Where were you, Dad?
Where were you, Grandpa?
Where were you, Scoutmaster?
Where were you, Youth Pastor?
Where were you, Coach?
Where were you, Teacher?
Were you men of compassion, humility, gentleness, integrity, altruism, encouragement, quiet strength, reason, and restraint? Were you men who could have provided moral examples through your behavior?
We've heard about citizenship, social skills, and critical thinking. We’ve heard about your notions of rule of law, civilized debate, mediation, collaboration, and other means of cooperation. You say these are the tools of peaceful democratic change. But hubris, selfishness, aggressiveness, impulsive behavior, and violence are the character traits that dominate our actions and serve us well.
We missed your life lessons in values, virtues and ethics.
Perhaps if you had showed up earlier, things would have been different.
—The Capitol Insurrectionists, 2021
Will Walsh