Last week we took a drive to DC for what was supposed to be a final tour of the White House
before all our Trump administration friends concluded their service. The trip ended in a three-hour traffic jam due to the closed streets and a 90-minute walk around the circumference of the security zone around the White House only to be told all White House tours had been cancelled that day.
The whole experience reminded us of East Berlin during the height of Soviet power – stone-faced police and fences everywhere.
Stacey Lennox, writing for our friends at PJ Media, has posted a column on what it looks like at the other end of the Mall, at the U.S. Capitol Complex and greater DC – which she compared to Baghdad during the US occupation after the second war against Saddam Hussein:
The Secret Service has established a “Green Zone” in the heart of the city, and bridges leading into Washington, D.C., will be closed beginning Tuesday. Virginia State Police and the National Guard will be checking reasons for entry.
That Americans should have to give the police and military a reason for entry into their capital city is chilling enough, but as Ms. Lennox observed, this is for all intents and purposes a military occupation, not just a crowd control measure or ceremonial presence as seen at previous inaugurations.
Citing a Twitter thread by Jack Murphy, a political commentator and a resident of Washington, D.C., it appears that National Guard members are in full uniform, including ballistic helmets, and are armed.
This is not typical when the Guard is deployed because there are genuine concerns about the optics of the U.S. military being deployed against Americans on U.S. soil. However, official statements from Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy confirmed they were considering letting the National Guard carry weapons.
National Guard leaders say troops have deployed with all of their equipment, and it will be up to local commanders to determine if they will be authorized to carry them. The military is prohibited from acting in a law enforcement capacity, so the decision is predicated on “personal safety.”
Exactly who presents the threat to the personal safety of the guardsmen remains unexplained.
While this vast military presence in DC is unprecedented in peacetime, as we see it, the sheer volume of troops is not the most worrying part of the deployment.
It turns out that only reliably Leftist troops are being used for this mission.
According to reporting by the Associated Press, the FBI is background-checking all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the Biden inauguration. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press on Sunday that officials are conscious of the potential threat, and he warned commanders to be on the lookout for any problems within their ranks as the inauguration approaches.
”We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” McCarthy said in an interview reported by AP after he and other military leaders went through an exhaustive, three-hour security drill in preparation for Wednesday’s inauguration. He said Guard members are also getting training on how to identify potential insider threats.
According to McCarthy, service members from across the military were at President Trump’s January 6 rally, but it’s not clear how many were there or who may have participated in the breach at the Capitol. Without citing any names, AP claims “only a couple of current active-duty or National Guard members have been arrested in connection with the Capitol assault.”
Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said, “If there’s any indication that any of our soldiers or airmen are expressing things that are extremist views, it’s either handed over to law enforcement or dealt with the chain of command immediately.”
Which brings us around to the most frightening aspect of this whole exercise: What exactly are “extremist views” and who gets to decide?
Polls, both from establishment and outsider sources, show large percentages of Americans believe there was widespread election fraud and that Joe Biden’s claimed victory is not legitimate.
Indeed, some 70 percent of Republicans responding to a POLITICO/Morning Consult survey believed the election was not free and fair. More than half of Republican voters either believe President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 race or aren’t entirely sure who did win, according to a survey by researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern, and Rutgers universities.
Are these extremist views?
Far Left Democrat Rep, Steve Cohen certainly thinks so. In an appearance on CNN Cohen implied that 75% of the National Guard are in the class of people who "may want to do something" at the inauguration.
“The National Guard is 90 some-odd percent male and only about 20% of white males voted for Biden… there are probably not more than 25% of the people there protecting us that voted for Biden," said Cohen.
Cohen in essence said that National Guard troops who voted for Trump should automatically be suspected of being threats.
If voting for Donald Trump or merely attending President Trump’s January 6 rally, but not engaging in any criminal activity, is cause for active National Guard members to be excluded from serving at the Biden inauguration you can take it to the bank this isn’t about security, it is about creating a compliant Leftist military, ready to conduct domestic operations on a political basis.
George Rasley is editor of Richard Viguerie's ConservativeHQ.com was Director of the Vice President’s inaugural staff for the 1989 Bush-Quayle inauguration and served as an advance representative for the 2001 and 2005 Bush-Cheney inaugurations. A veteran of over 300 political campaigns, he is a member of American MENSA, and served on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, as Director of Policy and Communication for former Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) then Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and as spokesman for retired Rep. Mac Thornberry, formerly a member of the House Intelligence Committee and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
House
impeachment
Donald Trump
MAGA movement
incitement
unconstitutional
incitement of insurrection
Joe Biden
election fraud
obstruction
January 20
inauguration
national guard