COVID and the cherry blossom season at the Tidal Basin – A condolence call – Possibility of sedition charges against the besiegers of the Capitol – Sidney Powell’s defense – Evening statistics
The cherry blossoms are coming out, with peak bloom expected to fall between March 26th and April 12th. At this time of year, people ordinarily congregate to the Tidal Basin to view the flowering there. This year traffic and parking will be limited; and if the crowds become too full to permit social distancing, the park may be closed. It is a scenario that is only too likely; ordinarily the crowds on weekends during peak season are so densely packed that walking around the perimeter becomes difficult, particularly along the portion where people are compressed within a narrow walkway going across the Kutz Bridge. One of the advantages I enjoyed when I worked on a project in a building close to the 14th Street bridge is that I could walk to the Tidal Basin during lunch break on a weekday, when the crowds were much less full. That was many years ago, of course. In recent years, after I retired, I would take the Metro on a weekday to the Smithsonian station in order to reach the Tidal Basin, but that option was out of the question last year. It may be possible for me this year, since I will be fully vaccinated this coming Sunday. But the matter becomes an academic one if the park is closed altogether.
JK lost his mother a few days ago and I attended the viewing this evening. He has been undergoing a difficult time, independently of his loss. He was an exceptionally vigorous hiker, at one point finishing as one of the lead participants for the One Day Hike (an annual event in which hikers go over 100 kilometers of the C&O Canal towpath in a day). In early days of my own hiking I encountered him in various group hikes and looked on enviously at the ease and speed he went up precipitous ascents. Eventually I was able to hold my own with him, but I never was as comfortable on the steepest ascents as he was. In recent years, however, he has slowed down somewhat; and in November he was hospitalized for treatment of blood clots that had somehow migrated to his lungs. It is unclear how he could have got them: he has never smoked in his life, is as lean as a greyhound, and has for years obtained an abundance of fresh air and exercise. He has regained a measure of strength since he was discharged and is able to go over various hills in Prince Georges County, and he hopes to be able to attempt hiking in the mountains again soon.
At the viewing there was a slide show of various photographs showing his mother on various occasions and family outings. She lived to be 91 and appears to have led a full life. Even so, I have no doubt that her passing came as a shock to her children. It generally happens that way; the parent is quite elderly and in a precarious state of health, the relatives more or less expect to lose him or her soon; and yet they are caught offguard when death actually occurs. It was that way with my father, who lived to see his 97th birthday
New developments have occurred in the aftermath of the January 6th riot. Sara Carpenter, a retired police officer who was arrested today for participating in it, said that she went on Trump’s orders. There is no word as to whether this claim may lead to charges being brought against Trump himself as a result of the investigation after the riot, but at any rate it is possible. More importantly, Michael Sherwin, the federal prosecutor, has said that at least some of the rioters could be charged with sedition. I have held that the rioters, or at any rate the ringleaders, should be so charged from the day that I learned about the besiegement of the Capitol, and felt some dismay that so many of them were charged with misdemeanors only; so it is a gratification to discover at last that these charges are being contemplated.
In addition, Sidney Powell has responded to the lawsuit filed against her by Dominion Voting System, by saying that “no reasonable person” would believe that her false conspiracies about the 2020 election were “truly statements of fact.” She has made this astonishing claim in a court filing no less astonishing, asking a federal judge to dismiss the $1.3 billion defamation suit on that account. That is to say, she appears to think that people have a right to slander anyone and anything they please, provided that they don’t believe their own lies. I fear that I am not among the people whom she would consider “reasonable,” although I will strive to moderate my expectations. I desire merely to see this infamous wretch’s filing dismissed with insulting speed and decision, followed by her being publicly disgraced, impoverished, and debarred as a result of the adjudication of the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit. I do not ask for anything more.
Today’s statistics as of 9:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 124,789,223; # of deaths worldwide: 2,745,378; # of cases U.S.: 30,636,243; # of deaths; U.S.: 556,880.