At The Point of Intersection Between Hemingway and Twain

 

Lest you have any doubt, on January 6, 2021, as rioters poured into the Capitol, Police Officer Eugene Goodman was a profile in courage:

An extraordinary minute and one-half, which likely felt both much longer and much shorter than that to Officer Goodman while he did what he did.  

Never underestimate the steel of good people to stand up to those who would do others harm. Never underestimate the steel of a person like Officer Eugene Goodman. Never forget what he did. Never forget for whom he did it.  In case the answer to that last one eludes you, then might I suggest you go look in the mirror. 

And if someone you count among those you love most of all in the world is a law enforcement officer, then you likely processed what you watched Officer Goodman endure for a scarier ninety seconds than I have ever endured in almost fifty-four years through that prism and doing so you came away feeling terrified, infuriated, and relieved.  

Terrified by the thought that the person you count among those you love most of all in the world could have been standing at the top of that stairwell alongside of - or instead of - Officer Goodman.  Infuriated by the thought that (a) selfish, feckless idiots with no real sense of "duty", "country", or "honor" could so callously threaten the life of a man who clearly has a well-defined sense of all three; and (b) all the selfish, feckless, logic-deficient idiots within the geographic boundaries of these United States were not then - and are not now - roaming solely in Washington, DC and Officer Eugene Goodman is not the only one encountering them, either then or now. Relieved by the thought that when his shift ended on January 6, 2021, Officer Goodman went home.  

As the father of a son who serves and protects this country every day and who I count among those I love most of all in this world, I know that which every law enforcement family knows, which is the First Rule of Law Enforcement: 

"Make sure when your shift is over, you go home alive."

The Untouchables - Ness meets Malone

Thus endeth the lesson.

-AK