January 2, 2021

Old Town Alexandria – Rejection of Louie Gohmert’s lawsuit – The Georgia runoff elections – New Year’s at Mar-a-Lago – Evening statistics

Traffic was lively today, both on the roads and on the footpaths.  Crowding is only to be expected:  since New Year’s came on a Friday this year, the majority of workers are enjoying a three-day weekend.  A brief warming trend (leading to temperatures approaching 60 degrees in some areas) encouraged many people to get outside.  I was in the Old Town of Alexandria today, the first time since April.  Many restaurants along King Street featured outdoor dining, and the tables were nearly all occupied.  Pedestrians were strolling in great numbers along the riverfront, which now runs all the way down to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.  Most were wearing facemasks, although there were exceptions.  The visitors to the area were somewhat less meticulous about practicing social distancing than people tend to be elsewhere, and dog-walkers were less prone to pull their dogs out of the way when persons approached them walking from the opposite direction.  No doubt people have become a bit more careless in this area, since the Old Town, especially in the vicinity of King Street and the riverfront, has always been a popular weekend excursion in DC and its environs.

The suit initiated by Louie Gohmert against Mike Pence, aimed at compelling the latter to overturn the results of the national election, has been rejected by the U.S. District Court, despite the fact that the judge overseeing the case is a Trump appointee.  In general, the judiciary has been acquitting itself very well in these matters, rejecting all of these cases contending the election results on the grounds of there being no evidence to support the plaintiffs’ claims or (as in this case) of the plaintiffs’ lack of standing to initiate such a suit.  Gohmert has retaliated by saying that there is no recourse at this point except street violence, thereby openly advocating sedition.  Will any enterprising activist from the Left give Gohmert a taste of his own medicine and place him on the receiving end of a lawsuit?  I am admittedly no expert in these matters, but his actions at this point seem to me treasonable.

David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, the two incumbert Georgia senators currently undergoing runoff elections, are belatedly discovering what an unreliable ally Donald Trump can be.  He has repeatedly been claiming that the elections are invalid even while he campaigned on their behalf, which is not exactly calculated to win favor from their electorate.  At this point the Democrats have the lead in the early voting, which closed yesterday, and it remains to be seen whether or not the Republican voters who are to cast their ballots in person on Tuesday are so offended by the President’s comments as to remain at home instead.

In the meantime Trump has shown the depth of his regard for his supporters by leaving them stranded at a New Year’s Party held in Mar-a-Lago, for which the guests paid over $1000 to attend, canceling his appearance at the last minute.  Attendees had to console themselves with sprigs from the Trump family tree, i.e., Donald Jr., Eric, and Tiffany (Ivanka and Jared Kushner were too busy house-hunting to be present) and Rudy Giuliani, presumably sporting a brand of hair-dye somewhat more colorfast than the one that adorned him during his memorable press conference in November.   Grouped at tables of 10 people seated fairly closely together, with no masks or the slightest attempt at social distancing, these party-goers may pride themselves on having achieved distinction of a sort:  the event might well prove to be the very first “super-spreader” of the virus for 2021. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide:  84,965,236; # of deaths worldwide: 1,842,909; # of cases U.S.: 20,902,996; # of deaths; U.S.: 358,655.  Our rate of infection from the COVID virus is now about 6.3%, or 1 in every 16 of the population.