Two weeks ago, Katie and I were watching the debate in the Senate after the challenge to Arizona’s slate of electors during the certification of the Electoral College votes that was set to confirm President-Elect Biden’s victory in November.
All of a sudden, Vice President Pence interrupted Senator Lankford of Oklahoma who was in the middle of his speech and abruptly adjourned the session subject to recall of the chair and hustled out of the chamber very quickly afterward.
As a long-time viewer of C-SPAN since they started broadcasting in 1979, I had never seen a Senator interrupted in that way…ever. Certainly, requests to yield for a question or for points of order are commonplace during Senate debates but to actually adjourn so hastily in the middle of a speech in a chamber known for Senators “talking their heads off” thanks to that lesson in civics titled “Mr Smith Goes to Washington”?
When C-SPAN2 went to the title card indicating the Senate had adjourned and C-SPAN followed suit when the House did the same soon afterward…I told Katie we were seeing something truly extraordinary.
Over the next few hours we certainly did…an armed insurrection and riot in the Capitol building itself sending members of Congress running for their lives and the Vice President and his family nearly being caught by a mob with the intention of stopping the Electoral College certification if not even more sinister plans had the rioters succeeded in capturing members of Congress.
By the time the mob had been cleared out of the Capitol and Congress could resume their work of certifying Mr Biden’s victory…we had seen the seat of our government stormed by hostile forces for the first time since the British did so in the War of 1812. The Confederate battle flag was carried into the building and paraded for all to see which had never happened during the entire Civil War.
It was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history and whilst President Trump may argue that he didn’t really incite the crowd to violence and the law on “incitement to riot” would make conviction a 50/50 decision by a jury as it could be argued his statement before the mob descended upon Capitol Hill was political speech roughly in line with his previous speeches during the campaign…he is certainly guilty of dereliction of his duty and violation of his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Frankly, the House should have concentrated on that in their latest article of impeachment. Mr Trump will certainly argue that the charge of “incitement to riot” likely wouldn’t prevail in a court of law but impeachment does not necessarily have to meet the legal standard for conviction…impeachment by its nature is a political act and only needs to convince the requisite 2/3rds of the Senate during the trial.
Between the constant lies about an election that was probably the cleanest and least fraudulent in our history and his silence whilst watching the the desecration of a powerful symbol of our democracy, his abdication of any semblance of leadership and not even half-hearted and utterly feeble attempt at getting his supporters to stand down is utterly unforgivable.
That he would essentially cease having any interest in doing the job until the inauguration other than pardoning quite a few people who really shouldn’t have been pardoned (I’m looking squarely at you, Steve Bannon!) and then show complete disrespect to Mr Biden and Mrs Harris by refusing to attend the inauguration or even pretend to be gracious hosts welcoming the new occupants to the White House for the customary invitation to stay at Blair House and tour the White House residence should never be forgotten or forgiven.
But the image that will stick with me for the rest of my days was watching him skulking out of the White House early this morning to board Marine One on the South Lawn and leaving Joint Base Andrews in an act of complete cowardice. Neither Donald Trump nor his family should ever be allowed anywhere near a position of political power ever again. Their actions (or inaction) has brought deep shame upon our country and our institutions and traditions.
This country has had a proud tradition of the peaceful transfer of power ever since our founding. Even President Lincoln’s first inauguration in March 1861 with seven states already having seceded to form the Confederacy and the threat of imminent civil war was a peaceful affair. Soon to be former Presidents have generally respected the traditions governing their behaviour toward their successors no matter how nasty the campaign was or their personal feelings toward the incoming administration.
And so I come to the picture I chose for this post which I shot during my brief trip to Washington DC last summer. Just like this morning in the District, the sun’s rays illuminated the Capitol building beautifully and helped remind me of the freedoms we enjoy that are worth fighting to defend.
In spite of the harrowing siege of the Capitol two weeks ago and the daily tension of wondering “what in the hell is going to happen next”, it appears we are going to get that peaceful transfer of power to the incoming Biden administration. At least Vice President Pence has the courage to attend the inauguration and respect the tradition of peacefully surrendering power to the next President, something his boss didn’t have the courage to face. I’m not a fan of Vice President Pence but he’s certainly acted far more presidential than the one who should have during this lame duck period.
Joe Biden and his administration has a monumental task ahead of them on a par with the labours of Hercules in dealing with the pandemic and our economy and restoring our tattered reputation as a responsible and faithful leader in the world community. I’ve no doubts that during that private mass he attended this morning, Alan Shepard’s prayer was probably going through his mind far more times than he might want to admit.
And I’ve no doubt things are going to get a bit uglier before they get better…this pandemic won’t be ending immediately and there’s a lot of damage that has been done to our country that needs to be repaired.
I’m sure that I won’t necessarily agree with every one of Mr Biden’s policies but I’m going to offer him the same best wishes I offered his predecessor four years prior…may he be successful for the betterment of our nation’s people and our country’s interests and hope that he and Congress will govern with compassion, caring, and a bit of that ordinary everyday kindness and a little looking out for the other fella.
But like those glorious rays of sun shining over the Capitol this morning and that morning a few months ago, I do have faith that America will learn the lessons from these very dark years and come out once again into the light. And for the first time in a very long time, I think my father would actually recognise the government he served and protected for those many years and rest a bit easier for the coming four years.