(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Rain on Trump's Parade, Please [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-13
Suppose Trump gave a parade, and nobody came? That seems to be the case for Trump's inauguration.
Hotel bookings are well down from what was expected prior to the inauguration. Applications for protest permits as well.
Trump's inauguration in 2017 generated many protests, some of which turned into violence. This time it seems more like a yawn.
Hotel occupancy rates for next Sunday hovered around 70%, as of last week, according to Smith Travel Research. That's compared to 95% the night before Trump's first inauguration 8 years ago, and 97.2% for Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009. That rate plunged to 78% in his second inauguration in 2013.
Trump's crowd size for the ceremony looks bleak. He'll have to lie about the crowd size even more this time. The last time, in 2017, his press secretary lied outlandishly about the crowd size. When Kellyanne Conway was questioned about it on Meet the Press, she came up with the phrase "alternative facts," words that will live for an eternity and describe Donald Trump's second term's motto.
A crowd size expert will be estimating the crowd real time. Photographs will be taken from the top of the Washington monument. National Park Service director Mike Reynolds may be caught in the crossfire, if pictures taken show a smaller crowd than Trump wants. You know how much he obsesses about crowd size. The National Park Service is taking photographs but it's not for crowd size. The National Park Service stop giving estimates in 1996 after a 1995 political protest. The photographs from the top of the Washington Monument will be done by many photo-journalists.
G. Keith Still, from the University of Suffolk, a crowd scientist, if you can believe there are such things, will be there for Trump's inauguration like he was for Trump's in 2017. He calculated that Trump's 2017 crowd size was one-third of Obama's in 2009. "The numbers don't lie."
Still uses aerial photographs, Google Earth, riders on Washington's metro train system, rates at which spaces on the Mall are occupied, and car-park occupancy.
Current weather prediction for the day is a low of 27° and a high of 42° with the possibility of snow. That's not going to be good for what's listed as the "President's Review of the Troops."
If you wanted to volunteer for the inauguration, questions you are asked are:
Are you a citizen of the United States? Are you able to walk two miles and be able to stand for a majority of your shift? Have you previously volunteered for a presidential inauguration? Are you available for any of the dates between January 15th and January 21st?
I really like the first question, which is a yes or no answer. Would he turn you down if you say you're not a citizen? Or would he send the ICE after you?
If you apply for print press credentials, they want to know how frequently you publish and whether you're a for-profit or nonprofit news organization. Probably the nonprofits will be turned down automatically because the bulk of them would be against Trump.
If you're radio or TV, then they don't even care about the frequency of your news or whether you're a profit or non-profit news organization.
Freelance photographers still have to be attached to a news organization, the editor has to apply for the credentials.
Darn! Underneath all of that, it said that media credentialing is closed. So why do they have all the entry forms still up? I guess it's because anything dealing with Trump is disorganized and stupid.
If you want to clog up their email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
And just in case you forgot about inaugural merchandise:
I skipped over all the other merchandise that was irrelevant to show you. The most important one was at the end, where you're getting fleeced for $60 for nothing.
With $170 million collected, and reportedly reaching $200 million, for the inauguration, they should be giving this stuff away. But we know that it's just one more chance for Trump to profit from grift.
On the 18th there's fireworks at Trump's Washington DC golf course. Also a reception and dinner for the cabinet and vice president. I don't know how they could have it for a cabinet that isn't even confirmed yet.
There's also the People's March put on by Women's March, Planned Parenthood, the National Women's Law Center and numerous other organizations, which starts at 3:00 p.m. ET. In 2017, it was a protest march against Donald Trump. 200,000 people showed up in the largest gathering since protests against the Vietnam war. Organizers are only guesstimating 50,000 people this time. Additional People's Marches will take place in other cities across the country.
On the 19th, there's a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Once again, Trump will have a photo op. Let's hope he doesn't step upon too many graves this time or go where he shouldn't go. Because we'd really like to tell him where he should be going.
The other big event is a victory rally at Capital One Arena. It holds 20,000 people. We'll see if it goes as well as the one at Madison Square Garden where the comedian called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage.
On the 20th, of course, that's the day of the inauguration. There's lots of stuff going on. But one item caught my attention. It's listed as "Farewell to the former president and vice president." Probably, Trump won't attend. He's so petty that actually might happen.
In a rare occurrence, January 20th is also Martin Luther King Day on the same day as the inauguration. Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network are going to have a march on January 20th, to honor Martin Luther King's legacy. The gathering for the march, and the march itself, will unfortunately take place far away from the inauguration parade route or the Capitol. It will still have an effect not lost on Trump.
Will there be any protests that turn violent? There will be 7,800 soldiers, 25,000 police, a fleet of drones and 30 miles of fences. Also two FBI field offices. Banned items at the Capitol include laptops, water bottles, selfie sticks and banners. Didn't say anything about tomatoes or rotten fruit.
The inauguration committee just had to put in their two cents worth about the whole thing.
The 2025 inaugural celebrations will reflect President-elect Trump's historic return to the White House and the American people's decisive vote to Make America Great Again.
Funny that they actually called him president-elect instead of just president. And the old decisive vote, instead of mandate or landslide.
The most important item is actually the day after the inauguration. It's the only item on the agenda. It's listed as "National Prayer Service." It's so appropriate because with Donald Trump taking the presidency, thoughts and prayers are all we've got for ourselves.
President Joe Biden is going to give a farewell address from the Oval Office, behind the Resolute Desk, on Wednesday, January 15th at 8 p.m. ET. One last chance to hear a President that cares about you.
On January 20th, after Trump is sworn in, the notes just say that "President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will depart the capital by plane." It doesn't say where they are going, or if they're using Air Force One. Nothing about Kamala Harris's plans, either.
Flags will still be at half-staff for Jimmy Carter as Trump fumes about the supposed slight to his inauguration. The rest of us think it's entirely appropriate, and I think the flags should all be upside down, just like Justice Alito did, to signify a nation in distress. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared that flags in Texas will be raised to full staff for Trump's inauguration, in violation of the flag code. He also doesn't say that he's going to have the flags back at half-staff on Jan. 21st. Just that he's going to raise them on the 20th. Texas, you just got another reason to get rid of Abbott. A recall is called for.
Will other governors do the same, or will Abbott be the only one? Sarah Huckabee Sanders would be a good bet. Kristi Noem? Ron DeSantis just doesn't have enough reason to do it after his run-ins with Trump.
AP reports that US flags at Mar-a-Lago are back at full staff. When they were raised, or if they ever went down is unknown. Trump is already ignoring protocol. It's to be expected of a man who has no respect for anything.
Trump is breaking tradition by inviting world leaders to attend. So far, only Argentine President Javier Milei has responded with a yes. Will they or won't they show up in numbers? Did Trump invite Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping or Mohammed bin Salman? This is a chance to curry favor with Trump, or show him for the outcast he is.
Xi Jinping has turned him down.
Zelensky said he would attend, but he hasn't received an invitation.
The ones he did invite are dictators or right wing thinkers like Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and Hungarian President Viktor Orban, as well as ousted leader Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
Did he invite Trudeau, the Presidents of Mexico, Panama and Greenland?
Some Congressmen and Senators will attend the traditional, if distasteful, ceremony. All the Republicans will be there. The question is how many Democrats will refuse to attend in protest.
It looks like the world leader crowd is going to be sparce, mostly due to the few invites. Why did he do it at all when it's going to embarrass him?
Hotel bookings are down, the crowd will be smaller than in 2017, and the weather will be cold with a chance of snow. Looks like Donald might have a miserable day without us having to do anything.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/1/13/2296685/-Rain-on-Trump-s-Parade-Please
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
