Dear Senators: There is blood on your hands

Dear Senators Tuberville, Scott, Marshall, Kennedy, Hyde-Smith, Hawley, Cruz, and Lummis:

I felt truly frightened when an angry mob bearing illegal guns, Confederate flags, and nooses stormed the Capitol. They also used the N-word repeatedly.

I felt frightened for our elected officials—both Republicans and Democrats. I felt frightened for the officers and guards on duty. None of you deserve to have your lives threatened while doing your important work.

And I felt frightened for our democracy.

Although we have many things to work on to improve our democracy, a peaceful transition of power is not one of them. I have not seen the likes of January 6 in my entire lifetime.

Not only did we have an angry mob trying to disrupt our democratic processes, we also had you trying to disrupt our democratic processes.

I am genuinely curious: Why did you try to disrupt the peaceful transition of power, even after the Supreme Court concluded that there was no reason to?

And what are you fighting for by trying to keep Trump in power? We have lost nearly 400,000 Americans due to Trump’s mishandling of the COVID crisis. How are you processing the magnitude of that number?

In December, our country let more than 3,000 people die a day at least nine times. That rate of death is like nine September 11th’s in a single month—and that was just December. And we know it’s getting worse. By January 9, we already had 5 out of 9 days with more than 3,000 deaths per day.

So I am truly having trouble understanding why you are fighting for a President that has let so many people die. What could possibly be more important to you than the health and safety of the American citizens? Isn’t the Republican Party committed to the “sanctity of human life”?

And what could be more important to you than protecting the peaceful transition of power—which is one of the core tenets of democracy?

I beseech you—an elected official—to help keep us from dying and to uphold our democracy. Our lives are in your hands. And the future of our democracy is in your hands. There is no “liberty and justice for all” without democracy. And there is no democracy without the peaceful transition of power.

And in the words of Mitt Romney: “Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy. They will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy.”