It’s Thursday, January 6, 2022. 

In Christianity, it’s the Feast of the Epiphany – or Dia de Reyes – the day the three Magi showed up in Bethlehem with an assortment of gifts that seems a little strange for a 12-day-old boy.

Of course, we had an epiphany of sorts a year ago today.

I was getting dressed for a run in the park on a chilly January day when I saw some social media buzz about crowds at the Capitol. I turned on CNN – the home team, as I call it – and never got my running socks on.

Our notion that the United States is a stable, peaceful democracy shattered in pieces with the glass that surrounded the doors to the U.S. Capitol.

We learned that there really are people in this country who would fight and, yes, kill for a guy who couldn’t make money running casinos. Like trout in a pond – with the brains to match – they bit on the worm of lies Trump told about an election he lost fair and square.

President Biden called out Trump this morning in his forceful, well-delivered remarks at the Capitol.

“The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election,” Biden said.  “He’s done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interests as more important than his country’s interests and America’s interests, and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution.”

The problem is that few of the people who took part are willing to admit that they were duped. In fact, many of them have doubled down on big lies.

I’m not sure how we resolve this. But I know this: I feel today as I felt on Jan. 7, 2021 – and Sept. 12, 2001. 

I’m not giving in to terrorists. I don’t care if they live on this block.

I know they live around here. When I drive home, I pass a massive sign written crudely in big letters – “DON’T SUBMIT LET’S GO BRANDON” – the latter part of that being the right wing’s oh-so-clever way of saying “Fuck You, Biden.” These self-proclaimed patriots don’t even have the guts to swear honestly.

In the next weeks and months, I’m going to throw some ideas out there for getting this handled. No, I’m not going to advocate violence. 

But facts are facts. On Nov. 3, 2020, more than 81 million voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president, 7 million+ more than voted for Trump and Mike Pence. (BTW, Mike Pence is a creepy politician, but on Jan. 6, 2021, he acted in accordance with the Constitution at considerable peril, and deserves our plaudits for it. I don’t care if that was what he was supposed to do – Trump was supposed to concede the election and look what happened.)

Anyway, those of us in the majority – Biden got more than 50% of the popular vote and well over 50% of the Electoral College vote – should have some tools at our disposal to fight back. 

This crap has gotta end.

Today, I went for my run. Tomorrow, we need to start running the Lardass of Mar-El-Lago out of body politic forever.