Burn the effigies

‘Remember, remember the fifth of November,” is the cry heard in Great Britain every November 5, also known as Guy Fawkes Day.

In 1605 Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators planned to blow up Parliament on opening day. They assembled 36 barrels of gunpowder directly under the House of Lords, and it was Guy’s job to light the fuse at the appropriate time.

The plot was discovered, before any damage, whatsoever, had been done. Fawkes was hanged, drawn and quartered and to this day children build effigies of Fawkes, parade them around the town demanding “pennies for the Guy.” and at night fireworks and bonfires are part of the burning of the effigies.

In the United States, on January 6, insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, injured 142 law enforcement officers, erected a scaffold to hang the vice-president, and did massive amounts of damage to “the people’s house.” Republicans would have you believe they were just “normal tourists”, or, according to the former president of the United States, they are fine people just showing their love.

Rather than the revisionist history being offered up by the Republican party, I suggest we designate January 6th as a national holiday where we burn Donald Trump. Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, et.al, in effigy, and remind our children of the importance of democracy.

Sue Brax Lancaster