Opinion: Make Jan. 6 a time to celebrate upholding freedom, not undermining it

The United States is nearing the one-year anniversary of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that disrupted certification by Congress of the 2020 presidential result.

Rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, succeeded in marring the foundation stone of our democratic-republic — the peaceful transition of political power.  Upholding freedom rather than undermining freedom should be the legacy of Jan. 6.

The forces of nationalism and white grievance that instigated the insurrection demeaned American freedoms that people everywhere in the world ought to cherish — freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Ironically, on the same day, Jan. 6, but in 1941, and standing at the very podium that rioters last year sought to defile, President Franklin Roosevelt, in his annual message to Congress, first enunciated these Four Freedoms to all people of the world. The 80 years from 1941 to 2021 required tremendous sacrifice to defend our constitutional system and freedoms, but nothing in that period was more perilous to its preservation than the January insurrection.

Incited by then-President Donald Trump, armed individuals, including Iowans and organized groups, breached police lines and forcibly entered the U.S. Capitol. These witting and unwitting subscribers of the “Big Lie” of a stolen presidential election assaulted law enforcement officers. Had their intimidation succeeded in overturning the election results, it is no exaggeration to speculate about whether our constructional system may have shattered.

More:Donald Trump and allies are rerunning the election Big Lie. They could incite violence again.

After the melee, a unified U.S. Congress, presided over by the sitting vice president, completed with honor its responsibility to certify the electoral results at 3:44 a.m. Jan. 7.

Trump, who lost the presidential contest by a wide Electoral College deficit and got over 7 million fewer votes than Joe Biden, continues to peddle the “Big Lie” of a stolen election. Actions by Trump and his hangers-on are not only anti-republican, they disregard the Golden Rule, a precept of most religions (Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31), to treat others as you want to be treated. Many of the insurrectionists subscribe to this precept but failed to practice it. 

A representative democracy is a fragile form of governance, and unless people of virtue and truth rise to leadership over authoritarian self-interest, the nation’s social order and market economy will crumble. Fair elections and the peaceful transition of power in the United States have been the envy of the world, making this nation a showcase of republican virtue and essential freedoms.  As Roosevelt explained on Jan. 6 of 1941: 

The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in their own way — everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want — everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear — anywhere in the world.

In 2000 after a razor-thin presidential contest, Vice President Al Gore displayed republican virtue and commitment to essential freedoms by conceding. As sons of World War II Bronze Star recipients, we are outraged by the effort by Trump and his supporters to obstruct the 2020 election, as well as their continuing campaign to foment suspicion about the integrity of state elections. In the aftermath of the presidential election, lawmakers in 18 states, including Iowa, set new limits on voting rights, all of which further weakens American democracy.  

In government as in other life trials, it is always harder to do the right thing than the expedient.

To renew our solemn commitment to freedom and democracy on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Capitol insurrection, Americans should:

• Honor public officials who impartially administer public policies and programs.
• Respect the policy views of relatives, friends, and opponents.
• Reject hate.
• Disagree agreeably.
• Find common ground with political rivals.
• Cease pandering to those who trade in false conspiracies.
• Elect people of virtue and integrity to public office.
• Bring those who perpetrated the insurrection to justice under law.

The American republic held together on Jan. 6, but whether the freedoms that Roosevelt articulated in 1941 will endure depend upon future citizens of honor answering the intrepid call to public service. 

Jack Hatch is president of Hatch Development Group and a former state senator and gubernatorial and mayoral candidate. David Balducchi, raised in Iowa and retired from the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, DC, is a policy consultant.