“I am proud, proud, proud to be a son of Delaware. And I am even more proud to be standing here doing this from the Major Beau Biden facility … I only have one regret: that he’s not here, because we should be introducing him as president … So it’s deeply personal that our next journey to Washington starts here, a place that defines the very best of who we are as Americans. I know these are dark times, but there’s always light. That’s what makes this state so special. That’s what it taught me, it taught me the most, there’s always light.” That was Joe Biden as he set off for DC. He planned to take his usual Amtrak ride there, but thanks to the current president, we couldn’t secure a train commute for the next one. Biden and Kamala Harris will take part in a national Covid-19 memorial service at the Lincoln Memorial ahead of his swearing-in ceremony tomorrow. The ceremony will be joined by others in cities and towns across America as, at long last, we come together to mourn our pandemic dead. The country has now surpassed 400,000 Covid deaths. More than 100,000 of those deaths have come in the last month alone. How much lower would that toll have been if Trump and his enablers had mixed in a little truth with their Big Lie? Here’s the latest on the inauguration from CNN and NBC.

+ “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 online.”