What were you thinking?

Last week Cobb County found itself back in the national news and not for anything good. Cobb County citizens were joined by Americans from around the country as they collectively asked the question, “What were you thinking ?”

The Cobb GOP had sent out invitations to an event entitled the ‘J6 Patriots’ commemoration and scheduled it to occur on Jan. 6, the anniversary date of the capitol assault by those upset about the election.

After much criticism was heaped on the Cobb GOP and bipartisan blowback, the Cobb County GOP on Wednesday canceled what it had been calling a “prayer vigil,” citing “mischaracterization of the event.” In her statement Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs wrote “The intent of the Cobb GOP January 6th Candlelight Prayer Vigil is to acknowledge Americans who lost their lives and to pray for those who have been denied justice.”

Last year on Jan. 6, a pro-Trump mob broke into the U.S. Capitol as federal lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Before the riot, Trump held a Save America rally near the White House, where he told his supporters to “never give up” and “never concede,” adding “if you don’t fight … you’re not going to have a country anymore, as reported by the  Washington Post.  This was one of the darkest days in our history. The barbed wire and 8 foot high fences are gone but the memories of the assault still linger. No one will soon forget that home grown terrorists stormed the capitol in a futile attempt to keep President Donald Trump in power. This ugly, terrifying, and sad moment in our history deserves no celebration or honor. It is unfortunate that the GOP thought otherwise.

Who could forget the images of people scaling the building, assaulting police, and wildly breaking into the capitol building? As they marched through the rotunda like a pack of wild dogs, no one really knew what the outcome would be that day. In the end, several people lost their lives and many more were hurt. What was damaged was the reputation of the U. S. as people from around the world watched this nightmare play out in real-time.

As we approached the anniversary date of this assault, the questions must be asked…what was there to celebrate?

In a sad note, the event planners had this event occurring on the same day that the Isakson family was holding the funeral services for Senator Johnny Isakson, a Republican.

In the year since the riot, Federal authorities have charged more than 725 people in connection to the assault on the Capitol. This week, Attorney General Merrick Garland promised to hold accountable everyone who engaged in “the assault on our democracy,” no matter their involvement, as prosecutions continue.

Conservatives have been divided on how to characterize the Capitol riot leading up to the Jan. 6 anniversary. Many have sought to label what they saw as a protest, and not the terrorism that we all witnessed.