Joe Biden

Five Months Of President Joe Biden: A World Of Difference!

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President Joe Biden has now been in the Oval Office for five months, and what a world of difference!

The right wing media and the Republican Party, of course, are constantly on the attack on every issue imaginable.

But Joe Biden has been successful in so many ways:

The COVID 19 Pandemic response, a great success with 300 million vaccinations after five months (150 days)
The Economic Revival through the American Rescue Plan legislation, greater success than thought possible in five months
Moving toward action on Infrastructure, Voting Rights, Gun Regulations, Health Care And Education Reform
Reversing many actions of Donald Trump on the Environment by Executive Order
Reversing actions of Trump on Immigration, Climate Change, Civil Rights, and so many other domestic issues
Choosing Federal Judges to balance out the right wing tilt of the Trump Judicial appointments
Restoring good relations with NATO, the European Union, and the G-7 Nations
Succeeding in making Vladimir Putin know he has met his match, with Putin saying Biden was professional, constructive, and experienced
Making clear to the world community that America has returned to world leadership and a sense of ethics and morals
Restoring Dignity, Compassion, Empathy, Decency, Humanity to the Oval Office

Dr. Anthony Fauci Attacked By Right Wing Media And Republican Politicians: Totally Reprehensible!

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Dr. Anthony Fauci has been a true hero and treasure in this COVID 19 Pandemic, in his role as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden, after having been ignored and rebuked much of the time by former President Donald Trump.

If Trump had followed the advice of Fauci in 2020, we would not today have reached the horrifying figure of 600,000 dead from COVID 19!

Trump was responsible for the greatest loss of life in one year in American history, and yet Republicans, many of them anti vaccinators and anti maskers, have the gall to attack Fauci, and call for his resignation.

Right Wing Media, including Fox News Channel, and Tucker Carlson, and others, have joined in the demand for resignation of Fauci!

Just look at who is calling for this—Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Rand Paul, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and many others, all who are well known to be anti science and anti truth!

Biden-Putin Summit Coming Tomorrow: Major Issues

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Tomorrow, in Geneva, Switzerland, President Joe Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin.

There are many issues to be addressed by Biden to Putin, who Biden has called a “killer”.

Among them:

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and further incursions beyond Crimean area, ongoing, and the threat to other former Soviet republics.

The Ransomware attacks by Russians, which have affected many aspects of the American economy and security.

The arrest and imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, and the general crackdown on human rights in Russia under Putin.

The Russian intervention in the Presidential Election of 2016 in favor of Donald Trump, and their attempt to affect the Presidential Election of 2020, including support of the US Capitol Insurrection on January 6, 2021, just reasserted by Putin before the summit meeting tomorrow.

The Republican Party Base Is Anti Immigrant, But They Are Also Anti Science And Anti Historical Fact!

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The Republican Party base is anti immigrant (nativist), and has prevented immigration reform, despite the efforts over the years of Republicans, such as John McCain and George W. Bush to deal with the issue, alongside Democrats, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and a multitude of others.

It is also anti Science, allowing right wing evangelical Christians to utilize mind control, and to attack evolution a century after the Scopes Trial, and to be anti vaccine and anti mask advocates, and also anti climate change, along with attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci.

And the Republican Party base is also anti history, wanting to promote a “white” history, without discussion of the horrendous treatment and abuse of African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic-Latino Americans, and Asian Americans over the long run of American history.

The situation for teachers of the Social Sciences and American history, and also of American literature teachers who assign fiction that depicts and informs us of horrible mistreatment and racial language, is in crisis, as many teachers will lose their positions as state governments in many of the states dictate how their curriculums are to be controlled and presented.

Lawsuits are beginning by teachers’ unions and other groups to stop censorship of the truth, but the Republican Party base promoting “Know Nothingism” on immigration, science and history are an attack on academic freedom that must be fought through all legal means!

Joe Biden Restores NATO And G-7 Nations’ Faith On Reliability Of America, After Donald Trump Disaster!

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President Joe Biden is committed to restoring the NATO alliance and the confidence of the G-7 Nations as he has meetings and events for the next week, culminating in the summit with Vladimir Putin of Russia in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday June 16.

Biden has known Putin for a long time, and is willing to confront him, and make certain that Putin understands his resolve to do everything to undermine Putin’s determination to restore the old Soviet Union and restrict human rights in Russia and threaten Eastern Europe.

Tough talk will help, but there is no way to know if NATO, the G 7 and Joe Biden can work against the authoritarian nature of Putin with any possibility of success. The kowtowing of Donald Trump to Putin in his four years in the White House was very destructive on relations between the US and Russia.

In many ways, Putin could be more dangerous and threatening, than any Soviet leader after Joseph Stalin, including Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev in particular!

“Reconciliation” May Be Only Way To Gain Any Biden Agenda, But It Is Limited Tactic With Senate Realities

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“Reconciliation”, a tactic permitted by the Senate parliamentarian, to allow some bills to pass if 51 votes are gained, has led to the passage of the COVID 19 relief legislation in March, and it may be that it will be utilized to gain the passage of the Infrastructure bill, which has been unable to gain Republican support over the past two months of negotiation.

This Congress is the 4th time we have had an evenly divided US Senate, after the 47th Congress (1881-1883); the 83rd Congress (1953-1955); and the 107th Congress (2001-2003).

The tactic can be used only sparingly, but whether it can be employed for a multitude of other Joe Biden initiatives, including on voting rights, criminal justice reform, and health care and education advancements is doubtful.

There is the possibility, sadly, that Joe Biden may be stopped in making massive changes, similar to what Barack Obama faced in 2011-2017, and that is so infuriating!

And the danger that the party in the White House almost always loses seats and or control in the midterm elections, presents a real challenge to Democrats in 2022, when with two thirds of the Senate seats up for election in that year being Republican held seats, and at least five incumbent Republicans not running for reelection.

The Joe Manchin Problem

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West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is a real problem for the Democrats in the US Senate.

While he is a Democrat, and has supported all actions so far by President Joe Biden in legislative votes, he has now made it clear that he will NOT work to end or modify the Senate filibuster. This despite great disappointment that ten Republican Senators could not be found to support the creation of the January 6 Commission.

Manchin is a conservative who, if he was to retire or lose support of his voters, he would be most likely replaced by a Republican, so this creates an impossible situation in a 50-50 Senate.

This mess creates great problems for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and could do great damage to the Joe Biden agenda, in a way similar to what Barack Obama faced after the first two years of his Presidency.

The ability to have a voting rights law to overcome the actions by many Republican legislatures to limit voting rights for racial minorities will be hampered, as well as a serious infrastructure legislation, gun control legislation, immigration reform, and so much else.

“Reconciliation”, which would not require 60 votes, might be possible, but is based on some bipartisan support, which is far from guaranteed.

The Assassination Of Robert F. Kennedy 53 Years Ago Transformed The Future Of America!

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The world changed on June 5, 1968, 53 years ago, when Democratic Presidential contender, Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, was assassinated in Los Angeles.

This author has written about that tragic event in his 2015 book, 2017 in paperback—ASSASSINATIONS, THREATS, AND THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY: FROM ANDREW JACKSON TO BARACK OBAMA (Rowman Littlefield Publishers).

While there was no certainty that RFK would have been the Democratic Party nominee in 1968, or that he would have been able to defeat Richard Nixon, many observers believe his death was a turning point that transformed the future of America!

RFK had been able to put together a coalition of working class whites, as well as African Americans and Hispanic Americans, and he was inspiring many young people to engage in the campaign, including those opposed to the war in Vietnam under Lyndon B. Johnson.

While no winner of the Presidency could, in reality, be expected to accomplish all the goals that had been set, there was great optimism and hope that RFK would have been a transformative President.

Instead, the right wing of the Republican Party won out under Richard Nixon, who appealed also to many George Wallace supporters, and Hubert Humphrey, despite his wonderful record of commitment, was lost in the anti war movement opposition to LBJ.

The next fifty years would be dominated by conservatives who wanted to push the nation backward, and the battle for Democrats has been to overcome their impact, and the battle is presently engaged under Joe Biden, at a very difficult time with Donald Trump promoting the “Big Lie”, that he won the election.

So America is in crisis, and Biden, having the same birthday as RFK, but 17 years later birth, is trying to bring about what RFK was promoting a half century ago!

A Victory For The Environment: Biden Suspends Drilling Leases In Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

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Oil and Gas Drilling in one of the largest tracts of undeveloped wilderness in the United States, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, has been suspended by President Joe Biden, a major victory for environmentalists and conservationists.

The nation is so fortunate to have a President who values nature and the environment, and cares about wildlife and climate change.

This is a complete reversal of the devastating environmental polices of Donald Trump, and the nation is blessed by having been able to reverse so much of the damage perpetrated by the worst environmental President in American history, much worse than Ronald Reagan, who was also horrible on the topic, but not to the extreme extent of the 45th President!

The Horrors Of A Potential Coup To Remove Joe Biden Really Exists In The Right Wing Conspiracy World!

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The horrors of a potential coup to remove President Joe Biden is not just a dream of right wing extremists, but to them, it is reality as part of their conspiracy theories.

The Secret Service is tasked with real threats to both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as there are people around Donald Trump, such as Sidney Powell, retired General Mike Flynn, and right wing talk show hosts who are promoting the idea that by sometime in the summer, with all of the illegal recounting of election results, totally unauthorized, Donald Trump will return to power.

Even Donald Trump is saying such now, an example of total delusion, but it is not to be laughed at, as too many Republicans nationally are hooked to the idea that Joe Biden is an illegitimate President.

We are not being told about threats to Biden and Harris, but clearly, this is a time of great concern and stress, and the need for the FBI and the Secret Service and the Justice Department to move forward to prevent such a coup, and another attack on the US Capitol!