Tag Archives: Biden transition team

Bits ‘N Pieces of Snark

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary

What, I wonder, would it be like to wake up one morning and find nothing to snark about in the news?  What would I do?  What would I write about?  Who would I curse under my breath as I go about my household chores?  Hmmmm … I wonder if that day will ever come … I think not likely in my lifetime.

Obstruction of transition

Remember that sigh of relief we all breathed when finally, Emily Murphy of the General Services Administration (GSA) released the funds for Joe Biden’s transition team to begin its work?  Hold that thought, for it’s not going quite as it should.  News today is that ‘Trump loyalists’ are interfering with the transition.  What a surprise, eh?

It was only this week that the transition team was allowed into the National Security Agency, and they are still being denied access to the Agency for Global Media, parent of Voice of America.  Typically, transition meetings take place between the civil service staff who currently hold the positions within the various agencies, and members of Biden’s team who will oversee or hold those positions.  But this time, Trump’s hand-picked political appointees are sitting in on meetings, often directing what information can or cannot be shared.

One glaring example is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which, under Trump, has been severely gutted and no longer serves much useful purpose.  Trump’s politicos have sat in on every single meeting between EPA staff and Biden’s transition team and have directed what could be said about such things as climate change and scientific research.  Meaning, that the people who fill positions in the EPA in Biden’s administration will likely have to start from the ground up.  It can be done, but it shouldn’t have to be … members of Trump’s administration and Biden’s should ALL be acting in the best interest of this nation, not of one leader or the other.  This is naught but blatant obstructionism on the part of Trump and his lackeys.

The Court says “nope”

The appointment of three Supreme Court Justices by Donald Trump has been weighing heavily on my mind, and probably yours too.  We like to think the Justices are fair men and women, well-versed in the law and who will vote according to the law, rather than their own prejudices, but we weren’t quite sure.  Yesterday, however, the Court did the right thing … apparently unanimously.

In the shortest ruling in the history of the Court, they refused a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state:

SCOTUS-ruling

Most rulings, even on simple things, are 20 pages or longer, so just the brevity of this one speaks volumes.  Trump and his allies have lost all but one of the 50+ lawsuits they have filed attempting to still the voices of We the People.  And, the one they won threw out about 600 votes, not for fraud, but only because the ballots had such minor issues as an address spelled differently than on the registration, etc.  My fear had been that once a case reached the Supreme Court, with the latest addition of the highly unqualified Amy Barrett, the Court might rule against their conscience and in favour of Trump, but as there were apparently no dissenters to yesterday’s opinion, I am once again breathing a sigh of relief.  The courts, our last line of defense in maintaining a government of, by, and for the people, seems to be holding … so far.

Nearing the finish line …

The last two states have finally managed to certify their elections, and the final tally is, just as we expected …

final-tally

The Electoral College will meet next Monday and are predicted to vote as above.  Then, the last step is for Congress to certify the electoral vote and it will be official … no more bullshit from Trump & Co.  Right?  At this juncture, any slate of electors certified by states must be considered valid by Congress and the courts, according to federal law.  It’s a done deal.  Right?

With nearly all congressional republicans continuing their wall of silence, unable or unwilling to accept the fact that Joe Biden won the election and will take the Oath of Office on January 20th, chaos is likely going to continue for the foreseeable future.  In my mind, this nation no longer can be called the United States of America, for there are two distinct nations here … the “Republican Nation” and the “Everyone Else” nation.  Unfortunately, there is no nice, clean geographical line of demarcation such as the Mason-Dixon line back in the 1800s, so we have to live side-by-side with those who do not seem to share our values at all.  This nation is in a sad state, my friends.  I don’t know if Joe and Kamala, or ANY person can bring us together.

Something new

I had never heard of ‘Slate Political Gabfest’ before today.  It is a political podcast hosted by Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, where they discuss ongoing political issues.  Not got your interest yet?  Take a look at this clip with the three hosts and Stephen Colbert … some interesting discussion and thoughts on the subjects of Trump’s pardons and whether investigations should be opened into what has taken place ‘behind the curtain’ over the past four years.

I typically do not listen to podcasts, because there is no video and no closed captioning, meaning I’m not going to be able to hear well enough to understand what is being said, but each of the Gabfest podcasts also comes with a transcript, so those of us with hearing issues can follow along.  I’d still rather see them in person, see video, but they cover some fascinating topics, and I might just start following this one.

Trump vs Pandemic — No Winners

Posted on by under Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Political commentary

I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess, that Donald Trump has not so much as mentioned the pandemic, despite the fact that we are at an all-time high for new cases and deaths.  It shouldn’t come as a shock that he is more interested in perpetuating his own brand of fraud to attempt to stay in power in a dictatorial fashion, rather than focusing on the people in this country dying, in part because of his neglect.  It is only further proof that Trump does not care one whit about any of us … republican or democrat, male or female, Christian or atheist … he doesn’t hate us, he just simply doesn’t care about us.  Eugene Robinson said it best in his column in The Washington Post yesterday …

Amid the worst of the pandemic, our mad king rages only about himself

Eugene-RobinsonOpinion by 

Eugene Robinson

Columnist

This is becoming like Greek tragedy. The nation is on fire with covid-19, cases and hospitalizations are soaring to unthinkable new highs, and our leader does nothing but rage and moan about his own punishment at the hands of cruel fate.

If it is true that “those whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,” then President Trump is finishing his shambolic term in office as Mad King Donald. Cumulative U.S. covid infections leaped from 10 million to 11 million in just six days, signifying uncontrolled spread. Hospitals are crowded with nearly 70,000 covid-19 patients — more than ever before — and medical systems, especially in the Great Plains and the Mountain West, are wavering under unbearable strain. The morgue in El Paso is so overwhelmed with bodies that inmates at the county jail there are being pressed into service as helpers, pending arrival of the National Guard. Yet Trump spent Monday morning on Twitter, pitifully howling “I won the Election!” about a contest he clearly and decisively lost.

We have reached the point in the pandemic that epidemiologists warned about months ago. They begged Trump to do everything he could to push infection rates as low as possible before autumn arrived and cooler temperatures forced people indoors, where the virus is transmitted much more easily.

Rather than heed the scientists, Trump listened only to the sirens of his own vanity and ambition. He marginalized the experts of his coronavirus task force, declining even to meet with them for the past several months. Instead, he found faux experts whose advice was more to his liking, chief among them Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist — not trained or experienced in fighting epidemics — who on Sunday called on the people of Michigan to “rise up” against a three-week curb on social gatherings announced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).

Trump wanted the economy up and running, with everything back to the way it was, in time for the election. His insistent pushing toward this unrealistic goal disastrously turned the adoption of sensible public health measures into a political wedge issue. Republican governors who wanted to remain in Trump’s favor had to accept his framing of the issue: Restrictions were bad, “freedom” was good. Those governors’ constituents are now paying a terrible price.

A responsible president would have used his megaphone to urge all Americans to wear masks and practice social distancing; would have understood and explained how full cooperation with burdensome shutdowns earlier in the year could allow some institutions, including schools, to return to more normal functioning in the fall; and would have valued patience and resolve over instant gratification.

And a president who was compos mentis never would have made the nonsensical claim that the United States had more covid-19 cases than other countries only because we did more testing. Rather, a president grounded in reality would have insisted on a vastly expanded, nationwide testing program as a way to hasten our safe return to offices, stores and restaurants.

The Trump administration did one thing right by pushing hard for rapid development of vaccines. Two drug companies — Pfizer and Moderna — have announced highly encouraging results from formal trials, and the federal government’s commitment to purchase millions of doses means these vaccines, assuming they are proved to be safe, will be available in record time.

But Moncef Slaoui, co-chair of Trump’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine effort, said Monday that, under a best-case scenario, roughly 20 million doses of the two vaccines will be available per month, beginning in December. And initially they will go only to high-risk groups. There are 330 million Americans, meaning that most of us may remain vulnerable to covid-19 for some time.

The United States is once again averaging more than 1,000 deaths a day. A smaller percentage of covid-19 sufferers perish now than did back in the spring — doctors and nurses know much more about how to treat severely ill patients — but this remains a deadly disease. If you don’t believe me, ask anyone who works at your local hospital. They’ll tell you.

President-elect Joe Biden has no magic wand to make covid-19 go away. But he does understand that no attempt to return to normal life can succeed unless we first get the virus under control, and that controlling covid requires following the advice of public health professionals.

At the moment, however, there is nothing Biden can do. The Mad King, clinging to the fiction that he has not been deposed, will not even allow federal officials to begin sharing data with Biden’s incoming coronavirus team. The theme of his failed reelection campaign should have been “Make America Sick Again.”

Just A Few Snarky Snippets

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary

By all indications, Donald Trump is not working today, hasn’t worked since the election, in fact.  No word on what he is doing about the new surge of coronavirus cases, meetings with congressional leaders or cabinet heads, nothing.  The media, thankfully, is not covering his every word and move — they should have learned to ignore him long ago.  The silence is, as they say, golden.  On the other hand …

Joe Biden is already hard at work.  This morning he announced the members of his coronavirus task force, a group made up entirely of doctors and health experts, signaling his intent to seek a science-based approach to bring the raging pandemic under control.

Biden’s task force will have three co-chairs: Vivek H. Murthy, surgeon general during the Obama administration; David Kessler, Food and Drug Administration commissioner under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton; and Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate dean for health equity research at the Yale School of Medicine.

“Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts. The advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations.” – President-elect Joe Biden

Note the bi-partisan composition of the group’s leadership.  The 13-member task force also includes former Trump administration officials, including Rick Bright, former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, who, after being demoted, spoke out against the administration’s approach to the pandemic. Luciana Borio, director for medical and biodefense preparedness on Trump’s National Security Council until 2019, is also on the panel.

The group includes several other prominent doctors:

  • Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School who is a prolific author.
  • Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
  • Eric Goosby, global AIDS coordinator under President Barack Obama and professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine.
  • Celine R. Gounder, clinical assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
  • Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy focused on health issues.
  • Loyce Pace, president and executive director of the Global Health Council, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to global health issues.
  • Robert Rodriguez, professor of emergency medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine.

Biden plans to call Republican and Democratic governors to ask for their help in developing a consistent message from federal and state leaders and will urge governors to adopt statewide mask mandates and to provide clear public health guidance to their constituents, including about social distancing and limiting large gatherings.

Joe Biden is actually going to DO something to try to help save lives!  What a novel thing for a president to do, eh?

Oh wait … I was wrong that Trump isn’t doing anything today.  Breaking news just in:  Trump has fired Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper.  Why?  Presumably because back in June, Esper disagreed with Trump’s plan to use active-duty military troops to quell Black Lives Matter protests in cities.  My best guess is that there will be more firings for petty, personal reasons … he has said more than once that he planned to fire both FBI Director Christopher Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, after the election.  He can’t actually fire Dr. Fauci, for only the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has that ability.

But back to Joe Biden, who is constructing rather than destructing, building rather than tearing down …

Biden and his team have planned a weeklong focus on health care, and Mr. Biden is expected to announce some key White House positions, including his chief of staff.  No doubt he and his transition team are also working on his cabinet picks, which they say will be announced later this month.

In other news, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Ben Carson, is the latest in Trump’s administration to fall prey to the coronavirus, after attending a pseudo-victory party at the White House last Tuesday night.  It’s interesting to note that Carson was a well-respected neurosurgeon in his previous career, before leaving to enter politics on Trump’s coattails, and yet he eschews mask-wearing and other precautions such as avoiding large crowds.  While I don’t wish the man any harm and do hope he makes a full recovery, I have to say he brought this one on himself.  There were some 200 people at that gathering … how many more of those, I wonder, will test positive this week?