One week until Inauguration Day. The intervening weekend could reveal much about what might happen on Inauguration Day, but then again it might not. Will the type of gatherings--peaceful or not--in state capitols this weekend mean that the same is coming for the inauguration? Not that I'm thinking the weekend will be peaceful. Already various states are contending with a level of behavior not seen before in this country. A guillotine was erected outside Arizona's state capitol. Lawmakers evacuated capitol buildings in Georgia and New Mexico as crowds gathered outside. Crowds in Idaho cheered as reports of the Capitol riot came in a week ago. Oregon's governor was burned in effigy. Some demonstrations, though, were peaceful including the one in Kansas. And in Nevada, supporters of The Lame Duck drank beer and listened to rock music.
The FBI has said that some of the Capitol rioters arrested will face
sedition charges. To be clear about what that meant, I looked up
"sedition." Dictionary.com gave two definitions. First, "incitement of
discontent or rebellion against a government." Second, "any action,
especially in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion. The way I read the second one, The Lame Duck did commit an act of sedition in his pre-riot remarks last week.
The latest report I heard said that 20,000 National Guard troops would provide security around the Capitol for the inauguration. They will be armed. The crowds will not be as large as they were when The Lame Duck was inaugurated. Between the threat of violence and the pandemic, crowd size in the hundreds makes much more sense than that in the thousands or millions. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is turning on The Lame Duck. He is backing impeachment in part because impeachment will make it easier to purge The Lame Duck from the Republican party.
The folks planning security have to consider every possible scenario. Some of the worst ones being considered are people with firearms trying to attack dignitaries, "suicide type aircraft," and drone attacks on the crowds. I'm sure they're considering suicide bombers as well as a dirty bomb, too. I wonder if there's a table around which people sit and throw out ideas of what might transpire. I'd really like to be a fly on the wall if that's the case.
On the coronavirus front, the US set a new record for the number of people dying in one day. I saw several numbers, but all were in the neighborhood of 4,400. This number of deaths in one day exceed the total number of deaths in South Korea or Japan since the pandemic began. The national death total is over 380,000. Could we have 400,000 by the end of the month? Your guess is as good as mine.
Japan has widened its state of emergency due to the coronavirus, and there is real concern over the Olympic Games set for July. If the Games cannot be held this summer, they will not be held at all. One concern is whether overseas visitors can be allowed. This decision needs to be made by March to give adequate time for travel plans to be made. Even with no spectators or no spectators from overseas, there is the question of whether the Olympic Village could become another super-spreading event. With no overseas visitors, might they spread the athletes out more? They could put some in the Village and the others in the empty hotels. It might be interesting to be a fly on the wall when the go or no-go decision is being discussed.
Fasten your seat belts and shoulder straps. It's going to be one hell of a week.
No comments:
Post a Comment