Stay Shocked

I frequently hear people refer to a development as “shocking but not surprising.” The phrase had never previously made sense to me: Isn’t shock just a more extreme form of surprise? If so, how can you get to the stage 2 of shock without going through the stage 1 of surprise?

 

After the violent insurrection in the Capitol on Jan. 6, I understand better how an event can be shocking but not surprising. It shocked me to my core to see that rabble overrun the House and Senate chambers. But anybody who was paying attention shouldn’t have been surprised. I was one of many people who was aware of the protests planned so these domestic terrorists definitely telegraphed their intentions. I guess the best way to describe this situation was that it was shocking but in retrospect should have come as no surprise.

 

When the attack on Congress happened, I was heartbroken, sick and shaking with anger. What happened is beyond justification. I had the C-SPAN tab open to listen in the background while I worked and while someone was speaking (I had muted the Republican speeches), people started looking to the side of the screen, and I knew there was some sort of disturbance starting. I figured some protestors would say their peace and be removed from the chamber.

 

Of course, I didn’t think it would be quite that bad. It shocked me that the vice president, speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate (the next three in the line of presidential succession) had to be whisked away. It shocked me that all 535 members of Congress had to be evacuated. It shocked me to watch domestic terrorists overwhelm the Capitol police (one of them is now dead after being bludgeoned by a fire extinguisher).

 

It shocked me to see Confederate traitor flags flying in the Capitol and a noose openly erected in our nation’s capital. It shocked me to see the smug looks on the faces of these jackasses, who were sure nobody would stop them because they’re protected by the shield of whiteness. It sure as hell shocked me to see the disparity between tear-gassing protestors who were asserting their dignity in the face of police brutality and police posing for selfies with people who were actively and literally (and I mean that in the literal sense of “literally’) trying to overthrow the government and ignore 81 million votes that hurt their feelings, based on a bunch of lies spouted by the president and his seditious sycophants in Congress.

 

Even though things like this may not surprise us, I think there is value in staying shocked by them. This stuff is morally reprehensible and I don’t want to become inured to it. If we let ourselves become jaded by events that were predictable but still horrible, then we lose the motivation to act to prevent those events.

 

So let it shock you and let yourself stay shocked that the president of the United States fomented a violent insurrection on the grounds of the Capitol as Congress certified a presidential election.

 

I had really hoped to stop writing about that rancid sack of shit in the White House. He’s leaving next week (at the latest) and I don’t want to become a broken record or turn people off. But you know what? If you don’t like what I’m writing, don’t click on it. It’s only a blog, not zip ties on the floor of the Senate.