Posted on 01/20/2021 6:58:16 PM PST by george76
Haunted and numb in a horribly sanitized city.
As I grabbed some coffee before heading to the Capitol Building to watch the 46th President of the United States of America take his title, the lovely lady behind the counter told me she had never seen anything like this in DC in her life.
And all I can say as I stand here now in the freezing cold with a handful of others is that I hope America never has to see anything like this again. Nothing is as it seems. It is just horrible, in every sense.
There is no one here. And I am not saying that in the weird competitive way people talk about crowd sizes as a measure of popularity. Remember the endless quarrel over the size of Trump's inauguration crowd versus Obama's?
What I mean is that there is literally no one here. Even pressed up to the gates within sight of the Capitol Building there is barely a handful of Biden supporters -- alongside a small gaggle of media, scratching about, trying to find something to film.
Residents with the means to do so have moved out. Others stay locked in their homes. And visitors heeded the fear mongering and stayed away. I was called ‘a moron with a death wish’ for traveling here to document this event. And even though it is perfectly safe, no one is here to bear witness to this event.
This should be an historical moment for the country. Instead it feels like an illusion, fabricated for the TV, right down to the made-for-TV flags and columns of light on the mall.
Not only is the city completely abandoned by ordinary Americans, but it feels like a military garrison, courtesy of 25,000 National Guard troops, police and Secret Service posted at every intersection. Many of them are sleeping at my hotel and I couldn’t wish for better room-mates.
But their frustration is obvious. These good men and women have left their homes, families and jobs to be here, but to what end? We can all see there is no threat to be faced. Fake news is relying on repeating their footage of the riot at Capitol Hill to perpetuate the myth that this is a city under siege to domestic terror.
DC now feels like one giant stage built entirely for a drama of the Democrats' own creation. I’d argue the troops are being used as bit-part actors, for crowd scenes and effect. If you wanted to create the illusion that the Trump administration turned America into a war zone, what better way than to make DC a green zone, build ramparts and blockades, and fill it with troops, trucks and men with weapons?
Bizarrely, even in this militarized zone, Black Lives Matter still get a free pass.
Republicans, particularly white Republicans, are now tarnished with the label ‘domestic terrorists’ and are all policed as such. I can feel the eyes of the plain clothes officers on me as I move about in DC. One photographs my face, then slips away.
And yet on Black Lives Matter Plaza, just a block or two from the White House, BLM protesters seem to enjoy special privileges. The entry point to this place remains relatively open and welcoming, their music system gives the place a party feel and there are no National Guards visible here.
How did we end up at a place where White Republicans and Black Democrats are policed differently, even inside a militarized zone?
I feel some pity for the media crews wandering around the lonely streets desperate for something, to feed back to their bosses' funding of their trip. They know they have to film something, but when there is nothing, what are they supposed to do? Predictably, they resort to yet another close-up of the National Guard. It is soul destroying stuff.
It feels numb here, like watching surgery on your own hand when you are anesthetized against the pain, but can still see the knife cutting flesh and watch your own blood flow. That’s exactly what it is like in DC. Without people, there is no emotion. And without emotion, no one can feel anything. And just like surgery, it feels unreal.
It is emotion that makes these events matter. And there is none to be had here. This is a sterilized inauguration in a city sanitized by a garrison of troops. All you can feel is numb.
Biden stepped up to the podium, on an empty stand, addressing a mall void of life and spoke of his hopes for unity:
This is our moment of crises and challenge. And unity is the only path forward… Let’s start afresh. Let's start to listen to one another, see one another, hear one another.
I look around at all the face masks and muted mouths. And feel my eyes roll in their sockets.
We must reject a culture in which facts are manipulated and manufactured.
I remember those suitcases of ballots being hauled out from under tables in Pennsylvania, and the statistically improbably vote dumps in the swing states, and wonder how this old man is not choking on his words.
America has to be better than this. Just look around. Here we stand in the shadow of the capitol dome. We endured. We prevailed.
I look around just as he asks us to do, and I see how barren it all is. This man is all but alone with his lies. Nothing has prevailed here, not joy, not emotion, and certainly not the will of the American people.
As I walk back to my hotel, feeling about ready to sit with the homeless man and share his cheap whisky, I meet a woman who has traveled from Texas to be here because of her love for Biden -- and because she was here four years ago for the pussy marches in which she had such a fantastic time.
She cant believe she is all alone and that the city is so deserted. Not only that, but she can't get close enough to see or hear anything. So much for Biden’s plea to ‘see each other, listen to each other, hear each other’. This poor woman has not seen another soul.
She tells me she just feels really, really disappointed.
I hug her and tell her I feel it too. Biden asked for Unity. Perhaps this is it. His supporters and I are united in our disappointment.
Alll those Guardsmen will finally have something to do. Carefully fold and dispose all those flags following the proper flag etiquette. I wish, likely, they will be tossed in the dumpster.
I wear one all day long for work. Many times I forget. In the morning I put it on to make sure I remember. I hate them and know they are useless but for my job I must comply.
I live in New York City where most people are walking on the street with masks.... whenever I pass someone on the street without a mask I make a point of saying “it’s so nice to see your face”.... At first they’re a little startled that a stranger is talking to them, but then it hits them what I’m trying to say, since they see that I’m maskless too
*** They fear us ***
I think the “They fear us” is a myth we perpetuated to make us feel better that we are being crushed. What conservative battles have we won in the last 40 years?
It’s not the same experience but I went to the 1976 Montreal Olympics and in the wake of the 72 terror attack the troops and security did not allow for much of a festival atmosphere. There were crowds to be sure and some emotion but a happy olympics it was not. I was 19 at the time and I haven’t been to an olympics since.
I didn’t watch Clinton, Obama or these f...s, not just at inauguration but ever.
We don’t have to win any battles for them to fear us... If we mobilize, we are stronger than them... this is a constant that they are always aware of... The MAGA movement is the closest we have come to mobilizing against them....still a long way to go, but it’s progress, and they are nervous
He reserves that for swimming in front of female SS agents.
From the Comments Section:
The cold, inhuman and lifeless feel reported by Ms. Hopkins seems apt. Today witnessed the installation of the Biden-Harris Junta (inaugurations are reserved for duly-elected Presidents).
As for the powers behind the color revolution (coup) that stole the election, some will say “Democratic Socialists.” I believe that those are just the public face to provide street theater agitprop, and appeal to Millennial useful idiots — indeed, useful idiots of all ages.
Rather, it has been oligarchs (who were funding the “Democratic Socialists,” such as BLM). From multinational banks and corporations (including Silicon Valley); Soros; central bankers and the CCP acting in common cause to take-down the one impediment to their vision: the United States of America.
And that vision? A global totalitarian regime of Corporatist Fascism (with perhaps the CCP getting its own slice of the globe to do as it pleases). This Fascism will be called “The Great Reset,” and imposed with sloganeering about “building back better” and “sustainability” and “social justice.”
And the power behind the oligarchs? Satan. Hence, that cold, inhuman and lifeless feel was indeed a fitting aura for the Satanic take-down of what had been a Divinely inspired nation.
Nice piece. Sounds like it’s straight out of Ayn Rand.
Strange. In my town, people continue to be friendly even at a social distance. In my large, pleasant senior complex, we continue to speak to one another, smile, socialize, have dinner together. Management made rule about not gathering, but we had a potluck on the lawn for Labor Day and one fellow brought Corona Beer for everyone., Masks required in community buildings, but on walkways and lawns, you never see one.
I do have one neighbor who acts the way yours do, but she always hated everyone anyway.
Our largest hospital was one of six in the country that had the right ventilators for Covid patients at the beginning, so we read horrible statistics. One of my neighbors works there as a nurse in the Covid ward. She tells of horrible suffering and death.
But life goes on.
Great comment about the cold, inhuman feel, Fascism and the Great Reset. Satanic? Probably, and terrifying.
“This man is all but alone with his lies.”
I started to watch the speech just now and had to turn it off. I might go back to it.
He opens up with how it is not so much a victory for a candidate, but for democracy. A win for the democratic process so everyone’s vote gets counted. That the voice of the people is heard. What a bunch of B.S. They just double-down on their lies of a “free and fair election”.
I used to be a Leftist years ago. They’re worse than you can imagine.
Nicely written post. Poetic.
It’s going to be interesting to see how long D.C. remains a Green Zone filled with troops, trucks and razor-wired fences.
My gut feeling is that it will stay that way for a while.
Later on he talks about how the truth always wins in spite of all the lies told in an attempt to gain power and profit. Unbelievable!
It’s what they’re going to be doing - and they know that we won’t comply.
Hannity used to have a British lady named Katie on in the third hour that would argue with him. Same one?
Great writing. Katie’s depiction matches her short video reports I’ve seen from DC. Nice to have some honest reporting from there. Dark days for the Republic.
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