The Restoration of American Values

That was quite an inauguration that took place a couple of hours ago. This was not an ordinary ceremony, to be sure.

We are watching the restoration of American values which had been under assault and nearly extinguished in the last four years.

Joe Biden took the oath of office at just a few minutes before noon today. Our democracy will move forward.

This took place today amid many troubling signs. Millions of Americans didn't want this swearing in to happen.

Many -- who had embraced a deceptive and fact-free conspiracy theory -- predicted for months that it wouldn't happen.

But Mr. Biden is the 46th President of the United States. And now -- in spite of facing a myriad of daunting issues -- we move forward.




"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2021 Ben Lawrence Basile

It happens tomorrow

Back in the early months of 2019, many folks who observe events in American politics were a little surprised at how many Democrats threw their hats into the ring. I think there were close to 20 candidates running and it created an issue about how to conduct the primary debates.

Joe Biden was not the favored, not the sexiest candidate. Not by a long shot. Until the South Carolina contest, almost no one thought he had a chance to become the nominee. Most folks were betting on Bernie.

I was all-in for Kamala Harris, for what it's worth.

Well, we all know now that Joe -- facing some pretty long odds -- did, in fact, get his party's nomination and went on to face Donald trump in the November 3rd General Election.

It's not the purpose of this post to rehash the story of our recently-concluded Presidential contest. Millions of articles -- to say nothing about network and cable coverage and podcasts and so on -- have been written, uttered, broadcasted and uploaded and no, there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and yes, Biden came out on top.

If you believe otherwise, I wouldn't waste a moment of my time or one iota of my energy trying to persuade you. It would be like pissing in the wind.

Suffice to say that Joe faced a lot of obstacles in 2020. He had run twice before and didn't come close either time to getting his shot. But he got to November 3rd and he won. Won without holding seemingly daily in-person super spreader events, constantly slinging shit and telling lies as did his opponent.

And tomorrow he will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.

Lead on, sir. We've got your back.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2021 Ben Lawrence Basile

The Inauguration of Joe Biden as our 46th President

The shock arising from the assault on the Citadel of Democracy four days ago is still being felt. That will be the case for a while.

One powerful consolation is that the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States will take place, as scheduled, ten days from now.

The date of January 20th is mandated by the 20th Amendment to our Constitution and the Republic will continue to carry out this imperative, the shocking spectacle of Americans breaching our Capitol notwithstanding.

I can across a feature today from the office of the Architect of the Capitol, the governmental entity that is tasked with all the preparations for this sacred ritual of democracy which comes around every four years. It's a very good way to learn more about the intricate preparations that happen in the weeks leading up to this auspicious, recurring event that is an important part of how our democracy moves forward.

We will move forward, make no mistake. We will witness this ceremony, the first step in the restoration of American dignity and of the practice of our salutary traditions.

And we'll move into the next chapter of the American Experiment, not united, but resolved and begin to heal from the last four dark and disastrous years.

 And nothing will prevent that from taking place.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2021 Ben Lawrence Basile

The trashing of the Capitol -- trump's shameful end

Unless you've been living under a rock, by now you've seen the sad spectacle of MAGA  mobs, rioting and running amuck through the Capitol building.

The one good thing from today: those who defend trump's efforts to kill our democracy and take a second term he didn't earn are finding it harder and harder to conceal how radical and untenable their beliefs and agenda are. 

If you've been on trump's side in all of this, don't you dare come out now and say you're appalled at what MAGA nation did today. Those are your people. They're your fellow worshipers at the altar of trump's hateful cult. Don't go reaching for a fig leaf now.

An article this evening from CNN sums up how today's insurrection is trump's responsibility and how it serves as a fitting end to trump's absurd and destructive Presidency.

It started badly, and ended worse -- in a dark display of hateful and toxic theater. 

And that is Donald trump's shameful legacy.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2021 Ben Lawrence Basile

trump threatens to sic his violent, Fascist supporters on GOP members of congress

More insanity and threats of violence today from the head of the Trump Crime Family.

What Mango Mussolini said is a thinly-veiled, clear threat to use violence in an attempt to force GOP members of Congress to get on board with his insane and futile attempt to subvert the last election and steal a second term:

“I hope the Democrats, and even more importantly, the weak and ineffective RINO [Republican in name only] section of the Republican Party, are looking at the thousands of people pouring into D.C.,” Trump tweeted. “They won’t stand for a landslide election victory to be stolen.”

Our Thug-in-Chief will never admit that he lost the election. When anyone says -- and it's been said thousands of times -- that trump would stop at nothing to keep his hold on power, it may sound cliché but in this case, it's very true.

Although it's impossible to see what will happen next, anyone who thinks that trump's cult followers will not soon rain down violence on those of us who won't quaff the Kool Aid are only fooling themselves.

They've been talking about their violent plans since way before Twitler became President. There's not one shred of evidence to support the theory that it's all just idle talk.

Two things I know for sure: trump cultists have been itching to start the violent actions they believe will keep Dear Leader in power since before he lost the election.

And I believe it won't be long before we all see that they're dead-set on scratching that itch.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

Late edit: After I finished this post, I tuned to MSNBC to see how the Congressional deliberations were going and discovered that the Reich Wing riot had begun a few minutes before I began writing. By the time I published this post, the rioters had been inside the Capitol Building for about 20 minutes.

© 2021 Ben Lawrence Basile