We haven’t even gotten to the Biden era yet and we’re already being given something of a taste of what is to come.

See, while President-elect Joe Biden can hope on Twitter and talk about unity and such, there’s been no effort back those words up for squat.

Not only that, but we now see that while thousands of troops have been brought in to protect Washington, D.C. in the aftermath of what happened at the Capitol on January 6th, which tells us all we need to know about just how the incoming administration sees the totality of their opposition.

It’s not just that, either. It seems some guard members have been removed because they don’t think the right things.

Twelve U.S. Army National Guard members have been removed from the presidential inauguration security mission after they were found to have ties with right-wing militia groups or posted extremist views. (Jan. 19)

In other words, they’re members of groups like Oathkeepers or III% who have been around for ages and the only thing they’ve ever been able to tie them to is the Capitol, which paled in comparison to the numerous riots over the summer.

Now, I get the concern over these groups right now. What happened in the Capitol has a lot of people concerned, but much of that is because the media hyped it up, calling it an insurrection when the destruction paled in comparison to the numerous riots we saw over the summer. It’s kind of hard for many people not to be concerned about these groups.

Yet there’s been no vetting of troops over any potential affiliation to, say, Black Lives Matter or Antifa, both of which have much stronger ties to destructive protests.

What has transpired in Washington this week might be the first and last time we ever see this. It might also become a recurring thing within the military, and that’s bad.

See, if our members of the military don’t feel trusted by their government, if they feel like they have to assert their loyalty over and over again, that’s going to have an impact on morale. That impact will degrade efficiency and effectiveness. It’ll impact retention, which means the military will lose institutional knowledge that could benefit younger generations of servicemembers.

All because the Biden Administration simply can’t deal with the idea that some of the people wearing the uniform might have sympathies with the wrong mob.

Because that’s all this is about. They have the wrong political opinions. That’s it. The National Guard troops who knelt at a Black Lives Matter protest weren’t removed from duty. They probably should have been disciplined because they made a political statement in uniform, but they weren’t removed.

So why now?

Regardless of why, the truth of the matter is that this is going to have repercussions that the new Biden Administration is completely unprepared for. Or, worse, they’re prepared for them and find them desirable. I’d like to think that’s not the case, though, since I try not to ascribe to malice that which can be adequately attributed to incompetence, but I won’t swear to it on a Bible.