From January 6th to January 1st
Being back in Maui for our annual month of whale watching, I’m reminded of the trip we took around this time three years ago. We were in the Los Angeles Airport with all eyes glued on the January 6th insurrection playing on every LAX television screen. One guy there in the Delta terminal was loudly trying start his own insurrection, while surrounded by Police officers who listened to him patiently, presumably trying to diffuse the situation. We boarded our flight not knowing for five hours how everything would play out.
In my heart, I had faith the rioters’ attempted disruption of the peaceful transfer of power and coup would fail. Finally, by around 11:00pm Hawaii time, the election had been certified. Congress had worked through the night, with Republican senators refusing to back their House counterparts’ objections to the electoral votes in Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin.
It all felt surreal. Like a madness had taken over the Republican Party. Indeed, a years-long PSYOP (Psychological operation) orchestrated by Putin and GOP leadership to exploit the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of Americans had taken over of the Republican Party. But it’s not impossible to wake up the members of the Trump cult. The Rich Logis story provides mind-blowing detail of his experience snapping out of it, along with some thoughtful guidance on how to get others to do so.
Every January 1st represents both a clean slate, and a continuation of cumulative efforts. It allows us to take a moment to reset and then restart our journey. For America, yes, there will be many scary challenges navigating through 2024. But, as 2023 closes and we approach the third anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, we can take heart in the inspiring words of George Takei on how far we’ve come with Biden at the helm. And with the abortion issue juicing voter turn-out, 2024 will be the year we wake the Republican Party up from dreams of tyranny. Happy New Year 2024 to all.
Chicago native Lorraine Evanoff earned her degree in French from DePaul University then became a Certified Financial Manager. She worked as a finance exec in film production for seven years in Paris, then in Silicon Valley during the dot-com era, and later for various Hollywood production companies, notably as CFO of National Lampoon. She is currently living in Los Angeles with her husband.