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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAndy Kim: It was a month ago when I found this broken eagle while cleaning the Capitol...
Link to tweet
Andy Kim
@AndyKimNJ
It was a month ago when I found this broken eagle while cleaning the Capitol after the insurrection. I kept it as a tender reminder of the enormous work ahead to heal. This is one of several symbols I want to share with you as we think what comes next for our nation (THREAD)
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Unrolled thread here (Please view at link to see pictures)
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1358131086203756546.html
It was a month ago when I found this broken eagle while cleaning the Capitol after the insurrection. I kept it as a tender reminder of the enormous work ahead to heal. This is one of several symbols I want to share with you as we think what comes next for our nation (THREAD)
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SYMBOL OF THREAT: This shattered window on the center doors of the Capitol is the last remaining major damage I saw left as I walked around the Capitol last night. It remains as a symbol of the hate that penetrated our democracy and flooded inside.
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SYMBOL OF LOSS: This week, we paid our respects to Officer Sicknick. I learned that over 140 police were injured. Suffered from cracked ribs, smashed spinal discs, stabbed with metal fence stake, one officer lost an eye.
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SYMBOL OF UNCERTAINTY: I now have to pass through two layers of razor wire fencing to get to work at the Capitol. I walked the perimeter this week with the National Guard and they said they have no idea how long this protection will be necessary.
SYMBOL OF GRATITUDE: The reminders of trauma have been met with incredible kindness and compassion. The attacks, meant to break our democratic process, have instilled a newly strengthened resolve to protect it. 100s of signs thanking Capitol Police line tunnel under the Capitol.
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SYMBOL OF RESILIENCE: I saw this quote over a door in the Capitol. It reminded me that healing is more than about accountability of the President and others that participated that day. Oppressions and injustice and hatred is a wedge designed to attack our civilization
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SYMBOL OF COMMUNITY: I still see members of Congress, staff continuing to struggle with their own trauma and grief. I get text messages regularly from my colleagues with a simple how are you doing? I appreciate that they are looking out for me and I for them.
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SYMBOL OF HOPE: When I arrived at my office this week, there were hundreds of cards from all over the country expressing hope from the image of me cleaning the rotunda. One woman said the actions reminded her of her immigrant mother and father who taught her humility.
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What we do next with that resolve is on my mind today. Do we let this moment fade, let those who brought our country to the brink of disaster be held unaccountable, or let the conditions that led to this attack go unaddressed? No.
We cannot, for a moment, treat the attack of 1/6 as something normal that happened. It was a truly dark day in our nation's history and it deserves a response of that magnitude.
The actions of those who perpetrated this attack - from inciting it to the death of a police officer - must be punished as to send a clear signal that violence is not an acceptable path to political change.
We must also work to strengthen the very institutions placed under attack. Our democracy is far too fragile if a demagog with a social media account and a megaphone can incite an insurrection.
We need to rebuild trust, understanding and accountability for our democratic institutions. We need to invest in civics and service to counteract lies and hate.
And finally, we need to recognize that this is the job of all of us - not just those at the Capitol. We are part of a singular American story. I am working on some ideas to do just this and I hope to work with all of you. I hope that is the true legacy of Jan 6. (end)
cilla4progress
(24,791 posts)Thanks.
SunSeeker
(51,777 posts)Biophilic
(3,720 posts)So many things I'm feeling and thinking while reading this tread. Now just sitting here full of appreciation for Andy Kim and our other Democratic law makers. It makes me feel proud to read and proud to support someone like this.
bottomofthehill
(8,358 posts)That was a frightening day and night. The time that you took to help clean the mess, mend the broken and restore order in your humble way is a credit to you. You truly are a gentle, kind and good man.
Kitchari
(2,168 posts)This is a very good one. KnR
Dem2theMax
(9,657 posts)The photos that accompany the words are very moving.
judesedit
(4,443 posts)Thank you so much, Andy Kim
Hekate
(90,941 posts)(And for a change I actually got to see the whole thing at the link, when Twitter so often doesnt cooperate.)
aeromanKC
(3,330 posts)James48
(4,444 posts)Thats the only way the eagle can survive at this point.
turbinetree
(24,738 posts)and then ask his lawyers if this was police brutality..................
crickets
(25,989 posts)PurgedVoter
(2,220 posts)That must be why I find my self blinking.
2naSalit
(86,887 posts)nattyice
(331 posts)2naSalit
(86,887 posts)COL Mustard
(5,944 posts)You are someone we can all be proud of as a representative....even though I'm not your constituent.
Botany
(70,633 posts)Geechie
(867 posts)Botany
(70,633 posts).... and cleaned the Capitol.
Link to tweet
Kim was born in Boston[4] to Korean immigrant parents. He was raised in the Marlton section of Evesham Township, New Jersey, and attended Rice Elementary School[5][6] before moving to Cherry Hill and graduating from Cherry Hill High School East in 2000.[7] Kim attended Deep Springs College for two years before transferring to the University of Chicago, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2004 with a degree in political science.[8][9]
During college, Kim was an intern at the United States Agency for International Development.[9] He later received a Rhodes Scholarship and a Harry S. Truman Scholarship to study international relations at Magdalen College, Oxford.[8] At Oxford, Kim became friends with fellow Rhodes scholar Pete Buttigieg, now the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.[10]
Kim worked at the U.S. State Department. He served in Afghanistan as a civilian adviser to Generals David Petraeus and John R. Allen before working as a national security adviser under President Barack Obama.[3] Kim served as a United States National Security Council official.
A Pete and Andy ticket in 2032?
CrispyQ
(36,551 posts)dchill
(38,584 posts)Cha
(297,911 posts)Symbolic Symbol!
Blue Owl
(50,542 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,538 posts)msfiddlestix
(7,288 posts)thank you for posting this. Just what the doctor ordered for me tonight.
electric_blue68
(14,986 posts)BobTheSubgenius
(11,573 posts)Thank you.
Trueblue Texan
(2,449 posts)...honorable Republicans in the Senate to convict the FORMER president, but that doesn't mean other entities can't hold him up as an example for the laws he's broken elsewhere. Further, all his sycophants and the insurrectionists that sold their souls to him should be prosecuted fully. If for no other reason than to demonstrate accountability for allowing themselves be used by a tyrant to tear down our democracy.
bluestarone
(17,101 posts)America!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you TRUE PATRIOT Andy!!