Leaf removal – Slight indications towards concession – Biden continues his preparations – Evening statistics
Even after a few days absence, tasks mount up. In this case I had to tend to the leaves on my lawn, which have greatly accumulated in the course of four days. The effort I expended today on their removal will probably be, if not the last time for the season, the most extensive. At this point most of the branches of the trees on my yard and my neighbor’s are bare. On one day during this coming week I will have to clean out the gutters as well. Today was probably a good time to work on this chore. It was very gray and overcast, with what is sometimes called a “close” atmosphere: perpetually threatening to rain but never actually breaking out, so that the air felt almost like a physical weight bearing down on everything. It would not have been very pleasant to be out hiking and in any case my pedometer shows that I covered between 9 and 10 miles simply by tending to lawn-related chores and grocery shopping.
Although Trump has refused to concede, he has more or less admitted that Biden has won the election – always maintaining, of course, that the election was “rigged.” His followers marched in Washington yesterday, where they clashed with those who support our usual electoral process. It started out peacefully enough and its ending admittedly could have been worse: 21 arrests and one stabbing, not fatal. And finally some Republican voices are being heard in favor of Trump’s acknowledging defeat so that the transition can take place smoothly, Governor DeWine (Ohio) and Governor Hutchinson (Arkansas) among them. Outside of these, it is sad to see the extent to which Trump has the entire party in thrall. One would think that they would welcome the opportunity to shake off his influence after his defeat was confirmed, but instead the majority of them prefer to bask in his groundless conspiracy theories and rally to his support as he continually places our country at risk by issuing roadblocks to the transition. Transitions between one president and another are perilous under the best of circumstances, but Trump has made this one doubly so by his refusal to allow Biden access to classified information that is needed to formulate policies.
In the meantime Biden goes on to all appearances unperturbed by Trump’s recalcitrance, mulling over potential candidates for critical new positions and meeting with various experts to determine strategies to pursue long-term goals. Kamala Harris has tactfully kept a low profile during this period, making no public appearances since the day of her acceptance speech. All in all they each promise to bring about a much saner government than the one we currently have.
Biden’s influence is beginning to be apparent in other ways as well. As is well-known, he does not, like our incumbent, possess a gilded trophy for a partner, but instead is married to a real wife. Already the atmosphere in our capital is notably more monogamous as a result. Public displays of conjugal affection are now fashionable, and encounters with sprightly youths in their sixties and seventies boasting of their conquests have become less frequent as the city prepares to usher in the new administration.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide 54,802,832; # of deaths worldwide: 1,324,025; # of cases U.S.: 11,363,699; # of deaths; U.S.: 251,832.