To the Editor:
Re “Jan. 6 Never Ended,” by Jamie Raskin (Opinion guest essay, Jan. 6):
Distressing, startling, unthinkable, frightening, horrifying, terrifying. Representative Raskin’s essay brought back the words my family members exchanged in text messages on that Jan. 6 as we watched a protest evolve into a riot and ultimately an insurrection.
Thousands of people with provocative Trump-supportive signs, some leading the way in seemingly military formation, surrounding, then storming the Capitol. Law enforcement being clubbed, sprayed with bear repellent, stomped upon. Windows and doors smashed. The building hallways and rotunda filled with an uncontrollable mob chanting threats to the vice president and the speaker of the house.
On this Jan. 6 morning five years later, we shared Mr. Raskin’s essay in that same family text chain and we all found ourselves using the same words to describe what happened. And he is right. Jan. 6 never did end.
Stephen F. Gladstone Shaker Heights, Ohio
To the Editor:
Kudos to Jamie Raskin for speaking out against President Trump’s shameful, deplorable behavior and subsequent pardoning of the violent Jan. 6 protesters. Sweeping this catastrophic and shocking day under the rug is inexcusable. My anger and outrage, as an American, will never be extinguished.
J. Reed Rye, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Re “Jan. 6 Was Just the Start” (editorial, Jan. 4):
I admire the collective courage of the editorial board to tenaciously detail the despicable character of President Trump, despite his willingness to commit savage acts of retaliation against those who call out his transgressions, and his silence about the threats, doxxing and vicious online attacks by his followers of anyone critical of him.
The editorial also forthrightly calls out the cowardice of the G.O.P., and the cravenness of large segments of the media and the corporate world, for their subservience to Mr. Trump, even in the face of his relentless attacks on the rule of law and the Constitution.
But what I most admire is the red-hot righteous anger with which the editorial was written. This wasn’t some bland recital of known facts, but a scathing denunciation of the acts and the aftermath of Jan. 6, which has ensnared the entire country in a cocoon of corruption, illegality and mendacity, and which leaves the nation trembling on the edge of autocracy.
The “Gray Lady” didn’t end the year quietly, but instead raged against Mr. Trump and his accomplices and enablers, who are attempting to dim the light of democracy, and in so doing may have lit a spark of resistance and reclamation.
Richard J. Brenner Miller Place, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Thank you for your editorial, which gives a thorough and accurate depiction of the historical record of the horrible events of Jan. 6, 2021, and a deserved condemnation of the ringleader, President Trump.
Yet with full knowledge of these awful events the American people in a free election almost four years later chose to elect as their leader the same Donald Trump who led the insurrection, giving this calamity the implied ratification of the American people.
Simply put, the American electorate is where the blame must lie — and we have Donald Trump to deal with for the next three-plus years.
Harold J. Smith West Harrison, N.Y.
Risky Changes in Vaccine Policy
To the Editor:
Re “Kennedy Scales Back Number of Vaccines Recommended for Children” (news article, Jan. 6):
As a pediatrician I have been involved with the care of children for more than 55 years. It is unbelievable and unconscionable how this administration is fomenting misinformation, fear and distrust. My hope is that we do not see tragic outcomes for children who are not immunized. Unfortunately I have seen that, and it is not a pleasant experience.
The development of these immunizations is one of the most singular achievements in modern medicine.
Michael Lapkin Boca Raton, Fla.
A New Kennedy Center
To the Editor:
The purity of the Kennedy Center’s purpose has been tainted irretrievably, and I applaud those who refuse to perform there.
The answer (to take a leaf from President Trump’s playbook regarding his disgusting ballroom) is to seek donations to build another Kennedy Center, leaving the Trump version to wallow in irrelevance and decay.
Joanne Oroark Santa Barbara, Calif.
The post Recalling the Horrors of Jan. 6 appeared first on New York Times.
