Joe Biden presidential inauguration megathread

[Torrain]

Is it just me or are they really pushing Harris/pumping her up in a way that hasn’t been done for prior VPs? I feel like she’s getting a lot more equal billing than Pence did for Trump or Obama did for Biden.

I'm getting that vibe.

Assuming Biden isn't running again, this is their chance to start the 2024 campaign on day one. HRC struggled with the nation's expectations of a President, and giving Harris a role in the ceremonial side of things makes it easier to envision her as a future commander in chief.

Additionally, there's a pretty significant chance that Harris will swear in three Dem senators (Ossoff, Warnock, Padilla) on inauguration day itself. Obviously, it's a symbolic moment, with Harris both being the first woman to swear in any US senator, and cementing the new Democratic majority in the process.

If it happens on inauguration day though, it suggests that the 2020 election was as much about electing a President of the Senate, as it was about electing a President of the United States, which is a fascinating change of tone from past inaugurations.

[Torrain]

She's still bitter lmao

https://twitter.com/briebriejoy/status/1349801521630892033

Ah yes, the white hot starpower of

*checks notes*

Cornel West

[Torrain]

Do we know who the Designated Survivor will be? Last time it was Orrin Hatch as prez pro tem, but Grassley loses the position once Harris is sworn in as VP. In 2009, it was  Robert Gates as Defense secretary, whom Obama retained from W. This time, Nancy Pelosi would make most sense.

I would assume this isn't announced in advance.

Although announcing Pelosi would become President in the event of an attack would help dissuade pretty much all would-be attackers.

Some of these people think that preventing Biden's swearing-in will result in Trump becoming the 19th President of the United States because it would somehow nullify the terms of a top-secret 19th-century political conspiracy. Reminding them of Pelosi's place in the line of succession ahead of time would do nothing when they're already that crazy.

That's a new one...

Wait. Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President. Does that mean these guys thing the rest of us don't know about the Compromise of 1877? That's one of the few distinguishing things about Hayes' presidency.

Do they really think the end of Reconstruction wasn't public knowledge? Or have they taped another conspiracy on top?

[Torrain]

Do we know who the Designated Survivor will be? Last time it was Orrin Hatch as prez pro tem, but Grassley loses the position once Harris is sworn in as VP. In 2009, it was  Robert Gates as Defense secretary, whom Obama retained from W. This time, Nancy Pelosi would make most sense.

I would assume this isn't announced in advance.

Although announcing Pelosi would become President in the event of an attack would help dissuade pretty much all would-be attackers.

Some of these people think that preventing Biden's swearing-in will result in Trump becoming the 19th President of the United States because it would somehow nullify the terms of a top-secret 19th-century political conspiracy. Reminding them of Pelosi's place in the line of succession ahead of time would do nothing when they're already that crazy.

That's a new one...

Wait. Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President. Does that mean these guys thing the rest of us don't know about the Compromise of 1877? That's one of the few distinguishing things about Hayes' presidency.

Do they really think the end of Reconstruction wasn't public knowledge? Or have they taped another conspiracy on top?

Here you go, don't say I didn't warn you:

Wow.

That's a whole new level of crazy.

There's a lot I could get into here, from the whole 'vacant presidency' thing (wouldn't that have occured when Kennedy was shot, or Nixon resigned, two moments where the office was vacant for a period before the VP was sworn in), to the absolute lunacy of suggesting that London's mayor or city council has had secret control of the US for 150 years (for a start, we would have borrowed a lot more money to pay off our war debt in the 50s...).

Every time I think we've reached the bottom of the barrel, we just go deeper.

Thanks for sharing though - given the actual consequences of conspiracies like this (see the innocents terrorised in Comet Ping Pong, the Capitol etc), it feels important to keep an eye on these ramblings.

[Torrain]

His departure as president, set to YMCA, was fairly surreal. It felt more like a scene from an Adam McKay movie than real life. I mean, it was 100% the kind of thing he did in Vice, or the Big Short.

[Torrain]

Biden now praying in St Matthews Cathedral, the same church where President Kennedy was memorialised, and now intrinsically linked to both America's first and second Catholic presidents.

Accompanied by Harris and congressional leaders, for the record.

[Torrain]

https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1351897114251579394

[Torrain]

Already updated! (not by me)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States

[Torrain]