Question in the topic.
“Due to the recent events we have all seen, and to reduce the clear danger to government officials and law enforcement officers, I will take the oath of office at a location to be disclosed after the ceremony.”
Hold the ceremony on other federal land: A national park or even Camp David.
Or even at home, like Calvin Coolidge.
Of course certain people will scream and rant. “He’s hiding again.” etc. Tough!
Personally, I’d like to see a virtual inauguration strictly due to the pandemic. It potentially would have the largest attendance of any inauguration.
I think it would be a good idea, but the logistics of actually doing it secretly seem impossible to me. Secret service would have to know. Roberts would have to be taken there. I just cannot see it happening.
And you’re worried the Secret Service wouldn’t keep it secret?
I don’t think there are any logistical issues that couldn’t be solved. LBJ was sworn in on Air Force One.
I think Biden doesn’t want to give in to the terrorists. He’s probably right, but I hope they have 10s of 1000s of troops on hand with orders to shoot if necessary.
Yes or he should bring 10s of thousands of troops as suggested above.
He should dispense with the unity bromides and begin his presidency on a civil war footing. Take it to the mattresses from the get.
I should have been clearer. The proposal is not to move the entire normal swearing-in ceremony to another site, but to have a smaller ceremony. The mention of President Johnson on Air Force One is a good example, as was the swearing in of Calvin Coolidge.
It would also be quicker. I honestly don’t think we have a day to waste on ceremony right now. He needs to be at his desk, working, by 1:00.
I say no but I don’t know the intelligence on the dangers. I think it would be a bad look that would embolden the seditionists and cause undue anxiety for others. Sometimes a president leads by defying those against him and projects strength.
It should absolutely not be anywhere other than at the United States Capitol. Maintaining tradition and sending a message of continuity and a return to normalcy, to the greatest extent possible and of course with very tight security and appropriate public-health measures, is just what the country needs right now, I’d say.
As others have said, keep it at the Capitol, with a butt-load of security. It would be a mistake for the new President to appear to be giving in to terrorists.
It needs to be at the Capitol if for no other reason than giving a big “fuck you!” to the traitors who ransacked it.
Another vote for “Have it at the Capitol with a much-reduced crowd” - for health reasons, if not active security concerns.
Thank you for all of the responses. Now I’ll weigh in: I would prefer that the ceremony be held elsewhere at a location to be announced afterwards - with a VERY small group of people attending. The principle reason is that this would remove the focus for any protest, which would reduce the likelihood of police, etc. from being overwhelmed.
Some of the remarks in this discussion and others seem to take the viewpoint that government security forces should take on whatever is thrown at them. The phrase “flak catchers” comes to mind. Think about this: Put yourself in the place of one of these people in the front lines.
Rather than package it in new rhetoric, I’ll just repeat what I said in P&E.
I think we will know the answer to this question only in retrospect. If it all goes well and he is able to project a return to normalcy, then we can say the answer was no, but if something goes badly wrong…
Only 69 hours and 22 minutes.
I think having a big public inauguration while the pandemic is still going on was a bad move anyway. I do think that plans probably shouldn’t be changed much due to recent events, but I think the plan to have a ‘business as usual’ inauguration in the first place was stupid.
Edit: And yes, I realize they’re probably going to limit the size of attendance and all sorts of things to pay attention to COVID, but a big public event of ANY size was unnecessary and holding it at all sets a bad example, IMO.
When you consider that a disturbingly high percentage of American voters already believe ridiculous CTs about the United States being run by a Secret Cabal of (pick your favorite targets of hatred), an actual secret swearing-in attended by only an actual inner circle of powerful individuals is just the worst thing I could possibly imagine, if moving upward from this low point of stupidity, to some point at least a little more sensible, is the goal.
“It’s not enough that justice be done, it must be seen to be done.” That’s an underlying principle, that the US strives to uphold as much as possible. Court trials, city council meetings, even deliberations in the Congress have all traditionally been as open to the public as is practical. To take one of the most important events in US democracy and make it a secret is just awful. Like, worse than Biden getting shot halfway through his oath of office bad. The US has plans for that, that they’ve had to use before, and they can use them again to maintain continuity of Government. But establishing a precedent that secret swearings-in are acceptable? Bad, bad idea.
I suspect a lot of them would say, “This is what I signed up for”. Defending US democracy is literally the whole point of these jobs. Everything else they do when democracy isn’t in immediate peril is just extra. Doing exactly what they’re doing this week is the heart and soul of their job, even if not a single shot gets fired.
From what I have seen, it has been quiet. Thank God. Now let’s hope that sanity prevails.
(And before someone jumps it, look up the definition for “prevails”.)
Well said, and I agree.
And I’m glad the Inauguration seems to have gone off without a major hitch. Here’s to President Biden and Vice President Harris! God bless them both.