Unfortunately that seems to be the unofficial new motto of the Democratic house leadership and by press reports, the new administration. What we need right now is thoughtful, calm, and quiet leadership. I pray, and would encourage our leadership, at every step of the way your goal should be to defuse the tensions in our country, and not inflame them. Unfortunately our shallow public discourse and poor leadership started long before Donald Trump, and will continue long after him.

The beginnings of this is the idea to call what happened in Washington an insurrection, because what happened in DC was both far less and far more than what I think an insurrection would be. These deluded people had an agenda, they were angry, and they rioted. They broke the law, people and property were damaged and lives lost, and those that participated should be punished. Every single one that broke the law should face punishment. But even the images of those overrunning the Capitol point out the reality that while very significant, it was a very small # of the people who came to the march, and that number is a very small number of those that are very, very upset at what happened in this election. It would be better to simply charge these people with rioting and the other violations they did and send them home. The problem with many of those deluded people that went into the Capitol is that some of them saw themselves as part of a great movement–just like the rioters this past summer. Charging them with sedition and insurrection is only going to fuel their view of their “cause,” and possibly, their many, many friends who haven’t crossed that line. Defuse the situation, don’t inflame it.

And then we have the foolish decision of the Democrats to impeach Mr. Trump now. As I wrote in my last post, what good does this do? What should have happened was a vote for censure, which would have commanded an overwhelming number of the members of the House, as well as most Republicans and Democrats nationwide. Nobody thinks Mr. Trump had a great phone call to the man in Georgia, nobody thinks he didn’t intend to have the mob do something that would be no good. He has likely eliminated his ability to have a sizable role in Republican politics in the future. The only thing that will help him now is to make him a martyr to his most ardent followers. Is that the Democrats’ intent? There was never a chance of any action in the Senate until after the election, and do the Democrats really want a divisive Senate trial after the election? That will only inflame the tensions in this country. Mr. Biden should call this off now, as I have no hope of maturity being displayed by Mr. Schumer.

But Mr. Biden, while never as pugnacious as Mr. Trump, is cut from the same mold–one doesn’t have to look too far to see his vitriolic junior high-level attacks that he brings to politics. There are reports that he wants a domestic terrorism bill out as a result of this, and there are many junior-leaguers out there that are lumping all those who opposed the election results as white-supremacist movements that we have to stop. Mr. Biden’s foolish and false statement to make this a racial issue was most unwise. Mr. Biden’s tone is simply a matter of degree (much less frequent), not kind from Mr. Trump. Mr. Biden, you won. Just stop saying anything. You have only one mandate from the voters–don’t be like Donald Trump. Defuse the situation, don’t inflame it.

Then we have the Big Tech attack on Parler. Every social media platform has crazed people posting some level of hateful things on them, so the justification that this was some unique and essential step for the safety of the Republic is a far stretch. The coordinated attack by Apple, Google and Amazon is going to spread whatever movement is out there, not stop it. The timing, coming right after the GA elections putting all the regulatory apparatus into the hands of the Democratic party is also suspicious.* It will likely slow it down in the short term, but at a potential of a much bigger outbreak later. There are many, many people who decry the violence at the Capitol and yet see this kind of thing and think that something does need to be done. It’s further inflamed by attempts by politicians and some craven companies to ruin the lives of those that participated in the Washington rally and those that were part of the “stop the steal” movement Mr. Trump promoted. Defuse the situation, don’t inflame it.

As a matter of wisdom, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do something. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, all things may be permissible, but not all things are beneficial. Mr. Biden will never be a Lincoln, but he certainly should be looking at him for how to bring a very divided country together. Defuse the situation, don’t inflame it.

* Note to Big Tech–your days are numbered. And not by the conservatives you are trying to silence–the progressives always eat their own. You’ve just traded being on the lunch menu for the dinner menu. You’ve also ensured that there will be few free marketers in your corner when they come for you. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Edit: I changed one line for clarity; as written it communicated the opposite of my intent.