Congressman Devin Nunes as well as President Donald Trump’s family members and surrogates. But now, both Amazon and Apple have kicked Parler off their web hosting services, meaning that Parler will have to find a new home for Trump'sfollowers. Below is an example of some of the chatter being seen on Parler.

 * ... CSUB ROADRUNNERS: The CSUB Roadrunners swept Cal Poly this weekend to improve to an overall record of 6-4 (2-1 in the Big West Conference). The great tragedy this year is that no fans can enjoy CSUB's entry into the Big West Conference, where CSUB will play more regional rivals like Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge.

 * ... SPOTTED ON FACEBOOK: Some fun from Facebook.

 * ... RIP TOMMY: There have been lots of tributes to the late Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda, but few as sweet as this picture of the late Nick Uricchio posing the the legendary great. Thanks to his grandson, Bryan Porter, for sharing this.

 * ... MEMORIES: Some classic old pictures from the Highway 99 Facebook page of life on the road back in the day.

Dr. Brij Bhambi shares his thoughts on the attack at Capitol Hill: American exceptionalism and the dangers of false prophets who traffic in conspiracies, lies and myths

 Dr. Brij Bhambi is a cardiologist and one of the physician owners of Bakersfield Heart Hospital as well as an owner and director at Centric Health. He is a regular guest on The Richard Beene Show, which airs weekday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM/1180 AM. He appears Fridays at 2 p.m. What follows are his thoughts on the attack on the U.S. Capitol, American society and American exceptionalism.

"I  have been raised in double speak of third world politics. Flag and religion are the usual failsafe drapes that hide ugliness in the guise of populism. Corrupt agendas are adorned in digestible slogans. Divisions are created. Divisions are exploited. A few win. All else lose. Always!

 Never occurred to me that wheel could come a full circle in a place that birthed modern democracy.

Democracy is founded on the sacred covenant that outcomes have to be accepted. Allegations repeated and amplified don’t erase reality that actually transpired. Hugo Chavez may have risen from dead to reprogram Dominion voting machines to the benefit of Biden. 

 And yet be dumb enough to recklessly let down ballot vote go unchanged. Either way he left no crumbs. None that any election officer, any court of law, all the way to SCOTUS could find. Remember SCOTUS was purposefully packed to find the crumbs, when none existed. Third branch of government redeemed itself by just not lowering itself into gutter. Courage in any incarnation is worthy of applause. Thank you SCOTUS.

 At personal level, I have been awed by a lot of things. Three memories figure prominently.

 A visit to Nagasaki is a spiritual exercise. It grabs your soul, wrenches your guts and compels kindness as human-speak. Devastation begs not to be repeated. Sombre.

 A visit to Vatican is divine. The beat that sustains your heart feels a different flutter there. Sublime.

 A visit to Oval Office... speechless! That little real estate is sacred. Thats where Right is Might has been practiced. Like life, it's a work in progress. Yet it symbolizes the best in pursuit of human endeavors. Awe inspiring and humbling.

 I have not had an occasion to visit Capitol Hill yet. I intend to. The desecration of Jan 6th, 2021 has accelerated that impulse.

 The spectacle of violent assault on Capitol Hill was a repulsive actualization of vitriolic rhetoric. A rhetoric built on manufactured grievances and considered lies. Lies repeated and amplified in echo chambers of the faithful. Faithful to a false prophet.

 The crescendo was carefully choreographed to deliver the democratic republic a decapitation strike.

To witness dystopian events of January 6, 2021, unfold at the sanctum sanctorum of the birth place of modern democracy convulsed mind and singed soul. The nation that cultivated the notion of “government of the people, by the people for the people” witnessed a disfigured interpretation. Government of the people incited insurrection against government for the people to perpetuate a corrupt regime through deception and intimidation.

 Faithfuls were misled in to embracing the conspiratorial and contrived myths, to the ill of the country.

For years, naked greed, narcissistic self aggrandization, nepotism, authoritarian tendencies, flood of lies and sophisticated marketing of snake oil succeeded in building a large constituency of the committed believers. That, Trump would sell these believers for profit, was obvious.

 Trump equalled a historical precedence of losing big, AFTER first term AND taking down both houses with him.

 As the flame flickered, it laid bare the core of Ttrumpism. There was no soul. Never was. Only swamp. And selfishness.

 In due time, shock will wear off. Politicians will go back to political dealings. Jan 6, 2021 will remain the abyss. A routine day that had ceremonial duty of electoral vote count was denied rendezvous with destiny. No destiny, it joined Pearl Harbor to live in ignominy.

“Remember the day”, outgoing president tweeted; to adorn the proceedings of an inglorious day.

Injury to insult.

The democracy was shaken not stolen. Republic stood unsteady. Resiliency endures. Sanctity will be restored.

 Let's rebuild decency as the foundation to politics. Let's rebuild camaraderie as foundation to governance. Let compromise be the bridge. Let love be the strength.

Whats good for goose is good for the gander. Access to equality is foundational. Jan 6th was not our finest moment. Let's not respond in kind but with kindness. Let's unclench the fist and reach out with an open hand.

We don’t need to regress to trial by combat. Aaron Burr won a version of that. Nation lost Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr walked a dead man’s walk to his final death.

 Pathetic ambition seeking furtherance on the ruins of decency and democracy is un-American to the core. At the end, when we do inventory of life, it's the good deeds we did, comfort us the most. America I came to had an inner beauty, an exalted message, a propulsive energy that encouraged the best in a person. That America is eternal. The carnage in Capitol Hill, the desecration of sanctum sanctorum is not demolition of American dream. Its an opportunity to write the next chapter. We need a time out from hate. We need to make time for love. We need to listen. We need to be humble. We vote once every two years but we live every moment. We need to regain equilibrium.

 The Jeffersonian prophecy prevailed. The temple was bloodied by the reviled. Instigator got away.

A few can’t win at the expense of all else this time.

This time let “all else” change the paradigm.