By Bernard Rowan
This past week, I'm sure I heard the Statues of Liberty crying. There is the famous statue in New York, and there are others. We name them as we see them. Atlasobscura.com lists some of them. But they were crying, and so was I. It was a deafening sound for those who listened.
They cried for the woman who died at the U.S. Capitol Building. Did you know she was a retired member of the U.S. Air Force? A veteran who died storming her own capitol.
They cried for Brian Sicknick, a Capitol police officer, who died during this riot.
They cried for the three other people known to have died from medical causes as yet unspecified. And there will be others no doubt.
They cried for the many people wounded, arrested, harassed, frightened for their lives, and treated to insults, peltings, taunts and jeers.
They cried for the millions who believe America's election was stolen from one of the candidates ― in the face of all evidence to the contrary. Less than a majority of Americans, but a powerful faction it is.
They cried for the children who had to witness this awful display by their elders, who should know better.
But most of all, my friends, they cried for the President of the United States Donald Trump. What an awful way to end his presidency, for himself and for his followers. What a pathetic excuse for the leader of the Free World! The new Huey Long gone horribly off the rails. Arrogance and ignorance lead to injustice and the opposite of freedom.
Liberty's cousin is reason. The tears of the statues of liberty are one of her faces.
The statues to liberty were crying, and so was I. But I'm not a statue, and neither are you.
So, I also see the Statutes of Liberty turned gradually to smile amid their tears, as did those of friends of liberty throughout the world.
They smiled for the majority of the Congress, Senate and House, who stood for the rule of law and its meaning at that moment.
They smiled for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Michael Pence, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who along with many others, stood firm to complete the certification of the 2020 Presidential Election.
They smiled because the rule of law prevailed in the Congress and in the United States of America, despite provocations from the highest level and the irrationality of a mob.
They smiled because many of those who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2020, and many of those who supported them now see they were dead wrong.
They smiled because Liberty's cousin, reason, has told her through the tears that democracy isn't dead.
They smiled because the will of the country, expressed in the Congress, was sustained, and because the factions of Americans who oppose rioting and the politics of force prevailed in the end.
Madison in the Federalist Papers warns of the tendency to faction in republics and to all manner of injustice without reason. Madison says that faction must counterbalance faction. Men and women aren't angels, and a democracy can't rely on virtue alone to do the work of reason. Opinions, passions, and interests lead peoples to factionalism, and the only solution is to oppose the factions of momentary irrationality and tyranny with factions of reason. This is the purpose of the system of laws and established by the Constitution of the United States of America.
I dedicate this column to the memory of a Korean friend of America and American freedom who passed at about the same time, Dr. Choi Yearn Hong. He was a columnist and poet for the pages of The Korea Times, among many accomplishments. May all of us in Korea, the United States, and elsewhere never cease to toil for the cause of liberty within the limits of reason.
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and past visiting professor at Hanyang University's Graduate School of Local Autonomy.
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They cried for the woman who died at the U.S. Capitol Building. Did you know she was a retired member of the U.S. Air Force? A veteran who died storming her own capitol.
They cried for Brian Sicknick, a Capitol police officer, who died during this riot.
They cried for the three other people known to have died from medical causes as yet unspecified. And there will be others no doubt.
They cried for the many people wounded, arrested, harassed, frightened for their lives, and treated to insults, peltings, taunts and jeers.
They cried for the millions who believe America's election was stolen from one of the candidates ― in the face of all evidence to the contrary. Less than a majority of Americans, but a powerful faction it is.
They cried for the children who had to witness this awful display by their elders, who should know better.
But most of all, my friends, they cried for the President of the United States Donald Trump. What an awful way to end his presidency, for himself and for his followers. What a pathetic excuse for the leader of the Free World! The new Huey Long gone horribly off the rails. Arrogance and ignorance lead to injustice and the opposite of freedom.
Liberty's cousin is reason. The tears of the statues of liberty are one of her faces.
The statues to liberty were crying, and so was I. But I'm not a statue, and neither are you.
So, I also see the Statutes of Liberty turned gradually to smile amid their tears, as did those of friends of liberty throughout the world.
They smiled for the majority of the Congress, Senate and House, who stood for the rule of law and its meaning at that moment.
They smiled for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Michael Pence, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who along with many others, stood firm to complete the certification of the 2020 Presidential Election.
They smiled because the rule of law prevailed in the Congress and in the United States of America, despite provocations from the highest level and the irrationality of a mob.
They smiled because many of those who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2020, and many of those who supported them now see they were dead wrong.
They smiled because Liberty's cousin, reason, has told her through the tears that democracy isn't dead.
They smiled because the will of the country, expressed in the Congress, was sustained, and because the factions of Americans who oppose rioting and the politics of force prevailed in the end.
Madison in the Federalist Papers warns of the tendency to faction in republics and to all manner of injustice without reason. Madison says that faction must counterbalance faction. Men and women aren't angels, and a democracy can't rely on virtue alone to do the work of reason. Opinions, passions, and interests lead peoples to factionalism, and the only solution is to oppose the factions of momentary irrationality and tyranny with factions of reason. This is the purpose of the system of laws and established by the Constitution of the United States of America.
I dedicate this column to the memory of a Korean friend of America and American freedom who passed at about the same time, Dr. Choi Yearn Hong. He was a columnist and poet for the pages of The Korea Times, among many accomplishments. May all of us in Korea, the United States, and elsewhere never cease to toil for the cause of liberty within the limits of reason.
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and past visiting professor at Hanyang University's Graduate School of Local Autonomy.
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