Beware the Fourth of March

by Pa Rock
Soothsayer's Apprentice

Shakespeare used a soothsayer (fortune-teller) to warn Julius Caesar that trouble was afoot.  The soothsayer cautioned Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March," and sure enough on March 15th, the Roman general-turned-emperor was stabbed to death by  his former friend and colleague, Brutus.  Now, a mere two millennia after the death of Julius Caesar, we are again being warned that a day in the upcoming month of March may be of monumental significance.    Elements of America's voice of treason, a group loosely referred to as "Q-Anon," are foretelling that on March 4th of this year, Donald John Trump, the former 45th President of the United States, will be sworn in as the "legitimate" 19th President of the United States.

As with most utterances of Q-Anon, details are sketchy.

From the time of Washington's first term in office until the end of Herbert Hoover's only term in 1933, Presidents were elected in early November and then sworn into office on the following March 4th.  That long delay was intentional in order to give newly-elected Presidents time to get their affairs in order and then make their way, often on horseback or by horse-and-buggy, to the nation's capitol.    But with the advent of speedier forms of travel, that long delay became somewhat problematic - and it was an especially conflictual transition time for President Hoover and his replacement, Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Hoover seemed to many to be sitting on his hands while the Great Depression gained steam, and the ambitious FDR was chomping-at-the-bit to assume office and begin making bold changes to the way that America's government and economy functioned.

The Twentieth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified during FDR's first term in office, and it set that inauguration of Presidents for noon on January 20th following the general election.  Part of the reason was to limit time for conflicts between out-going and in-coming administrations.  (However, during the most recent presidential transition, many people thought even that shortened time period was too long!)

Q-Anon is apparently a shirttail cousin to another whacko conspiracy group - the Sovereign Citizens Movement,  The Sovereign Citizens regard the federal government a some sort of illegal concept and they believe they do not have to follow its laws.  They apparently believe that the government passed a secret law in 1871 when Ulysses S. Grant was President that turned the United States into a corporation, and every President since Grant (the eighteenth President) has been illegal.  Also, all Constitutional Amendments since then have also been illegal, which puts the real God-given inauguration date back at March 4th.

And while it is doubtful that any members of the Trump family believe this conspiracy hogwash, that does not mean that they aren't above trying to make money off of the rubes who do believe it.  Anyone wanting to come to Washington, DC for the "real" inauguration on March 4th will find that the price of a basic room at the Trump International Hotel in the nation's capital has more than doubled for that night from $596 to $1,331.  Newsweek reported that on January 6th, the day of the Capitol riots, the Trump Hotel was charging a special rate of just $8,000 per room!

Donald Trump may make fun of people with challenges, but he will damn sure take the money of those whose only challenge is being a dumbass!