I am writing to follow up on the national events that occurred on January 6, 2021, to express some views and to suggest a further discussion.
I am appalled at the violence that occurred at the Capitol, incited by some of the country’s highest government officials. The efforts over the last two months to undermine our legitimate election results, culminating in last Wednesday’s violence, are the worst domestic attacks on our democracy in over 140 years, and they merit bipartisan condemnation.
Despite these terrible events, I remain encouraged and optimistic. At the end of the day, these efforts to undermine our democracy failed. The November election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was confirmed early last week by a joint session of Congress, and they will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021, with a newly strengthened mandate to govern, and those who continue to dispute the election are in a quickly shrinking minority, even within the Republican Party. Our democracy’s institutions functioned and delivered the correct results even under the current unprecedented pressures.
The challenge for all of us moving forward from this point is to reverse the recent course of pision and degradation of our democratic institutions, and instead to rebuild our democratic institutions and to promote reconciliation.
David Snelbecker
CEO
International Development Group LLC
