Ordinary Times Watchalong: The Inauguration of Donald Trump
The second inauguration ceremony for President Donald Trump is going to look different from the first, for a bunch of reasons. Watch and comment to the festivities as America once again does pomp and circumstance around the peaceful transition of power.
Livestream via PBS:
From the CBS News:
President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated Monday, taking the oath of office to formally kick off his second term in the White House.
The inauguration marks the official transfer of presidential power, with the executive branch changing hands from the Biden administration to the Trump administration. The 20th Amendment states that a president’s four-year term ends at noon on Jan. 20, and the president-elect is sworn in shortly after.
The inaugural ceremonies of the president-elect and vice president-elect are planned by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Led this year by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, the committee oversees eight events on Inauguration Day:
the procession to the Capitol;
the vice president’s swearing-in ceremony;
the president’s swearing-in ceremony;
the inaugural address;
the honorary departure of the outgoing president and vice president;
the signing ceremony, during which the new president signs nominations, memorandums, proclamations or executive orders;
the inaugural luncheon;
and the pass in review, during which the president and vice president review military troops before leading the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.The theme of this year’s ceremonies is “Our Enduring Democracy: A Constitutional Promise.”
Can Biden pardon people *DURING* the Inauguration?Report
Well, a little while back I thought it was a little unprofessional for the President-elect to mime giving head to a microphone onstage, but today I’ve watched the world’s richest man Sieg Heil onstage…twice.
I have no words. Well, I have them, but local norms discourage their use; to say “we’re fished” doesn’t quite capture it, does it?Report
Don’t worry, the ADL has promptly responded with:
In case anyone was wondering what the purpose of the ADL was, there you have it: Defending the richest man in the world. A man that, I remind people, defends the AfD in Germany, and has endorsed antisemitic conspiracy theories on Xitter, repeatedly.
Also, what the hell are they talking about, ‘all sides’? They’re the Anti-Defamation League, their concern is theoretically just antisemitism, almost with other forms of bigotry. None of that requires a political position, except against those things, which they obviously should not talk about with regard to ‘unity’. Talking about ‘all sides’, trying to manage how the sides feel about each other makes them sound overtly political. Which…I mean, they are. But should be pretending not to be. Because, again, their supposedly narrow concern is bigotry.
And that’s not even getting into the nonsense of ‘a new beginning’. What the hell is that supposed to be about? What new place do you think the country just got to? We already had Trump as president once. (Antisemitism and other bigotry, very notable, went up.)
There are, admittedly, a lot of people concerned that the country is about to slide almost directly into fascism, with no checks on Trump, which could be a ‘new beginning’, but those people are not talking about how we have a ‘new beginning with healing’. That sounds like directly defending Trump, and you somehow promising that _this time_, he’ll be better.
I’m pretty certain that isn’t what you, the ADL, are supposed to be doing. I’m pretty sure that _you_ should be the people that he is making that promise _to_, and you try to force him to keep that promise. Not you making the promise. You are literally on the wrong side of this discussion. It’s almost as if you’re acting as a part of the Republican party.Report
Or to put it another way: It is entirely reasonable for the ADL to read Elon’s apology for how the gesture looked and that he didn’t intend it to be read that way, and that he would never do such a salute, and say ‘We believe him’. Like, that is a semi-reasonable thing to say.
The ADL talking about all that political stuff is…not.
…
Oh, wait. Elon _hasn’t_ clarified any of this? He’s made no response at all? And certainly hasn’t before they said that.
So, um…we have the ADL asserting it was an ‘awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm’, despite the fact Elon has not, in fact, said that? Just…preemptively defending him. Preemptively defending the guy who has repeatedly like antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Mmm hmm.Report
The ADL are friggin morons says this Jewish guy.
Abraham Foxman, their former chief called it a Sieg HeilReport
He is apparently holding an indoor parade according to a chyron I read. Is this a march around a ballroom or a conga line?Report
They had technical difficulties during Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “God Bless America” and so she did it A Capella and asked everybody to sing along with her.
A fitting symbol of the next four years.Report