The Inauguration: An American Experience

GOP HQ Lake County, Ohio 11:30 PM
All 27 of us gathered together right on time at 11:30 PM for our midnight departure to Washington DC for President Trump’s second inauguration! The trip was put together by Dale Fellows, Chairman Lake GOP with lots of help from Sue Bentley, Secretary Lake GOP. Also a BIG thank you to John Plecnik, Lake County Commissioner, for being our leader throughout our trip! Though the hour was late and we were traveling all night, the excitement-level was high to be part of the this historic event — even if we won’t be able to see it in person because of the cold weather.

Travel Update: Somewhere in the Middle of Pennsylvania
The bus has no heat! This was the coldest part of the trip by far, and we all bundled up in everything we brought just to stay warm and to try and catch a few winks.
Monday, January 20 at 7:09 AM – Maryland
We pulled into the parking lot of Rockville Station and took the DC Metro (subway system) to Union Station, which was about 30 minute a ride and is walking distance from the Capitol Building. All aboard!
Monday, January 20 at 8:40 AM – The Dubliner
After arriving at Union Station and locating some much in demand bathrooms, we made our way to the The Dubliner, which is near Union Station and apparently the traditional “Home Base” when Lake GOP members travel to DC.


We entered the Pub and milled around the bar area waiting to be seated, and I was thinking about how to make this blog interesting to The Ohio Register (TOR) readers given I wasn't going to actually be at the Inauguration. Then as we were leaving to be seated, a couple, who had clearly overheard our conversation, called out to me and asked if we were from Ohio. I went to them, and it was at this moment it became obvious that what I needed to do was talk to the people attending the Inauguration and get their thoughts on the meaning of the day and then capture it for our TOR readers.
Monday, January 20 at 8:50 AM – The Californians
The couple's names were Steve and Shirley and they live in San Diego County, California. After a short discussion about our various travels to DC, I asked if I could interview them for The Ohio Register, and they agreed.
They traveled over 2,500 miles to show their gratitude that President Trump was re-elected. As we talked some more, it was clear their top priorities for the second Trump term were: Control the border, improve the economy and deregulation as much as possible. They had first-hand experience being over-regulation as owners of multiple small businesses, and they knew that too many regulations could put them out of business.
We then talked about the LA fires and how Californians are reacting to them. They said lots of people are awaking up because of this and that it could be a 'Red Pill' moment. They also think even more people are likely leave the state, especially when they see how hard it is to rebuild. I asked if they were thinking about leaving, and they said with all of their businesses would stick it out. I thanked them for their time, and we took a selfie!

Monday, January 20 – 10:10 AM – The Irish Contingent
I then found the rest of the Lake County group, and we all had breakfast. After eating, I noticed another group of people near us at The Dubliner, so I decided to try my luck and went over to them.
After introducing myself, they agreed to be interviewed for TOR. Brenden and Shamus live in Ireland and are not Trump fans. They literally came to DC out of respect to President Biden, and to see the peaceful transition of power in America. Peter, an American, and Shania, an American by choice originally from Ireland, were also very skeptical of President Trump with Peter indicating it was a blow to the Constitution that he was re-elected, and Shania commenting that the world lives under a Pax-Americana and she is concerned that it will continue under President Trump.
They then asked me why I was a Trump supporter. There are lots of reasons, but I homed in on freedom of speech being the foundation of any republic, and asked them if they had heard of the Twitter Files which hey had not. The Twitter Files document the federal government pressuring Twitter to censor opinions opposing official government positions on COVID, Hunter Biden's laptop, the 2020 election results and much more. We finished the conversation AGREEING that we need freedom of speech to survive. At the end, Peter made the observation that we are not as divided as we are led to believe, and I wholeheartedly agreed with him.

Monday, January 20 at 10:35 AM – The Girls from Charlottesville
It was time to explore, so I left with the last remaining members of the Lake County group and headed out the door. Just down the street from the Pub, we came a upon these very patriotic girls from Charlottesville, VA!

Monday, January 20 at 10:46 AM – Louisiana Ave NW and First Street NW
We heard a rumor that President Trump was going to drive through the intersection of Louisiana Ave NW and First Street NW after the Inauguration, so we headed in that direction. We did see lots of press, mostly foreign, and some funny banners, but as far as we could tell, President Trump did not drive by.




Monday, January 20 at 11:30 AM – Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil
After spending some time observing things, I decided to head down Louisiana Ave NW, and I saw three gentlemen who frankly just looked important. Turns out the leader of the group was Alden Jose Lazaro da Silva, who is a Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil . The equivalent of being a Brazilian congressman.
There are many similarities between the Brazilian presidential election in 2022 and what happened in the 2020 election. Conservative Jair Bolsonaro, the then sitting president, was defeated in a close and contested election by former president, Lula da Silva, who is a socialist. Add to this Brazil's Supreme Court, the STF for short, is accused of ignoring the rule of law, and things are roiling in this country of 216 million people.
Deputy da Salva was at the Inauguration as part of an unofficial delegation hoping to talk with members of the Trump Administration to secure help in fighting this Brazilian tyranny. For more perspective on Brazil, image if President Trump not only had to of fought the DOJ's lawfare, but that he also had fo fight a Supreme Court which did not support the Constitution and the rule of law. That's my take on Brazil.

Monday, January 20 at 11:50 AM: Canadian Trucker Convoy Leader
As I was headed back to The Dubliner, I saw some Canadians in MAGA gear, and spoke with Derek Noonan, who was part of the Canadian Freedom Convoy in 2022, which started in Alberta and set up a peaceful presence in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.
Interesting conversation. He created his own media outlet, Tyranny Patrol, so he could get a press credential and go to press conferences to ask politicians hard questions. He also talked about Prime Minister (PM) Trudeau, and how he imposed an unlawful martial law to clear the convoy out of the capital and then 'debanked' the truckers after someone hacked into the banks and gave all the trucker's information to the Canadian government.
He agreed with President Trump that Canada has ignored NATO, their own military as well as NORAD. He finished by saying this about President Trump, “If he frees the states, he free's the world. The world needs Trump!”

Monday, January 20 at Noon – Chinese CCP Protesters
About 10 feet from where I spoke to Derek, there were men from the China Democrat Party protesting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They held a banner and signs calling out President Xi and the damage he is doing to the Chinese people and the world. I actually got involved when I was asked by the man with his back to me in the yellow vest asked me to video the protest, which I was happy to do. Hard to know what's real, but if they are sincere they were no doubt being videoed by Chinese agents in the US and are at risk. Click here for more info on CCP police stations police stations operating in the US.

Monday, January 20 at 12:30 PM – The Inauguration Speech
The closest I got to the Inauguration was watching President Trump's address at The Dubliner. What a great speech!

Monday, January 20 at 1:10 PM – Last Interview of the Day
Tara and Debbie (not their real names), are friends from different states in the Midwest who often travel together, and they were very excited to there to ring in President Trump's second term. Like many of us, their reasons for being excited were to get a secure border, energize the economy and to have fun again – something like Make American Fun Again (MAFA)! They really exemplified the feeling of pride and optimism so many in America are feeling!

Monday, January 20 at 2 PM – Headed Home
The group met at Union Station to take the Metro and to begin the trek back to Ohio. We arrived at 10 PM and did have heat for the first half of the trip home before it conked out, and more importantly, we got to listen to The Ohio State Buckeyes as they played and eventually won their 9th National Championship! I was grateful to be able to talk to so many different people, and I hope this travel blog gave you a real sense of being there. In case you wanted to know what an unused Inaugural ticket looks like, please see below:
