It’s hot. Way too hot for this time of year. Eighty one degrees at 6 PM on October 30 in Washington DC. I’m staring at the US Capitol. It’s not lost on me that the people inside that building have, with few exceptions, done nothing to address climate change.  The possibility of the temperature and the inaction being coincidental gets less likely by the day.

But my main thought, as I marvel at the beauty of the Capitol building, is how truly stunning it is that people actually tried to overrun the place a few years ago on January 6th. In fact, for a few hours, they did overrun the place.

To be honest, the layout and outer design of the building does make it look relatively easy to climb. There are plenty of windows to break and enter.  It’s easy to imagine those January 6 invaders climbing the outside walls, smashing the glass, and going inside. Easy to imagine. And yet I can’t believe I actually saw it; on live TV, as I worked in my living room taking down Christmas decorations.

I walk past the small, pedestrian traffic control pillars in the sidewalk; the ones I remember seeing on the news; the ones the Capitol guardsman uselessly warned the insurgents not to pass. 

I turn around and look behind me, down the mall to the Washington Monument. I know that a few blocks to the right of that landmark stands the White House, the place from which President Trump is said to have watched the riots on TV, just like me. But despite calls from his staff to say something and intervene, he said nothing. He left it continue.

When he finally did say something, he made me wish he hadn’t.  His message to the rioters made me want to puke.

While the Capitol was under attack from a mob, acting on the President’s behalf, he sat there and watched it on TV. While people were dying inside, while the Vice President’s life was under threat, while official congressional business was being interrupted, and while the whole world watched it live- the President did nothing.

For about 3 hours.

Somehow, that alone does not disqualify him as a presidential candidate in the mind of many Americans. 

But it’s enough for me.

How can Trump be trusted to maintain and protect our democracy, if that’s how he acted when it was under direct attack?

I don’t think he can.

It’s twilight. I sit on the ledge of a reflecting pool, watching about two dozen others as they hang out and take selfies in what has turned out to be a beautiful sunset. 

Is the changing sky symbolic? We’re days away from the election. 

Will the sun set on America’s love affair with Trump? On our democracy as we know it?

Neither?

Does it matter?

Does anybody care?

In an effort to avoid the type of contentious dialogue too often found in the comments of political content on other publications and social media sites, I will not be responding to any comments left on this post.

Visit Five O’Clock Shadow for more of Todd’s writing, and check out his musical projects at toddfulginiti.com.