So this is how it ends
With each arrest announced by the FBI, the Capitol rioters get stranger and stranger. You can tell by much of their rhetoric and garb that some are hardcore QAnon believers. Alongside the QAnon folks are the White supremacists, whose goal needs no explanation. You also have the “Oath Keepers,” which Southern Poverty Law Center has defined as a “hate group,” and militia, among others. One of the strangest arrests came in the form of a 22-year-old White female named Riley June Williams.
On video, Williams appeared to be directing the rioters as if she knew the layout of the Capitol. Though she appeared to be “helping,” she had another goal in mind. According to NBC News, Williams’s goal was to steal Nancy Pelosi’s laptop to sell to Russian intelligence. These people repeatedly call themselves “patriots,” yet true patriots would never violently and forcefully take over the Capitol, let alone steal a lawmaker’s laptop to sell to Russian intelligence. This entire thing is so bizarre. Some of these people have been indoctrinated into the cult-like following of QAnon, which believes such ridiculous things as Donald Trump came to cleanse the world of all the evil pedophile elitists. You need know no more to realize this belief is twisted. Perhaps, then, we should consider Joe Biden as coming in to exorcise these demons, as he is poised to hit the ground running Wednesday.
Biden plans to sign several executive orders into law as soon as he takes office. The Trump administration wrote several laws that were just bad. Biden will address those first, including rescinding Trump’s travel ban on Muslims, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, and ordering the appropriate agencies to figure out how to reunite children with the parents from whom they were separated at the border. Other issues that Biden is expected to immediately address, according to Chief of Staff Ron Klain, are extending the pandemic moratorium on evictions and continuing deferment of student loan payments. President Biden will also issue a mask mandate on federal property and in interstate travel effective immediately. Some might object to the mask mandate, but Joe Biden is serious about getting the virus under control. Science has shown that masks help, and while he cannot enforce a nationwide mandate, Biden has chosen to control what he can, which is good news for all of us who follow the science.
Joe Biden will not be able to undo all the harm caused by Donald Trump’s administration in his first 100 days, but he is at least addressing those issues that he can change with the stroke of his pen. Other issues will take more work, and he needs his cabinet in place. CNN reported that the Senate will reconvene to begin consideration of Biden’s nominations, beginning with Yellen (Treasury), Blinken (Secretary of State), Haines (Intelligence), Mayorkas (Homeland Security), and Austin (Defense). These are all great picks who can help Biden to move the country forward, and we should be excited for them to get started.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years