There were roughly 25,000 National Guard members in Washington DC for the inauguration of President Joe Biden---there are always some in town for inaugurations, but why so many?
The answer is simple. They were there to protect our country from Donald Trump and his tens of thousands of people who "insurrected"---if that's a word, on January 6.
If that's so, why are thousands of our troops still there? Why are the fences with razor wire stretching for miles in all directions around our Capitol?
People are asking. Pelosi is not talking.
Be informed, not misled.
Scheduled Congressional sessions have been canceled today due to what authorities deemed credible reports of a possible attack on the Capitol.
Capitol Police told lawmakers on Wednesday that they had "obtained intelligence that shows a possible plot to breach the Capitol by an unidentified militia group" today---Thursday, March 4.
We'll see what happens.
But whatever happens, there is a growing chorus of people from both political parties that are beginning to question the wisdom of Pelosi and Schumer regarding locking up the Capitol and continuing to hold thousands of National Guard troops in readiness in our Capitol.
Byron York began asking a while ago about this, noting that "25,000 were far more than any number from the past."
He's right, with one sort of exception.
Harper's Weekly reported that the incoming soldiers made themselves very much at home. They staged mock debates in the Senate and the House chamber, even defacing some of the walls and swinging from ropes in the great rotunda.
But this is different. Mobilizing 25,000 troops was clearly an over-reaction. So is keeping thousands of them on duty around the Capitol.
And the razor wire fences?
There is no longer a need---if there was in the first place, to keep thousands of National Guard "protecting " the Capitol from inside the razor wire fencing. And the barrier is not just on the perimeter of the Capitol. It extends for blocks and blocks beyond the building in every direction.
Now the head of the Capitol Police wants to make the fencing permanent---and about 5,000-6,000 of the National Guard is still in town.
When asked about all this, President Biden's press secretary, Jen Psaki, declined to answer.
When US Rep.Hakeem Jefferies, a Democrat from New York, was asked, he said: "The attack on the Capitol was a violent insurrection that resulted in the spilling of America blood."
Republicans are asking for answers.
"It's amazing to me that she can do this without any disclosure, without any information, and just continue to spend money with no briefing," she said.
Speaking of money: The National Guard occupation has cost taxpayers over $500 million---so far. And counting.
Even Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia delegate to Congress, says this fencing, especially should it become permanent, "sends the wrong message to the nation and the world, by transforming our democracy from one that is accessible and of the people to one that is exclusive and fearful of its citizens."
Is Nancy Pelosi wanting to send that message?
Now we're hearing that the troops have been sleeping in parking garages, while yesterday we learned they are being given tainted ---even raw food.
And some of them are now getting sick from food poisoning.
More than a dozen of the troops defending the Capitol have gotten ill after being fed meat that was almost completely raw---some with shaved metal also found in the food.
This week there were 74 different meals found with raw beef in them. And some of the meals had been delayed up to 4 hours before they were served.
One soldier said they have been getting sick and vomiting after eating.
Sen Tom Cotton, himself a veteran, has put some light on all this.
"Last summer, as left wing mobs rioted in the streets and threatened to overwhelm local police and even the National Guard, I wrote an op-ed in the New York Times titled, 'Send in the Troops.' I argued that the president should deploy federal troops, if necessary, to restore and maintain order."
He says,
"My position was grounded in federal law, based on many historical precedents, and supported by a majority of Americans. But this argument outraged many on the left, so much so that the editor of the New York Times opinion page lost his job for publishing it."
"But when a different mob chanting different slogans threatened our Capitol, many of my critics sang a different tune," he says.
Sen. Cotton says:
"I sit on the Intelligence Committee, but I'm aware of no specific, credible threat reporting---as distinguished from aspirational, uncoordinated bluster on the internet---that justifies this continued troop presence. Thus, I believe the rest of these soldiers should go home to their families and civilian jobs."
He says, "The lesson of the Capitol riot is not that we should quarter a standing army at the Capitol just in case, but rather that our security measures should be calibrated to the actual threats."
However, he says, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Capitol Hill security overreacted, egged on by excitable cable news pundits and Democratic partisans eager to portray President Donald Trump's 74 million voters as "domestic terrorists."
He's right.
While many are asking what's going on with this, Nancy Pelosi has remained silent, preferring to make vague and ominous statements like, "The enemy is within."
That may well be... but who is the enemy? And who will protect our soldiers from that enemy?
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.