“According to prepared remarks, Pittman told lawmakers that Capitol Police knew two days before the insurrection that militia and White supremacist groups would be at the Capitol on January 6, and some of those people planned to be armed.
Pittman outlined four things that made the department ill-equipped to respond to the attack: a lack of manpower, not having the right equipment on hand or easily accessible, a lack of consistency in following the process for sealing the building and communication over radios and the public address system being hard to hear during the attack.”
See Democrats stunned by briefing on Capitol’s security before insurrection: ‘It was only by pure dumb luck’ more weren’t killedIt’s hard to think of an explanation for how a bumbling idiot like Trump could with endless repetition of a few silly phrases could come close to taking out the legislative branch of USA. I suppose it fits my theory of how many human disasters happen in our age of technology. Multiple layers of safety can be defeated by multiple layers of error.
It’s like a plane crash of a perfectly serviceable plane caused by information overload, wrong perception of the problem, wrong steps to correct the wrong problem, indecision and the crew fighting to defeat each other’s actions. Trump’s riot was the same.
Despite ample warning of widespread derangement, anger, and chaos, Trump going out of his way to create disorder before, during and after the election, little was done to secure the Capitol. Trump called to Washington his hordes of deplorables on January 6 for the stated purpose of disrupting the certification of the electoral college, properly appointed by the states. He gave an inspirational speech to the Trumpists on top of several heated speeches by sycophants. The Capitol Police treated the whole thing like a Sunday picnic. The police had no reason to think anything was normal that day, but they did. The police seemed not to believe their own eyes or averted their eyes to what was happening on the property. No one was authorized to use deadly force, about the only thing that would have stopped the assault. No one took personal initiative to convince rioters that their actions were disastrous. Instead the Capitol Police caved just slowly enough to allow targets of the mob to run and hide.
Just a little more initiative on the part of the police or the rioters would have been sufficient to give a better outcome or a greater disaster. What would have happened if the rioters had been able to hold a show trial and executions or a burning of the certificates of the electors? The whole nation would have been on the brink of dictatorship or uncivil war. As it is we have a nearly paralyzed legislative branch and an executive branch leading no one who wants to be lead. Ordinary citizens are not respecting the result of the election. Ordinary citizens are refusing to wear masks to save their lives and the lives of millions. The campaign of vaccination is a disaster. The epidemic is a disaster. The economy is a disaster. Yet, no one seems motivated to do the things necessary to save USA from sinking into a post apocalyptic period.
All these years later, I’ve only put them to use occasionally, hoisting a deer or supporting a table in the garden. Normally, one uses 1X8 or 1X12 boards to make Langstroth boxes but the bees would not mind more thermal mass and insulation, so I will make Langstroth boxes using 2X6s. The interior dimensions matter. The outside will be increased by about twice the thickness.
WWII in a village on the prairies, the migration to the city of Winnipeg, decades of life in the city, caring for elderly parents, the down-trodden and nieces and nephews, my generation, life on a meager pension and finally fading away in a nursing home. Rest in peace, Aunt Divona.