"I can't balance rage and sadness any more. They're mixing in a terrible combination in me, and I'm not sure I can resolve it. I still get a huge charge about working in the Capitol but, at the same time, for the past four years, there's been an undercurrent of anger and cynicism and unreality about that work. Since I began in this racket covering the 1980 presidential campaign, I have watched American conservatism, and the Republican Party that is its primary political vehicle, sliding inevitably toward Wednesday's events. More and more, I'm starting to look back at the Terri Schiavo episode as being vastly more significant than it even seemed at the time. The seeds of a lot of our present misery are now clearly seen: the basic irrationality of the issue, the threats of violence against civilians, threats of violence against federal judges and members of Congress, and all of this in stubborn service to a cause that even their political opponents told them was politically suicidal." -- Charles P. Pierce, 2021-01-06