Something in that excerpt just hit me: he wasn’t just given evacuation instructions; Obama asked for them. In the event of a terrorist attack, his concern was for the crowd, not himself. If an attack had happened, the Secret Service might have hauled him away before he could have given them, but his intention was to save others, pretty much the opposite of what Trump did on Wednesday.
And many of the front line officers may have known that they had tacit permission from superiors who had also voiced Trumpian thoughts in the past. There is also the support they would expect to receive from the somewhat mythiical “blue line” of police sticking together.
If you’re a Trumplican cop on duty, at the Capitol, and it’s obvious that your superiors have only put a token number of you on duty… you’d certainly not be crazy to draw the conclusion that the overall intent of the top brass was to let these people (who you, yourself support) go in and stop the “illegal, socialist proceedings to take the presidency away from Dear Leader Trump”
Great post, nellie. Good thinking.
Maybe I’m being naive, but ISTM that the Secret Service has done a great job protecting all recent presidents, especially Obama who was the target of an elevated level of threats. I’m sure the Inauguration will be fine. They know what they’re doing, and MAGAts are not very bright.
My assumption isn’t that they’re overly concerned about an assignation attempt. I mean, that’s always a concern, but I’m reading this thread as being more about how bad the rioting will be. Considering they were practically escorted into the Capitol building, what’s next? Will they attempt to breach the White House? Local city halls? Will they attempt to kidnap dem leaders or vandalize their homes?
Of all the possibilities out there, part of me kinda hopes they attempt to get into the White House. No one of any importance is going to be there, they’re not likely to make it more than halfway across the lawn and white, black, red or blue, they’ll be very lucky if they’re arrested instead of shot.
Regardless of what protestors/rioters do, I think they’ll find that the Secret Service won’t be nearly as friendly as the Capitol Police.
Only 1000 people are showing up for Bidens inauguration? Is that due to covid, the white nationalist terror movement or both? Were they only planning on 1000 people before the 6th?
“Block” isn’t the right word. trump simply refused to authorize their deployment. Pence had to talk the acting Secy of Def into doing it.
Covid. It’s gonna be mostly virtual. That was the plan all along.
The question remains, will Trump have the power (by act of commission or omission) to cause a similar result on Jan. 20 before noon?
My WAG would be that he will have a hard time compelling obedience to any policy or order that contradicts the (up until recently) normal way of doing things. If there are widespread civil disruptions that need the national guard to be called out, and if the relevant commanders are inclined to do so, they will do so, whatever Trump says or thinks. They will have figured out by now that following Trump in something like that is a good way to lose their career and pension.
I’m hoping that Biden will be sworn in, no problem. I also would suggest that Harris not be there in case something serious goes down. They should not appear together publicly for the “duration”, whatever that means in this context. I can’t help thinking about the fact that Indira Gandhi and Anwar Sadat were both assassinated by their own bodyguards.
There’s talk of a “Million Militia March” on January 20th with the poster having guns: https://www.google.com/search?q=million+militia+march&rlz=1C1SQJL_enCA829CA829&sxsrf=ALeKk03RYUtLhmvLWdyTeZKx4mQqhV5rbw:1610240496903&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjo-cemlZDuAhWLGVkFHSHIB90Q_AUoA3oECBEQBQ&biw=1920&bih=977#imgrc=8FFVzvqrGXRHQM
DC isn’t open carry but if a large group starts to open carry, with the expectation that law enforcement will react much like they did on January 6th, that could get interesting. It would only take a few loons to take pot shots.
I would be less concerned about a large rabble of random agitators–even armed–than I would be about a few experienced conspirators with access to ANFO and the knowledge of how to position cars packed with it discretely. Most of the Trumpests with their MAGA hats and tactical vests come off as clueless goons playing solider but bear in mind that there are a significant number of well-trained military personnel who are just fine with an authoritarian leader and have the actual skills to plan and carry out an effective, concerted attack that would be almost impossible for the Secret Service to defend against with assurance.
Stranger
DC is prepared. The rest of country? Not at all. I suspect most MAGAs wanting to cause havoc will save the airfare and do it closer to home. I also think doing it on the 20th makes no strategic sense (I know, not their strong suit). A major insurrection is more likely to happen when an incumbent President Trump can try to use it to retain power or at least hobble the response.
I was thinking we might see another Oklahoma City at some point.
The rabble seems like it has the potential to get a gunfight started. They want to start a race war, convinced the military will be on their side. They just need to keep pushing at boundaries until the shooting starts.
The Secret Service is responsible for Presidential (and Vice Presidential) security, and in contrast to the apparent laxity of the Capitol Police they take that job very seriously to the point of paranoia when it comes to executive protection. They are also almost certainly backed up by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team and probably DEVGRU or some other little publicized Navy or Marine counterterrorist unit. Any attempt at a shootout by would-be “citizen militia” would go well for the aggressors. A well-trained and concerted small group, however, could do considerable damage in a focused attack.
I would assume, given the circumstances, that all parties involved in security for the inauguration will take preventative and surveillance methods that are well beyond anything the Capitol Police—which are primarily an enforcement force intended to enforce access restrictions, ensure that people are wearing badges, and deal with the occasional disgruntled staffer—are equipped and trained for. But in a public event, there is a limit to how secure a site can be made even with the best coverage.
Stranger
No, just because President Obama had an adviser write something up, and then he (Obama) wrote a book about it doesn’t make it so.
Contingency plans would come from various agencies, like DHS, Secret Service, Capitol Police, not from the President-Elect’s office.
Apparently Pence will be attending the inauguration in Trump’s place so the bubble of protection that surrounds him will be present as well.
If there are concerns about any kind of assaults, why not hold the inauguration on the White House grounds? Don’t do it at the building that just got sacked. Do it in the building that was last sacked 200 years ago, before submachine guns were a thing.
Doesn’t make what so? Obama wrote in his memoir about a set of emergency instructions he planned to issue to his inauguration crowd in the event of an emergency, for their protection. Yes, we all understand that that claim is based on Obama’s own published assertion, and if he chose to lie in making that assertion then that claim is false.
So what? That’s kind of an automatically-assumed baseline condition for discussing any personal anecdote told by anyone ever, but why do you think that the anecdote requires extra explicit distrust in this case? Not every President reflexively lies about everything all the time, you know.
Trump told his troops that he will not be their on Inauguration Day, and he has also told them that Pence is on “The Other Side”. I hope to ghod there are people watching the airports, bus stations and train terminals, because I think he declared open warfare with those statements.