Tim McGraw and Tyler Hubbard beamed this performance in from Nashville to Biden's Celebrating America inaugural concert last Wednesday evening - and wow, what a powerful song. Made your Head Trucker get a little misty-eyed. Whether you're a fan of country music or not, I think you'll be moved too, if you listen to the words.
NBC recorded an informal meeting of the three ex-Presidents - Obama, Bush, and Clinton - at Arlington National Cemetery on the afternoon of Inauguration Day, and you'll like what they said:
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Politico reports (emphasis mine):
Thousands of National Guardsmen were forced to vacate congressional grounds on Thursday and are now taking their rest breaks outside and in nearby parking garages, after two weeks of sleepless nights protecting the nation’s capital in the wake of the violent Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
One unit, which had been resting in the Dirksen Senate Office building, was abruptly told to vacate the facility on Thursday, according to one Guardsman. The group was forced to rest in a nearby parking garage without internet reception, with just one electrical outlet, and one bathroom with two stalls for 5,000 troops, the person said. . . .
Guard leadership did not make the decision and are “doing their best to provide rest shelter for troops who are still on 12-hour shifts protecting the Capitol and congressional grounds,” the second Guardsman said.
“There really may be an important reason for us to vacate and it just hasn’t been well communicated yet,” the second Guardsman said.
I suppose some prissy bitch, of either gender, decided they were offended by all those smelly troops sleeping on the floors of Congress. So send them to sit in a garage, they're only soldiers. How fucking stupid - and ungrateful. Makes me furious. But I'll stop right there.
Update, 1/22/21, 8:30 a.m.:
Apparently, lawmakers in Congress were as outraged last night as your Head Trucker was, and according to this report the troops have now been allowed back into the Capitol.
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President Biden just issued an executive order protecting Americans against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity — a turning point in our fight for equality under the law. https://t.co/fSuxT8dF8w
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) January 21, 2021
In Title VII, Congress outlawed discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.
In keeping with the Constitution and the votes of the American people, duly certified according to law, Joe Biden was peacefully inaugurated on the steps of the Capitol shortly before noon today in Washington, where as is customary he delivered his inaugural address, the sun shining brightly:
Text of the address is here.
Your Head Trucker wept to see Joe sworn in, finally, dispelling the dark clouds that have hung over the nation for the last four years. Many problems remain to be faced, but now I feel I can breathe again, hope again. This is the song in my heart today:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
McConnell - if the wily old pol can be believed - said all the right things an American patriot should say, and said them clearly and concisely. Hmm. This could turn some GOP senators around. Maybe there's a chance of convicting Trump after all..@senatemajldr on the U.S. Capitol Attack: "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people." pic.twitter.com/QIeviyHkl3
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 19, 2021
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I don't know about you fellas, but after a week of high alarm and deep stress your Head Trucker has felt spent the last couple of days: sort of in a daze, unable to listen any longer to the news and the flood of dire what-ifs about the coming days. I slept ten hours last night and needed every bit of it.
The House did the supremely right thing, impeaching Trump for his heinous misuse and abuse of the Presidency: a testament to future generations of the enormity of his crime. I doubt that the Senate, when it gets around to considering the Article of Impeachment, will do much to punish him. Be that as it may, Trump will not have an easy time of it in retirement from office, considering how many state and federal officials are drawing up plans for his prosecution on one charge or another.
And when and if his deluded followers wake up to the fact that he lied to them too, he may be in even bigger trouble. I do think he will sooner or later reap what he has sown; and then there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You all may be in recovery mode today too, and not ready to hear any more just yet about the events of this historic week. But just for the record, I present here a couple of excellent summations of how we got to this point in American history.
From the Washington Post, a review of the week just ended:
From PBS NewsHour, Judy Woodruff hosts a wide-ranging discussion of how Trump has dragged the nation to this point:
N. B. -- Your Head Trucker does not necessarily agree with every point made in the above discussion; perhaps another day I will post my thoughts and views on these matters, but right now I'm tired of thinking about it, and looking forward to a brighter day under the incoming President - whom God preserve.
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| A mob of Trump supporters surround the gallows on which they intended to hang Vice President Mike Pence at the Capitol, January 6, 2021. Click to enlarge. |
Choose you this day whom ye will serve . . .
Click here for CNN live coverage of impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.
Many fine speeches were made on the floor of the House today; here are two that your Head Trucker thinks particularly well done, covering all the essential points of the case.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gives the opening argument:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer gives the closing argument:
Update, 3:36 p.m., Texas time-- The House of Representatives has just voted to impeach Trump, 232-197. Ten Republicans voted with the Democrats to impeach. Four Republicans did not vote. House has now adjourned until January 15th. The Senate is in recess until January 19th, when the Article of Impeachment will be presented to them.
For the benefit of my overseas truckbuddies, it is important to understand that impeachment is not the same as removal from office. Rather, an impeachment by the House is equivalent to an indictment by a grand jury; the Senate then acts as a court to try the case, and either convict (by a two-thirds majority) or acquit the President, who would cease to be President immediately upon conviction. Trump was previously impeached by the House in December 2019, but acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.
The Constitution gives each house of Congress the authority to set its own rules of procedure; thus, the Senate does not have to follow the ordinary rules of procedure used in federal courts. Furthermore, it is up to Congress on its own authority to determine what constitutes the "high crimes and misdemeanors" (not defined in the Constitution) for which a president can be impeached.
Even if the Senate convicted Trump of the charge specified in the Article of Impeachment, the only effect would be to remove him from office - and that will be moot, as Biden will already be President by the time the Senate decides the case. For Trump to be barred from running for office again, or to lose his post-presidency benefits, the Senate would have to vote specifically on those points.
Full text of the Article of Impeachment below the jump - or see PDF in original format here.
Trump flew down to Alamo, Texas, today to have another look at his magnificent border wall - the first public appearance he has made since last week's attack on the Capitol by the mob he incited.
Senator Lindsey Graham went with him on Air Force One - yes, that same Lindsey Graham, Trumpmeister's most faithful pup, who last week had to hide from the murderous throng, and later said on the floor of the Senate, "Count me out. Enough's enough."
Now he's trotting along behind his master again - as a dog returneth to his vomit.
It's also reported that last night Trump had a "good conversation" with Vice President Mike Pence - whom Trump never called to check on while enraged fanatics were running through the halls of Congress shouting, "Hang Mike Pence" - and erected a gallows complete with noose on the grounds outside. Last week, it was reported that Pence was "very angry" with Trump - but bygones are bygones, it seems. I guess they kissed and made up. What they talked about has not yet been reported, but you can bet it wasn't a Sunday school lesson.
By the way, Trump isn't visiting the Alamo, which is in downtown San Antone, but the pee-mite town of Alamo, a mere suburb of the much larger city of McAllen, a farming center in the Rio Grande Valley. Still, the name of the Alamo is highly symbolic of a last stand, a fight to the death against tyranny, etc. - and you can believe that that, in and of itself, is a dog whistle to Trump's fanatical followers.
Here are various clips of Trump's remarks today, in which he typically absolves himself of all responsibility for last week's insurrection and warns that impeachment is "very dangerous to America" - another dog whistle - trying to paint the Democrats and everyone else who doesn't kneel before him as the real threat to the country.
Of course everything he says, including a, an, and the, is a total fucking LIE. He is so eaten up with conceit, he can't breathe without lying, just to glorify himself. He has no remorse and no conscience. He sicced a mob of killer dogs on the members of Congress - Republicans and Democrats alike - including the next three persons in the line of presidential succession. And instead of lifting a finger to stop the attack, he sat in front of the television, gleefully watching the chaos he caused.
OF COURSE THIS MONSTER SHOULD BE REMOVED, IMPEACHED, ARRESTED, PROSECUTED AND JAILED FOR HIS CRIMES. THERE IS NOTHING TO DEBATE OR ARGUE ABOUT. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH IS FUCKING ENOUGH.
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