The Most Consequential Impact Of 6 January 2021 Will Be Creation Of Greater Distance Between The Governing And The Governed
Distance For The Governed
Trust Amongst The Governing
Lifetime Protection For Former Vice President
Upside Down Flag
Facial Hair
Mistaken Prescience About Social Media
Republican Party Future
Worth Remembering
Kamala Harris Giggling
My Pillow Store At Presidential Library
An Inaugural Address For Reference
Observations….
The Trump Administration will be remembered for ending with anger. The Biden Administration will be remembered for beginning with fear.
The United States Department of Defense (DOD) publicly shares concern about the 25,000 members of the military, the National Guard, and law enforcement (including United States Secret Service who protect the president, vice president and their families) charged with protecting inaugural events on 20 January 2021 discharging their weapons not towards protestors, but towards officials and guests of the event. Try to explain why that is to children.
There should be a national celebration if not for a peaceful transfer from one administration to the next, then for the inauguration of the first woman as Vice President. Women account for approximately 51.1% of the United States population of 332 million. For many men and women, this is an important moment in the process for shattering employment glass ceilings. The second-highest office in the executive branch. The second-highest office referenced in the United States Constitution. The Honorable Kamala Harris (D- California), a member of the United States Senate, will be the 49th Vice President of the United States. The first Vice President of the United States was The Honorable John Adams, inaugurated on 21 April 1789. His term began 231 years and nine months ago as of 20 January 2021.
The most destructive result of the 6 January 2021 assault upon the United States Capitol will be the expansion of distance between those who govern from those who are governed.
During the last thirty years Capitol Hill, consisting of the United States Capitol and three buildings (Russell, Dirksen, and Hart) occupied by members of the United States Senate and three buildings (Longworth, Cannon, Rayburn) occupied by members of the United States House of Representatives have become increasingly hardened for employees and visitors.
Long gone are the days absent magnetometers. One officer at a podium near the entrance to each building. The public has now for years been permitted to enter the United States Capitol only with an escort from office staff or member or on an authorized guided tour.
While there were “members only” elevators in the office buildings and in the Capitol, not uncommon for a member to invite staff or public who happened to be wandering about the hallways. Riding the subway from one of the office buildings to the United States Capitol was always an adventure- never knowing which Senator or Representative might be seated nearby.
During my first stints on Capitol Hill, everyone could access everywhere. Everyone felt safe. Everyone felt, well, useful. There was then and remains today something transformative about walking up the steps on the north side of the United States Capitol.
The shootings of members of the United States House of Representatives, The Honorable Steven Scalise (R- 1st Louisiana) on 14 June 2017 and The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords (D- 8th Arizona) on 8 January 2011 served to increase both awareness of threats and desire for security.
During the last decade, an increasing number of leadership of the United States Congress, majority party and minority party, avail themselves to security details- one or more black SUV’s, ten or more armed agents. For some, the presence has become a status symbol. Often, unnecessary. Always expensive. Creating distance.
When members of the United States Congress do visit their states and districts within states, they are increasingly using motorcades and have a robust law enforcement presence during public gatherings. Members no longer seek embrace from their constituents; they seek distance, safety.
Members of the United States Congress have increasingly avoided face-to-face meetings with their constituents. Instead, they are presenting meetings with members of their staff or virtual meetings, again with staff or including the member of the United States Congress.
During this last week, some members of the United States Congress reported using their official expense accounts to purchase body armor. Some members of the United States Congress no longer trust their elected colleagues and members of the United States Capitol Police.
Some members of the United States Congress want national firearm carry permits (that would include on commercial aircraft) and authorization to carry firearms in their respective chambers in the United States Capitol. They already have authorization to have firearms in their offices.
We are now where members of the United States Congress do not trust who they work with, do not trust who they represent, and do not trust who are paid by taxpayers to protect them.
The greater the distance between the governing and the governed is a foundation for at least poor government decision making and at worst authoritarianism. With greater distance comes anger and then apathy- cannot change it, so who cares, why vote. From an electorate who believe their vote does not matter for the outcome, fewer citizens participate. A result is for members of the United States Congress to focus upon the wants of the minority- who threatens them, not necessarily physically but through exercising their right to vote.
Tradition has the outgoing Vice President to receive a six-month protective detail of agents from the United States Secret Service. Given the statements from some of those who participated in the invasion of the United States Capitol, might Vice President Mike Pence be the first former Vice President to receive a permanent security detail? Think about how corrosive that optic will be for the country? The threats to his safety are not from those who oppose him, but from those who supported his selection and election in 2017 and again voted for him on 3 November 2020.
Were the events of 6 January 2021 necessary? A required cathartic, purifying moment for those in despair to express their anger? After four years of the Trump Administration, do we prosecute the participants for their actions or for their beliefs? Can the two be separated? Should they be separated?
4 U.S. Code §8 Respect For The Flag: “(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
Given the intensity of comments from those who invaded the United States Capitol, surprising there was not at least one United States flag displayed upside down; that there was not a publicized effort to turn upside down one of the three flags adorning the United States Capitol.
Why did so many individuals who participated in the invasion of the United States Capitol have kempt and unkempt beards? Facial hair became a symbol of toughness more evident for those deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq- the appearance was beneficial while in country to blend into the population and for camouflage. Returning to the United States, those beards were symbols of service, symbols of toughness, and for some symbols of displacement and detachment. They could not leave behind the experience; did not want to leave behind the experience.
Facial hair and military-style clothing when accompanied by weapons and, particularly a badge stokes enhanced fear.
Some religions believe preferred, essential, or required for men to have a beard: Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Sikhism. Many Nation of Islam members were clean-shaven or nearly so in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Often, members of the Ku Klux Klan were clean-shaven and wore suits. I have never encountered a clean-shaven Santa Claus.
President Trump is angry that some of his customers of four years ago, those who bought into his online marketing campaign, decided four years later to be removed from his mailing list. Like a multi-level marketing platform, those who supported him four years ago did not bring enough new supporters four years later. There were more voters opposing him in 2020 than in 2016.
Remarkably, the winner on 3 November 2020 received more votes than any previous candidate for President and the loser received more votes than any previous candidate for President. The good news from the 3 November 2020 election- the number of citizens eligible to vote and who did vote set a record for participation. Participatory democracy worked as advertised albeit with a delay in the certification of the results.
President Trump never thought of those who voted for him as smart. He thought of them as just-enough-informed to believe him rather than question him. For his supporters in 2016, the rudeness, the coarseness, the provocations, and the lack of civility were qualifiers rather than disqualifiers. He easily dispatched nearing two dozen tradition-embracing politicians in the Republican primaries.
President Trump is angry now because he believes those who did not support him were stupid, ignorant. He did not and does not respect those who support him.
With a lack of mistaken prescience early in his presidency, members of the Democratic Party and those opposed to President Trump wanted Twitter and Facebook to prohibit him from using the platforms.
I posit had President Trump been prohibited from using @RealDonaldTrump on Twitter and @DonaldTrump on Facebook for non-official President of the United States (POTUS) messaging, he would have been re-elected on 3 November 2020 by Johnson 1964, Nixon 1972, and Reagan 1980/1984 margins. Why? Because his repugnant behaviors would have been masked and his successes, legislative and by executive authorities, would have been presented within the traditional presidential mannerisms.
There was a meaningful quantity and quality of Trump Administration achievements. Unfortunately, for an individual who focused intently upon optics and messaging, President Trump was genetically incapable of appreciating message discipline. His most egregious misuse of his time in office was requiring zero-sum painfully and publicly delivered as a foundation for decisions, those both domestic and out of country. He should have embraced that the office he held was by definition a manifestation of often ethereal strength not requiring further suppliance.
The tragedy of the Trump Presidency is he arrived in office with instincts and beliefs which he had shared for decades- many of which were sound, applicable, and overdue for consideration and implementation.
Had he appreciated the role of the Presidency, the office, and its requirement to represent all citizens, he would be delivering his second inaugural address this Wednesday and former Vice President Biden would be listening to it from a comfortable seat on the dais along with all former Presidents and Vice Presidents and their wives.
The United States will have a transfer of power at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, 20 January 2021. What will be absent is a peaceful transfer of power.
My hope is the Republican Party will again embrace its 1970’s “Rockefeller Republican” and 1980’s “Reaganism” principals. Shift again to the center and center right. Refocus upon spending- deficits, national debt.
Worth remembering…
Al Gore gave us George Bush.
John McCain gave us Barack Obama.
Hillary Clinton gave us Donald Trump.
Donald Trump gave us Joseph Biden.
Will Joseph Biden give us Kamala Harris?
There are for some issues with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The first woman. The first woman of color. The first woman with an immigrant parents (mother from India and father from Jamaica. Her husband, who is Jewish, is also a first both by religion and in the role as Second Gentleman. Much has been made of her laughing and giggling. I am comfortable with someone who is genuinely excited to be Vice President.
Will President Biden be as focused upon reversing Trump Administration decisions as was President Trump focused upon reversing Obama Administration decisions? Probably. Some decisions by the Trump Administration will be retained by the Biden Administration because the decisions were sound policy. For President Trump, reversing decisions of his predecessor was a visceral manifestation- driven by a disrespect and personal hatred of the 44th President and a need to demonstrate that he had power.
President Biden has similar personality issues as his predecessor. He does not like to be criticized. He is also incapable of appreciating issues with the behavior of his son and of his behavior as Vice President while his son was pursuing commercial opportunities. President Biden will be nasty. Will too often use the phrase “C’mon man…” Will too often reference his late son Beau. Will too often show his increasing frailty.
For President Trump’s post-presidency? Expect some of those who believe in him- and believe that there was no way he lost his bid for re-election, to visit his estate, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, with a fervor and commitment similar to a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage for Muslims to Mecca, Communists to Lenin’s Tomb, and Hindus to the Ganges River.
A prediction: The Trump Presidential Library will be located at the Trump National Doral Miami resort. He will determine a means to donate the property to the State of Florida and obtain a large tax deduction from both the state and from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Transform the golf course into Trump Park and Nature Preserve. The Trump Presidential Library may be the first for-profit historical experience with retail outlets for those brands familiar to his supporters. An open dining and lifestyle experience with a Harley Davidson distributorship, Waffle House, Chick-fil-A, My Pillow store, MAGA store, Made-In-America Store, The Art of Shaving salon, and McDonald’s and plenty of rentable exhibition space and convention space. Ticket holders would also receive discount coupons for other Trump branded properties. And, of course, a television studio and radio studio each glass-enclosed to maximize visibility for guests.
Lastly, the text of what President Trump shared with the nation on Friday, 20 January 2017. Not as a weapon of scorn, but as a reminder, reference of what he said he would do and the how he would transform the nation compared with what he did- and who was with him on the dais when he said it… and, in what condition he has deposited the United States upon his successor.
When President Biden delivers his inaugural address on Wednesday, 20 January 2021, his words should too be referenced to judge his presidency on Monday, 20 January 2025, the next inauguration day- regardless of whether he seeks re-election, which I doubt he will.
REMARKS OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP – AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY INAUGURAL ADDRESS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you. We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come. We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done.
Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.
Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you. It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country. What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.
January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.
At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public.
But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; We’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own; And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon. One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world. But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future. We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it’s going to be America First.
Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down. America will start winning again, winning like never before.
We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams. We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor. We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow. We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.” We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.
When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God. Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger.
In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it. The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action. Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.
We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions.
It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way. Together, We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Wealthy Again. We Will Make America Proud Again. We Will Make America Safe Again. And, Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.
