On the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, where a bunch of Trump-loving insurrectionists tried to stop Congress from certifying the electoral college vote cementing Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election, everyone in Washington D.C. is playing their given roles.
Joe Biden gave a speech decrying Donald Trump’s attempt at a straight-up coup. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham issued a bizarre criticism that Biden was trying to “politicize” said coup, which was inherently political. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are yelling about how the insurrection was actually patriotic or whatever.
And meanwhile, House Democrats are doing this:
Nancy Pelosi just introduced, as part of the Jan 6 remembrance…. a song by Lin Manuel Miranda performed by the cast of Hamilton
— Arthur Delaney 🇺🇸 (@ArthurDelaneyHP) January 6, 2022
Yes, ahead of a discussion with historians regarding the historical significance of the Capitol attack, Nancy Pelosi introduced Lin-Manuel Miranda, who then introduced cast members from Hamilton, to sing “Dear Theodosia” from the musical.
.@SpeakerPelosi introduces @Lin_Manuel who introduces other Hamilton cast members to sing “Dear Theodosia.” pic.twitter.com/rNRprgGrau
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 6, 2022
Miranda explained that the song is fitting because it’s all about moving forward and passing down “a more perfect union” to future generations and yes, that’s very nice. But was this really the right time for a musical number? And did it really have to be from this play?
Hamilton has long become the theatrical equivalent of “Read Another Book”—the internet’s response to “the overreliance on comparisons to Harry Potter in mainstream politics, particularly by Resistance Twitter users,” as Know Your Meme explains it.
I am begging Democrats to find another stage production.
Today can’t possibly get any more embarras— https://t.co/Gf0GQrMcQe
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) January 6, 2022
the prophecy https://t.co/GavPoofw37 pic.twitter.com/OoMwXA7leW
— c a i t (yassified) (@kittynouveau) January 6, 2022
the democrats are one chardonnay away from deciding to do this at the capitol tomorrow pic.twitter.com/7olmsnK3w3
— eve jan 6 (@Eve6) January 5, 2022
I say this as someone who still truly loves Hamilton, but Democrats’ insistence on quoting, celebrating, or otherwise alluding to Hamilton at every single turn feels like they are relishing in the opportunity to embrace a sort of sanctimonious patriotism. They are playing at diversity rather than demonstrating an understanding of the realities of people’s actual lives today and working to meet their needs through meaningful policy.
Listen, aside from the nationalism and gross politics of this, having the mostly Black cast of Hamilton perform in the “remembrance” of white violence is an apt metaphor for the revision of institutional and collective memory, and thus, the revision of history. https://t.co/pIEQ2jHsBG
— El Norte Recuerda (@Vanessid) January 6, 2022
The song was clearly an attempt at instilling optimism in themselves and those watching at home, but given the fact that very little, if anything really, has changed between this time last year and now, that optimism feels entirely hollow.
Donald Trump played a large role in inciting last year’s insurrection but he did not invent white nationalism, conspiracy theories, violent misogyny, or anything else that led to that day’s events. And we as a country are still totally unprepared to address those issues as being foundational to our existence as a nation.
So at this moment in time, at this event in particular, celebrating a sweet little song about making the country better for future generations feels downright laughable.
feels like commemorating this date would hit different if literally anything changed since then
— Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) January 6, 2022
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” might’ve captured the atmospherics better. https://t.co/7lZggCX5qI
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) January 6, 2022
(image: screencap)
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