PRESIDENT Joe Biden: A Return to Normalcy?

[fraurosena]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[clueliss]

Because I recall someone asking about kids in cages

 

[AmazonGrace]

This thread has more details about family separations and what Biden is doing

 

 

[fraurosena]

*Heaves a big sigh of relief*

Thanks for posting that, you guys. It was me harping on (and on and on) about these poor kids. I’m so glad that my initial disappointment was unfounded!

[AmazonGrace]

I am assuming he was asked to resign but I could be wrong.

 

[47of74]

Yeah we won't be seeing this with President Biden in the White House.

Quote

Last month, Axios published "Off the rails," a series taking you inside the end of Donald Trump's presidency, from his election loss to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that triggered his second impeachment — and a Senate trial set to begin next week.

In this bonus edition, we take you back into those final weeks — to one long, unhinged night a week before Christmas, when an epic, profanity-soaked standoff played out with profound implications for the nation.

Four conspiracy theorists marched into the Oval Office. It was early evening on Friday, Dec. 18 — more than a month after the election had been declared for Joe Biden, and four days after the Electoral College met in every state to make it official.

"How the hell did Sidney get in the building?" White House senior adviser Eric Herschmann grumbled from the outer Oval Office as Sidney Powell and her entourage strutted by to visit the president. 

Here's a CNN interview with Mr. Swan describing that.

[AmazonGrace]

Pete Buttigieg was confirmed.

[GreyhoundFan]

Yay! "Senate confirms Buttigieg as Biden’s transportation secretary"

Quote

The Senate voted 86 to 13 on Tuesday to confirm Buttigieg as Biden’s transportation secretary. The 39-year-old became the first openly gay person ever to win confirmation to a Cabinet position.

The nomination sailed through the Senate Commerce Committee last week on a 21-to-3 vote.

Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a former rival to Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, has pledged to get to work immediately on Biden’s agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure.

Ahead of the vote by the full Senate on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that Buttigieg “is committed to working with members from both sides to improve rail and transit, highways, and more — in rural communities, urban centers, and everywhere in between.”

“I’m excited to call him Secretary Pete by the end of the day,” Schumer said, a reference to Buttigieg’s “Mayor Pete” moniker in his previous office.

 

[clueliss]

@fraurosena

 

[47of74]

Secretary of Defense is cleaning house with the advisory boards. 

Quote

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has dismissed every member of the Pentagon's advisory boards in a sweeping move fueled by concern that the Trump administration had rushed through a series of last-minute appointments, defense officials said Tuesday.

The move affects several hundred members of about 40 advisory boards, including dozens of people who had been named to the posts in the closing days of former President Donald Trump's tenure.

Among those who were dismissed are highly partisan figures such as Corey Lewandowski, Trump's 2016 presidential campaign manager; David Bossie, a former Trump deputy campaign manager; Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata. Instead of singling out Trump appointees, the move applies to all board members, including those appointed before Trump's presidency.

Austin decided that dismissing all members of the advisory boards and asking for a full review of their activities was the most equitable, effective way to address matter, two defense officials told reporters in an earlier briefing.

I suppose the Branch Trumpvidian freak out is coming since he didn’t leave them on the boards and have the DoD do everything they wanted. 

[47of74]

President Biden went to pay his respects. 

Quote

President Joe Biden paid his respect to slain Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, whose remains were given the rare distinction of lying in honor at the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday evening.

Sicknick's cremated remains arrived on the East Front of the Capitol and placed in the Rotunda overnight to allow his colleagues and lawmakers to honor the officer.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden held their hands to their hearts and the president made the sign of the cross as they stood near Sicknick's urn and a folded American flag.

"This flag was flown over the United States Capitol by The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, honoring the distinguished life and service of Officer Brian D. Sicknick. January 7, 2021," reads a plaque on the frame holding the flag.

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Alisamer]

Sounds like there’s some swamp-draining going on.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[clueliss]

On 2/3/2021 at 12:13 PM, AmazonGrace said:

 

I'm listening to Biden speak at the State Department right now and yelled "yes!" when he said this. 

[GreyhoundFan]

I was so glad to read this: "Biden removes Trump appointees from boards that shape the District"

Quote

The Biden administration has removed key Trump appointees from several federal agencies that oversee the look and feel of District neighborhoods and buildings — and city officials are pushing for more.

Washington’s Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio sent an unusual letter to Biden’s personnel director last week, asking for a review of Trump’s last-minute appointments to the National Capital Planning Commission and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Because these two boards are responsible for approving development in the city, the new members could impede Washington’s progress toward equity, climate change and affordable housing, Falcicchio wrote in a letter obtained by The Washington Post.

The White House took action Feb. 3, when it notified the NCPC that Paul Dans, a member of the Trump administration who had been appointed chairman of the commission on Jan. 5, and Gibson Worsham, an architect and historic preservation expert who had been appointed Dec. 30, “are no longer members of the commission,” according to NCPC spokesman Stephen Staudigl.

Biden also asked Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Chairwoman Aimee Jorjani to resign her post, which she did on Friday.

The three agencies influence Washington’s development in many ways. The ACHP is an independent federal agency that promotes historic preservation. Its 24-member board includes eight presidential appointees. The 12-member NCPC consists of three presidential appointees, two mayoral appointees and representatives from the federal and city government. It is the federal government’s central planning agency for the region. The seven-member CFA has a design focus and plays a critical role guiding and refining government buildings. Each group offers advice and approval on projects from renovations of historic Georgetown homes to the look and scale of new museums and memorials.

There have so far been no resignations or removals at the CFA, where four members joined the design oversight board a month after Trump signed a controversial executive order that mandates classical architecture for federal buildings, raising concern for city officials.

“With these appointments, the CFA now consists entirely of white, male Trump appointees supportive of the former administration’s ill-conceived Executive Order, ‘Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,’ which seeks to make our Nation’s Capital a mausoleum of neoclassical architecture,” Falcicchio wrote to Catherine Russell, director of the Presidential Personnel Office.

“For the sake of Washington, D.C.’s residents and visitors, the NCPC and CFA need members committed to meeting the myriad challenges and opportunities of today,” Falcicchio wrote. “The buildings and landscapes of Washington, D.C. must address the urgent needs for sustainability, resilience, and housing. They must also embrace our diversity and advance equity as a remedy to the legacy of discrimination that shapes our surroundings to this day.”

A White House spokesperson confirmed that the review of appointments continues.

“The Biden administration is conducting a thorough review of several councils, commissions, and advisory boards. As a part of that review, we may remove individuals whose continued membership on the board would not serve the public interest,” a spokesperson told The Post in an email Tuesday.

“We applaud the Biden administration for their decisive action, and we call on the Congress and the Administration to advance DC Statehood so that DC residents can manifest their own destiny,” said Shayne Wells, director of communications for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development.

The presidential appointees to the NCPC serve at the pleasure of the President, NCPC’s Staudigl said. President Bill Clinton elevated one of his appointees, Richard Friedman, to chairman at the end of his administration, but during the transition, incoming President Bush removed Friedman as head of the panel and reassigned the position to one of his appointees. Friedman remained on the board.

It is unclear if the Biden administration has sought the resignations of the CFA panel, including new members Perry Guillot, a landscape architect from New York who recently completed the redesign of the White House Rose Garden; Chas Fagan, an artist who made the sculpture of President Reagan in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol; N.Y.-based architect Steven Spandle, who designed the new White House tennis pavilion; and Rodney Mims Cook Jr., president of the National Monuments Foundation and a founding board member of the Institute for Classical Architecture and Art. Guillot and Fagan did not return messages, and Spandle had no comment.

Justin Shubow was appointed to the board in October 2018 and voted chairman last month; he is president of the National Civic Art Society, a D.C.-based group that gained notoriety for its objection to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial design. The other two members, appointed in December 2019, are James McCrery II, an assistant professor at Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture and Planning, and Duncan G. Stroik, an architect and professor at Notre Dame. They did not return messages.

Past CFA members include such architecture heavyweights as John Belle, David M. Childs, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and N. Michael McKinnell. CFA appointments are four-year terms. Secretary Thomas Luebke could not recall an instance when a member has been replaced before the completion of the term, unless they resigned.

 

[clueliss]

Remember when Biden said he would fire people for behavior? 
 

Someone did this:

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

28 minutes ago, clueliss said:

Remember when Biden said he would fire people for behavior? 

Biden has clearly never had to enforce internal controls.

If you aren't absolutely sure you're going to do it, never say it.  All of my years as a policy wonk has taught me two things:

Don't speak in absolutes unless you are dead certain and give yourself loopholes in case you need an out.

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by HerNameIsBuffy

[nausicaa]

3 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Biden has clearly never had to enforce internal controls.

If you aren't absolutely sure you're going to do it, never say it.  All of my years as a policy wonk has taught me two things:

Don't speak in absolutes unless you are dead certain and give yourself loopholes in case you need an out.

Some people pointed out that as Ducklo has Stage 4 cancer, they might be keeping him on so he can keep his health insurance. 

But his behavior is completely out of line. And the current consequences kind of punish Politico.

And I agree Biden's original wording in his statement was poorly thought out and opened him up to inevitable claims of hypocrisy. He needed to just say "there will be consequences for disrespectful behavior." 

Edited February 13, 2021 by nausicaa

[Natalie22]

18 hours ago, nausicaa said:

Some people pointed out that as Ducklo has Stage 4 cancer, they might be keeping him on so he can keep his health insurance. 

But his behavior is completely out of line. And the current consequences kind of punish Politico.

And I agree Biden's original wording in his statement was poorly thought out and opened him up to inevitable claims of hypocrisy. He needed to just say "there will be consequences for disrespectful behavior." 

There's also a chance that he's on steroids as part of his treatment for his cancer.  Steroids can cause absurdly aggressive behaviour over nothing.  I'm not saying it's ok, but if he's on a medication that can cause major behavioural changes and this is not  part of a pattern, I can understand not firing him but placing him on leave.  

[louisa05]

52 minutes ago, Natalie22 said:

There's also a chance that he's on steroids as part of his treatment for his cancer.  Steroids can cause absurdly aggressive behaviour over nothing.  I'm not saying it's ok, but if he's on a medication that can cause major behavioural changes and this is not  part of a pattern, I can understand not firing him but placing him on leave.  

I thought of this exact thing. Went through it with my dad during his treatment.  Out of character lashing out over inconsequential things or things that weren’t anyone’s fault. 

[PreciousPantsofDoom]

23 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

If you aren't absolutely sure you're going to do it, never say it.  All of my years as a policy wonk has taught me two things:

Don't speak in absolutes unless you are dead certain and give yourself loopholes in case you need an out.

All my years of working with children taught me the same thing. Allows you to be compassionate if needed, or come down harder when that is warranted. Sometimes leaving it a bit vague works better too, since then people free to invent bogeyman of their choice as a deterrent.

[nausicaa]

2 hours ago, Natalie22 said:

There's also a chance that he's on steroids as part of his treatment for his cancer.  Steroids can cause absurdly aggressive behaviour over nothing.  I'm not saying it's ok, but if he's on a medication that can cause major behavioural changes and this is not  part of a pattern, I can understand not firing him but placing him on leave.  

I thought of this too. Though in reading what it appears he said, I don't know if I would characterize his actions as just blunt aggressiveness but also deeply sexist and really conniving (assuming a reporter who was assigned a story by her publication is asking questions about the topic because some other guy didn't want to fuck her? Yech.) But I also don't know the full impact cancer treatments can have on someone. 

If the Biden admin keeps him on, I do think he shouldn't be put in a position where he interacts with reporters in any capacity. I can't see any female journalist feeling comfortable in dealing with him. I certainly wouldn't. 

[clueliss]

Update