Sound familiar?
I’m not sure why but I’ve never liked the color red. I tend to associate it with war, with anger, with velocity. Did you know red cars are pulled over more than cars of any other color? It’s true. That may be because they are bright and easily garner more attention on the road than vehicles of different colors.
A crimson sky, on the other hand, can be breathtaking — sometimes. When the sun sets, one can often see a collage of colors painting the sky, including crimson. And on Sunday, January 8, in the country of Brazil, the sky was crimson alright — and very, very ugly. “It’s happening again.” Those words were said all over Twitter as scores of people stormed Brazil’s Capitol over the weekend, unwilling to accept the results of their election.
Sound familiar, my friends? Far right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had many supporters, just as Donald Trump did. And apparently, those supporters, just like Trump’s, thought nothing of storming their country’s Capitol. This is because they did not like the fact that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on January 1. His politics are leftist and quite different than the man he was replacing.
And so there they were — the same sorts of people we had dealt with. They were angry, they were strident, and they were dangerous. They smashed furniture. They destroyed artwork. On and on, the insanity went, turning the skies crimson with rage just like ours were that horrible day of January 6.
At the end of it all, many were taken into custody. More than 1,000 people were detained. Those detained had stormed the court of Brazil and the Presidential palace demanding their guy be reinstated. Sound familiar?
My friends, this is the legacy that Donald Trump has left us with. It is no surprise. While many ask how this could have happened, I believe the better question is, how could it NOT have?
Dysfunctional behavior spurs dysfunctional behavior. Group-think is alive and well and living freely in this world, always ready to swoop down on angry people and push them to turn our skies crimson.’
What happened should not be a surprise. And yes, part of the blame needs to go to republicans who legitimized this type of behavior, allowing it to spread unfettered like mass disease into the souls of many.
