America must not let the bullies win
The opening of a legislative session, especially in a year when a new president is being inaugurated, is a hopeful time. The people’s representatives are gathering to pass laws intended to produce better policy and improve lives. That’s the promise at the start of every session, regardless of which party has a majority.
While the need to govern well remains, this year already was going to be different during the pandemic. The gathering at the Roundhouse to bring lawmakers and citizens together to debate policy will be altered because of COVID-19. Much of the 2021 legislative session, which opens Tuesday, will be conducted online.
No throngs of people for opening day. No committee hearings with dozens of impassioned advocates waiting to testify. No quick conversations while waiting for an elevator, discussing finer points of legislation. This will be a year of online hearings, virtual debates and a closed Roundhouse.
If that weren’t sad enough — the open nature of our Legislature is reason to be proud — the goings on will be even more muted, thanks to insurrectionists who are threatening state governments across the nation. As part of the baseless Trump-was-robbed complaints, some supporters of the outgoing president have promised violence not just at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, but at capitols around the country.
With the federal government caught flatfooted as an angry mob breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, authorities are determined to keep the peace.
In New Mexico, that’s means a Roundhouse perimeter encircled by fencing and concrete Jersey barriers, with closed streets and wary law enforcement in the heart of the city. In truth, a peace that comes through fences, soldiers and keeping people out is hardly peaceful, but it’s the world we live in, at least for now.
Still, we’re not sorry the fences are up; better ugly barriers for a few weeks than lives lost. But the reality that such protection is necessary is heartbreaking. Debate the issues. Disagree over how elections should be run. Yell at each other, even. But leave the weapons, threats and violence behind.
Our country is precious, as is our system of electing representatives who then gather to deliberate and pass laws. To threaten the operation of our government evinces a disdain for America. People who do so are the opposite of patriots. They are bullies.
Their refusal to accept the results of a free and fair election has cost us dearly, with a U.S. Capitol building breached and states under siege. Even more troubling is the threat they’ve offered to the peaceful transition of power — America’s calling card and its rightful point of pride for more than 200 years.
No, this is hardly a hopeful time. Despite the threats, however, the men and women who represent us in Washington, D.C., and Santa Fe, are getting to work on behalf of the people.
Despite the fences and layers of security, they are undeterred. They will not let the bullies win. And neither will we.