Rantz: DC was under military occupation, as Democrats robbed US of an inauguration
Jan 27, 2021, 6:53 AM | Updated: 10:44 am
Washington D.C. took on a new aesthetic… dystopian chic? The city looked like a post-apocalyptic war zone, almost like a movie set. Only it was real, not fiction.
The shameful reality is that thanks to six months of deadly riots that Democrats failed to condemn, and a mob of Trump supporters who threatened lawmakers, our nation’s Capitol spent the last week under military occupation. And now the National Guard will stay in D.C. through March. There’s no reason for this.
Inside look of DC under military occupation
I love D.C., but don’t get to visit as often as I’d like.
America’s political history on display… the neo-classical architecture of the Capitol… and the hustle of politicos hurrying to their next meeting… excites and inspires me. It always has. But for this trip, covering the inauguration for my KTTH talk show, all of what I loved about D.C. was gone.
In its place? Non-scalable fencing delineating the Red Zone from the Green Zone. Blockades of trucks and army vehicles blocking car traffic into neighborhoods. Armed National Guardsmen patrolling security check points and standing guard at intersections. You couldn’t even get close enough to the White House, Lincoln Memorial, or the Washington Monument to take a clear photo.
To gain entry into the Green Zone, you would have to be on foot or bicycle. No cars were allowed, blocked by large traffic boulders or large trucks and fencing. A few businesses stayed open, but they weren’t seeing much business. How could they, given the circumstances?
The Red Zone was more restrictive. You needed to show ID to prove you lived or worked within the zone. I gained entry with my media credentials. It was almost entirely empty, like the city was abandoned. When all you see are armed National Guard and a few stray media members touring the zone, taking photos or video for broadcast, it makes everything feel ominous. Like something wasn’t right. Indeed, something wasn’t right: This isn’t what an American city should look or feel like.
The road to occupation
So how did we get here? Months of violence ignored or encouraged by the Left, either because they felt it was justified or that it was politically expedient. For some, both.
D.C. was transformed because Democrats suddenly took political violence seriously. But where were they for the six months in 2020 when American cities were under siege with near-constant Antifa and Black Lives Matter violence that many in the media passed off as mere “peaceful protests”?
For months in 2020, Democrat politicians and media figures ignored, downplayed, or even encouraged Antifa and Black Lives Matter violence. Portland saw over 100 nights of riots. Seattle experienced a deadly autonomous zone. Minneapolis and Kenosha burned. Democrats barely made a sound. There were few forceful condemnations, even fewer calls for peace.
When left-wing media acknowledged the violence, it was often glorified. After all, CNN’s Chris Cuomo noted in his defense of Antifa violence, that “all punches are not equal, morally.” In other words, Cuomo agreed with the underlying activism behind the violence, so it must be OK.
Mob violence
Little did Cuomo and other like-minded partisans realize that anyone can justify violence if they believe they’re fighting for a just and moral cause. It was that very flawed attitude that sparked the disgraceful siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
A small mob believed they were justified, believing an election was stolen with the same passion as Antifa believes they’re somehow fighting literal Nazis in the streets of Progressive enclaves, or that BLM activists are certain, despite no supportive data, that police officers are hunting down Black Americans for sport.
By giving left-wing political violence a near-total pass for six months, Democrats created an environment where fringe activists on any side of an issue can justify their own actions. If they can do it, so can we. This viewpoint is obviously dangerous.
Yet Democrats didn’t stop for a moment to remember that violence begets more violence. They were too busy enabling their own supporters who were creating chaos in our streets. They hoped it would lead to President Donald Trump’s ouster. And it did. But at a historic cost.
Historic consequences
Consequently, Americans were robbed of a moment in our history: an inauguration. Walking around the festivities, if you can call them that, there was little to no excitement. People barely showed up, with the few that did lacking any kind of energy. The city wasn’t buzzing like we were swearing in new leaders. The city was mostly desolate, few cars on the road, fewer people trying to make their way to get a glimpse of our new president.
You don’t have to support President Joe Biden and his policies to want a peaceful transfer of power that isn’t surrounded by over 25,000 National Guardsmen.
It turns out, the security wasn’t needed. There was no threat. Not in D.C., at least.
On inauguration night, Antifa activists again rioted in Seattle and Portland. Those cities could have used the extra security. They could also use Democrat lawmakers calling out the violence. Seattle and Portland got neither.
What did Americans get? I suppose we got a historic inauguration, one where a president urged us to be united as one nation with a speech delivered behind a heavily fortified wall of thousands of armed guards. And for those of us who visited our nation’s Capitol, we got an image of a militarized zone seared into our minds, a reminder of the consequences of feckless Democrat leadership.
Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow @JasonRantz on Twitter, and Instagram and like me on Facebook.