The past few months have been very eventful. The 2020 election is over. We have a new president-elect and we know who will control congress after runoff elections in Georgia On Monday, Megan will get her COVID-19 vaccination. While the number of infections is soaring and the death rate is higher than it has ever been, this scientific miracle could make life return to normal again. All the conditions will be ripe for a more scientific, systematic approach to tackling the virus.

However, four days ago, our Capitol building was attacked by domestic terrorists who were redirected from a political rally. In the capitol, the members of the House and the Senate were counting electoral votes for the presidential election. With the exception of some political theatre, this is a largely inconsequential event. The domestic terrorists overwhelmed the capitol police and threatened to violently overthrow our democracy. It was terrifying and we’re still trying to figure out what happened. Lawmakers were forced to go into hiding. The terrorists flew the Confederate flag within the building. Some lawmakers were exposed to the virus while they were sequestered. One terrorist and two officers are dead. It felt like something out of Keifer Sutherland’s 24 show, except the terrorists were angry Americans instead of jihadists.

The last four years of life in America have felt chaotic and this event was shocking even though it wasn’t surprising. There are less than two weeks left before the next president and congress take over. As our country determines the consequences of the 1/6/21 insurrection, 12 days seems like a very long time to wait for sanity and stability. It certainly exposed challenges and fragility that can’t be fixed anytime soon.