Biden Spends First Week in Office Removing Trump's Ban on Transgender Military

 

In July of 2017, Trump posted three tweets about transgender people in the military. Quickly summarized, Trump and his generals decided to place a ban on transgender people trying to enlist or current transgenders in the military, arguing that the extra costs of maintaing their medical costs were too much.

So why is this relevant now? Well, on the first Monday after Biden’s inauguration, Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed an order to reverse Trump’s ban on transgenders in the military. This is part of Biden’s general executive order to advance equity in agencies and communities, both racially and by sexual orientation or gender identity. Biden pushes this executive order by extending the policy built from the 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County trial. The Bostock v. Clayton County Supreme Court trial ruled against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Those discriminated against by Trump’s abrupt twitter posts have been in the crossfire of three presidents. First fought for by Obama to promote equity in agencies, then reversed by Trump in an executive order, and reversed once again by Biden this week, their situation seems to never rest. This is devastating because many Americans rely on military benefits.

What does this new bill entail for those affected by this new executive order? Most of those who were affected by Trump’s ban will likely be allowed back into the military, and most of the cases transgender people have been fighting in will likely be withdrawn as there has been little opposition with the new house and new president.

AP News

Executive Order Text

NYT

NYT

Surge of Student Suicides During Covid-19 Pushes Some Schools to Reopen

 

Although the linking of teen suicides with the closing of schools is difficult to conclusively research, the growing rates of mental health emergencies and suicides all point to the toll on mental health Covid-19 has. 

In the Las Vegas Clark County school district, there were 18 kids who had committed suicide between March (the closing of schools) to December, which was double the entire last year's amount. The Clark County Superintendent, Jesus Jara, decided to reopen schools, stating "When we started to see the uptick in children taking their lives, we knew it wasn’t just the Covid numbers we need to look at anymore. We have to find a way to put our hands on our kids, to see them, to look at them. They’ve got to start seeing some movement, some hope.”

An increase in emergency calls in more than 40 states among all age groups shows growing problems related to mental health amidst Covid-19. Many reports of these suicidal thoughts stem to one thing - a lack of connection. The most common suicide reason or feeling of disconnection has been attributed to many kids feeling hopeless being unable to see their friends or participate in school activities. The inability to access the mental health services that their schools had offered could also be taking a toll. 

With all this research and statistics, this puts many at a crossroads. If you keep schools closed to mitigate the risk of Covid-19, the mental health of many students will definitely decline and suicide rates could increase. However, if you open schools to help students with their mental health, you increase the risk of Covid-19, and students could be infected and later risk transmission to high-risk individuals such as their parents or grandparents. 

Anyway you look at it, it's an extremely morbid situation that Covid-19 has put us all in. And although Biden has set out an aggressive plan to speed vaccinations, increase testing, and help districts reopen schools in his first 100 days, we can only hope for the best. 

New York Times

Executive Orders Issued to Combat Covid

 

In his first day in office, Joe Biden kept true to his promise to fight Covid-19 harder then Trump did, signing 10 executive orders outlining his new strategies to take down Covid. Some of these orders include: no longer holding back any doses of the vaccine, manufacturing things such as syringes and needles through the Defense Protection Act to help prevent supply chain bottlenecks, as well as taking a much more hands on approach to how individual states vaccinate. In the Trump Administration, vaccines were not initially given out right away and after they were, Trump had no real plan for how each state should use these vaccines, he kind of just let them figure it out on their own. With the Biden Administration, states are now being given a liaison to oversee vaccine distribution, this person is helping the state government set up more testing and vaccination sites, speeding up the process to eradicate Covid. Biden hopes that with this new plan showing much more initiative than the previous administration did, that Americans will have a renewed trust in the government's handling of the pandemic.

With all of these new initiatives taking place, Biden hopes to be able to re open K-8 schools within 100 days. However, he warns that “things are going to continue to get worse before they get better”. The grim reality of the pandemic, is that the USA will surpass 500,000 deaths by the end of the next month.

Does Biden’s new executive orders put us on the right track to end Covid?

Is reopening schools in the next 100 days a realistic goal?

CBS

CNN

 

The Senate’s Hindrance of the Impeachment Trial

Ever since the House voted to impeach former President Trump a little over a week ago, Americans have been waiting to see when the Senate will have a trial. Many have worried about the conflicts that would arise as President Biden is just starting his presidency, and the Senate has a lot of roles they must fulfill. Yesterday, the Senate decided to delay the trial for two weeks during which they will focus on confirming cabinet nominations and work on a relief bill. 

Yesterday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated: “We all want to put this awful chapter in our nation’s history behind us, but healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability. And that is what this trial will provide.” Senate Democrats clearly still want to engage in this trial, despite the opposition coming from the other side of the aisle. 

According to the Washington Post, Senator Graham played a role in the push for a delay. In regards to pushing the trial back a few weeks, Graham said: “I think it’s fair to the Senate; I think it’s fair to the president.” During this time, Trump and his legal adviser, Bowers, will have time to prepare. It was only two weeks ago when Senator Graham was verbally attacked at the airport by a mob of Trump supporters calling him a “traitor” and a “garbage human being.” The GOP bond must run deep for Graham to continue advocating for the fallen president.

This coming Monday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will deliver the papers to the Senate. After this, the country must anticipate February 8th for the start of what will surely be a controversial trial.  

1. What do you think about the Senate's decision to delay the trial? 

2. Do you think that we will start to see some bipartisan unity over the next few weeks from Congress?

The New York Times

Washington Post

Washington Post

The Return of Dr. Anthony Fauci

We are now in the midst of President Biden’s second full day as head of state. We are also beginning to see more and more of some of the undoing of Trump’s previous actions, one of which is President Biden’s recent effort to re-establish Fauci’s role. It was only last October when former President Trump called Dr. Anthony Fauci a “disaster.” However, yesterday, Dr. Anthony Fauci was present at the daily White House briefing. This raises the question: is Dr. Fauci really back for good? Last year, we saw Dr. Fauci publicly disputed President Trump’s words regarding the pandemic. After which, according to an article from NPR, “Trump implied he was considering removing the doctor from his coronavirus task force.” After this, the country saw much less of Dr. Fauci at the White House briefings. However, Dr. Fauci is now back and calls it a “liberating feeling.” At Thursday’s briefing, free from the grips of the Trump administration, Dr. Fauci also revealed that he had deemed it necessary to contradict the President because his words were “uncomfortable [as] they were not based on scientific fact.” According to The New York Times, the significance of Fauci’s words at this briefing lie in the fact that he spoke “without the possibility that Mr. Trump or his aides would undercut him, challenge him or try to silence him.” Now, the country turns towards President Biden and officials like Dr. Fauci on their actions regarding lessening the impact Covid-19.

1. What do you think about Dr. Fauci once again becoming the public representation of the White House for the pandemic? 

2. Do you think having Dr. Fauci back at daily briefings will be beneficial? 

The New York Times

NPR  

Biden Recommits the U.S. to the Paris Climate Agreement

His first day in office, Biden signed 17 executive orders, one of them notably being the recommitment to the Paris Climate Agreement from the U.S. This landmark agreement was first adopted in late 2015 by nearly every country, and was a huge milestone of Obama's presidency. The goal of this agreement was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the increase of global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius.

However, a year later during Trump's campaign, he promised to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and announced it again the following year after he was elected. Fortunately, the terms of the agreement make it so that the U.S. could not formally exit until Nov. 4, 2020. However, this does not discount the over 100 other environment policies that the Trump Administration rolled back. 

President Biden has of course, recognized the gravity of Trump's actions and has been fast at working trying to fix Trump's previous policies. With the largest team of climate change experts ever brought in the White House and a very firm stance on climate change, President Biden is expected to take a lot more action on climate change soon. As soon as next Wednesday, "Biden plans to sign an executive order elevating climate in domestic and national security policy; direct 'science and evidence based decision-making' in federal agencies; reestablish the Presidential Council of Advisers on Science and Technology and announce that U.S. data that will help underpin the Climate Leadership Summit that Biden will host in Washington in late April."

Biden's environmental agenda on his first day has widely surpassed that of any other president, but these policies will take a lot of time and commitment to complete. The U.S. has a lot of catching up to do in the 4 years Trump was president, but with a strong support system and the Democrats taking control of the House and Senate, I think Biden will be able to not only tackle this issue, but also a lot of other important ones during his presidency. 

Washington Post

New York Times

Trump's Departing Pardons

On the final day of his presidency, Donald Trump issued 73 pardons to free people from the various crimes they were charged with. Among the people he pardoned, two of the most newsworthy people were Lil Wayne and Steve Bannon. 

Steve Bannon, a former leader of the Trump Campaign was at one point Trump’s right hand man in the oval office, however, after some differences the two had, Bannon was fired from his job and removed from the White House. Up until this day, Bannon was facing criminal charges for funneling money donated by Trump supporters, to the “We Build the Wall” campaign, for his personal use. Although Trump is now out of office, pardoning Bannon was worth it to him, as he is a witty political strategist who knows the ins and outs of the Republican Electorate. The day before the riots at the capitol in early January, Bannon was on Facebook spreading misinformation and encouraging people to go to the capitol saying, “they are trying to steal the election”. If Trump wants to somehow get back into politics, pardoning Steve Bannon and keeping him as an ally is beneficial to him, as Bannon is clearly aware of how to play and manipulate Trump’s supporters.

Another person pardoned by Trump on Tuesday was Lil Wayne, formally known as Dwayne Michael Carter, a New Orleans based rapper who was charged with illegal possession of a gun in Miami in 2019. The White House said that Carter, "exhibited this generosity through commitment to a variety of charities, including donations to research hospitals and a host of food banks".  While it is true that Carter does donate money to various charities, many people suspect that it was his loyalty and praise of the Trump Administration that granted him this pardon.

At the end of the most presidencies, there is usually a wave of pardons that happen. While some presidential pardons are more controversial than others, it is clear that having some type of loyalty or use to the departing president helps your chances of being pardoned. 

Do you agree with Trump’s pardons?

Should pardoning citizens be a power of the president?

Forbes

CNN

BBC

California, Bay Area Opening Mass Vaccination Sites

 

Pharmacist Brian Kiefer draws saline while preparing a dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, Calif.

California is starting to open mass vaccination sites to accelerate vaccinations and accommodate the increased number of Californians now eligible for the vaccine. The new guidelines announced Thursday allow providers to vaccinate people in Phase 1b (essential workers and people 65 and up), but only if vaccines have been made available to everyone in Phase 1a. Many counties are still working through Phase 1a, leading to delays for those in Phase 1b1.

Officials hope that mass vaccination sites at places like Dodger Stadium and Disneyland will significantly increase the number of vaccinations they are able to do each day. ‘“We recognize that the current strategy is not going to get us to where we need to go as quickly as we all need to go,” Newsom said. “So that’s why we’re speeding up the administration not just for priority groups but opening up large sites to do so”’1. At Dodger Stadium, the goal is to vaccinate 12,000 people every day. Previously, Dodger stadium had been a testing site, but LA mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday that ‘the city shut down coronavirus testing at Dodger Stadium and at the V.A. in Westwood because “we needed personnel from two testing sites just to match what we need for vaccinations in one”’3. A big reason for this is that vaccinating is more complex and time-consuming than testing. Most of the testing consisted of self-administered swabs, while vaccinations require a health professional to do the injection and monitor the patient for 15 minutes. “The timing is also delicate: Staff have to thaw and prepare enough doses to keep the line moving quickly, but not so many that the shots expire”. A complete vaccination also requires a second dose, which creates even more logistical work even after a patient has left the facility”3.

In the Bay Area, it’s likely that within the next few weeks mass vaccination sites, like the one at the San Mateo County Event Center, will be able to start vaccinating those in Phase 1b1.

1. SF Chronicle

2. AP

3. LA Times

Will the GOP ever move past Trumpism?

As we are now nearing the end of Trump’s presidency with President-elect Biden’s inauguration on this coming Wednesday, many questions arise regarding the future of the GOP. The Trump presidency will be ending during a time of extreme crisis, especially with the recent impact of the Capitol Hill riot. According to an article from The Atlantic, Republicans will attempt to “pretend [the Trump era] never happened.”

But, is this really possible? Recently, the Republican party lost two seats in Georgia. The losses that the Republican party have suffered may be the direct consequences of the divisive rhetoric of the Trump era. Additionally, the recent bipartisan impeachment highlights the weakness of the GOP. Where does this leave the Republican Party? All of this points to the fact that the GOP will need to strengthen their party away from the ideals that the Trump presidency has highlighted. This may mean returning to the traditional conservative ideals that some have let go of: ideas like limited government and low taxes. 

Speeches about it being the time for healing and unity that have been continuously spread by Republicans since the riot may play a huge role in what the GOP will attempt to accomplish following the end of the Trump era. However, many will not be fooled by these Senators and other public officials since their critics are focused on the hypocrisy they are displaying after they condoned Trump’s actions for 4 years. 

As of now, we must look to what will pan out in the upcoming weeks. According to the NPR article, a Republican pollster discovered that “43% of Trump voters say they would definitely vote against any lawmaker who supports impeachment.” The impact of this on Republican Senators and the future of the GOP are undetermined. As Don Jr. said: "This is Donald Trump's Republican Party."

1. Do you think it will be possible for Republicans to ignore what has occurred over the past 4 years?

2. What necessary steps do you think the GOP must take?

NPR

The Atlantic

Biden Seeks Quick Start With Executive Actions and Aggressive Legislation

As Biden takes office in the coming week, we can expect plenty of action from the White House that aims to set the tone for his first 100 days and signal that the country is moving past outgoing president Trump. Moving past Trump is “an immensely complex challenge, requiring him to balance demands for accountability after Trump incited the riot against those who worry about further dividing the country”1. To me, it seems that Biden will focus on trying to unite the country rather than focusing on accountability, choosing to leave that to Congress and state AGs. In his words, “when Kamala (Harris) and I are sworn in, we’re going to be introducing, immediately, significant pieces of legislation that will deal with the virus, deal with the economy, and deal with economic growth”1. “Many Democrats say the best way for Biden to unify the nation and restore faith in government is to achieve tangible results on issues that matter to all Americans, including the coronavirus pandemic and the economy”1. Along with those issues just mentioned, climate change is another challenge that Biden plans to focus on from day one in office.

Action on climate change from the Biden administration will include both rolling back Trump’s environmental policies, many of which were aimed at rolling back Obama-era policies, as well as instituting new climate policies. Due to fundamental disagreements between congressional Republicans and the incoming Biden administration on how to best address climate change, we will likely see many executive orders. John Holdren, a former Obama science adviser who worked closely with the Biden campaign, has said that “one of Mr. Biden’s earliest executive orders would revive an Obama-era mandate that every agency in the government incorporate climate change into its policies “2.

Whereas Trump faced many legal challenges to his early executive orders, the Biden administration does not foresee those same issues. Ron Klain, the incoming chief of staff stated that "the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate, constitutional role for the President"3. While Biden likely won’t face immediate legal pushback on his executive orders, I think it’s safe to expect that further on in his term we will see challenges to the actions he plans to take on things like citizenship for undocumented immigrants and climate-related legislation. Inauguration day is this Wednesday, so we won’t have to wait long to see how the Biden administration's first days play out.

1. AP

2. NYTimes

3. PBS

4. NYTimes

Impact and Future of Conservative Media

           

The integrity of the November 2020 presidential election remains to be contested by a few individuals and organizations. In particular, Fox News has been spreading all sorts of conspiracy theories and “disinformation,” especially ones about Smartmatic, a company that provides electronic voting technology. Other voting technology companies have also threatened to sue various right-wing media outlets with a “Red Slime” or libel lawsuit. After what happened at the Capitol, how much would you attribute the mob uproar at the Capitol to the information provided by these media outlets? These things are hard to argue, and there is a fine line that needs to be carefully considered. 

With President Trump leaving office, many people believe that the storm is over, but that might not be the case. Typically, ideologically minded news outlets perform well numerically (and perhaps getting their message across effectively) when their political rivals are in control of the presidency. MSNBC's ratings spiked during George W. Bush’s presidency and now again in Trump’s presidency. Looking at this trend, it looks like Fox News and other right-wing media organizations will be seeing new highs in ratings during Biden’s presidency. However, with the consumers of the right-wing media possibly believing that the entire election and now presidency having been stolen, what kinds of new theories or scandals will satisfy their demand for the “unhinged?” With Trump’s defeat, more conservative news consumers seem to be leaving Fox News for farther right media outlets like OANN and Newsmax. According to the 1st NYTimes article, “in the month after the election, Newsmax viewership rose 497 percent between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., while Fox suffered a 38 percent decline.” 

With the rise of television and media, the president has increasingly become the focal point of attention of the entire nation and world. In general, the president’s media image is unique credibility that holds significant advantages, allowing the president to manipulate the national agenda to their party’s and his or her liking and silently block out interference. 

Political recognition can make or break a campaign, political confrontation, and more. Recent examples may include Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign during 2019-2020 and Bernie Sanders presidential campaign during 2016. For example, MSNBC completely left Andrew Yang off polling charts even when he had higher percentages than other candidates on the chart itself. While quite well-known now, their lack of political recognition (albeit their political views and agendas played a much larger role in their lack of result) hindered them from ultimately making it far in the nomination process. 

That being said, great power requires great responsibility. In his four years, Trump seemingly has caused a rise in the conservative-news consumer’s demand for the “unhinged,” and what caused the Capitol insurrection goes beyond toxic partisanship. 

How will conservative media evolve in the coming Biden administration?

NYTimes

NYTimes #2

CNN News

Biden's New White House Science Team

On Saturday, Joe Biden announced his plans for members of the White House science team. Biden plans to move the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to a Cabinet-level position for the first time. Taking a complete 180 when compared to Trump who spent a lot of time criticizing health and science experts' statements. Biden nominated Eric Lander to the newly promoted position. A position that, under Trump, was left empty for almost two years.

Biden's incoming chief of staff also announced that on Inauguration Day, Biden will sign multiple executive orders that will "extend the existing pause on student loan payments, re-join the Paris Agreement, and reverse the Muslim travel ban."

NY Times

CNN

NBC

Inaguration Day Protocols

Leading up to Biden’s inauguration day on Jan 20th, concerns about violent protesters lashing out across the country and at the US Capitol has increased. With the previous attacks on our Capitol Building taking place just a week ago, government officials are now taking things much more seriously and have begun to prepare for the threats. 

To ensure the safety of those participating in the inauguration along with the citizens of Washington DC, the National Guard has been deployed and have set up a perimeter around the Capitol. However, on the day of the inauguration there will be additional parameters being set up around the National Guard, consisting of Capitol Police and Military Police. On top of this, the National Mall, a previous viewing point for the inauguration, has also been fenced off to protect the public. Another preventative measure being taken is by the TSA, who have been examining the footage of the riots at the capitol from last week, and putting people they see as threats on the no fly list. Airlines are also tightening restrictions on firearms being boarded on flights. 

State Governments are now also preparing for attacks on their own State Capitols before inauguration day. Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, has authorized the deployment of 1,000 of our National Guard to surround the Capitol Building in Sacramento from potential rioters. Many other state governments have begun to follow suit. 

Inauguration day in the USA has in the past been a day of celebration, when the powers of the Presidency are peacefully passed on to the next person. However, with all of the misinformation and lies spread out on social media and by our President, the inauguration no longer seems to be about celebration.

Do you think the security measures will prevent violence at the inauguration?

Will inauguration day ever return to being celebrated?

NyTimes

CNN

ABC

The New Coronavirus Variant and it's Impacts

Last month on December 14th, Britain announced that they had discovered a new, more contagious coronavirus variant within their country. Now, this new variant has been reported in over 50 countries. Even though there is no evidence to show that this variant is deadlier or more severe, a higher transmission rate will correlate with a higher death and hospitalization rate.  

Although the discovery of new coronavirus variants aren't uncommon, it's when they develop specific mutations that it becomes a problem. In the United States, the more transmissive U.K. variant has not yet been found, but the CDC issued a statement saying "there is a strong possibility there are variants in the United States; however, it could take weeks or months to identify if there is a single variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 fueling the surge in the United States similar to the surge in the United Kingdom". 

However, many experts predict that this new variant will be the dominant strain as soon as March, leading to even another surge of cases well into the spring. This comes amidst the slower than expected vaccinations in the U.S, but hopefully the speed of production and distribution is able to increase soon. 

It's evident that many people have become restless and frustrated with all the Covid-19 protocols, and even though the U.S. is hitting record breaking cases and deaths each week, it seems like there is more to come. 

New York Times

NBC

Business Titans Pull Back From GOP After Capitol Insurrection

 

Following the insurrection at Capital Hill just over a week ago, many companies have begun to reconsider their political donations. Hallmark, Mastercard, Marriott, AT&T, Comcast, and Airbnb are among the companies that have announced that they are withholding donations from Republican lawmakers who opposed the certification of election results. Other companies, such as Blackrock, Goldman Sachs, Facebook, Google, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft are pausing all political donations. This broader response has left many Democrats, like Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, unhappy. ‘“I don’t know what you gain by cutting everyone off. You should penalize those who are responsible.”’1 

The withdrawing of donations will also have uneven impacts on the politicians that are affected.
According to the New York Times, House members are more likely to be affected by these withdrawals. “Sam Graves and Blaine Luetkemeyer, both Republicans from Missouri who objected to certifying Mr. Biden’s election victory, were the House members who were second- and third-most reliant on PAC donations. Their 2020 campaigns were both funded about 80 percent by PAC donations ... In the Senate, where the reliance on PAC money is generally lower, Senator Hawley received 7 percent of his recent funds from corporate PACs; for Texas Republican Ted Cruz, probably the highest profile objector to the November election result, the figure was 1 percent.”2

 I think that all large businesses and corporations who make donations to PACs probably share the sentiment of Lloyd C. Blankfein, the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs. ‘“I don’t want to minimize the bad outcomes that threaten us all in the waning days of the Trump administration,” he said. “Yet I would be very reluctant to threaten a legislator with a permanent breach over any single issue, recognizing we may need to work together on many other things that will be important to us in the future”’.2 Clearly, companies view political donations as an important tool for representing their interests, and I think it’s likely that the majority of these companies will resume most of their donations before the next election cycle.

1. Politico 
2. NYTimes 

3. NYTimes 

Renewed Calls for D.C. Statehood After Capitol Insurrection

Washington D.C. has long been the capital of the United States of America where the White House and other major national landmarks reside. Despite its fame, this place is considered a special federal district that doesn’t hold any voter representation in Congress, specifically the Senate. D.C. residents have fought for D.C. statehood in the past, but it seems like the recent Capitol attack, Biden’s victory in the presidential elections, and the Georgia Senate Runoff Election results have re-invigorated this issue. 

When the Capitol attacks first began, the chief of the U.S. Capitol Police force and the mayor of Washington D.C. requested urgent backup from the National Guard to help subside the violent mob uproar, but it didn’t come until more than an hour later. The need for National Guard became apparent at around 3pm, but they didn’t come until 5:40pm when the violence had already ended. Unlike governors, the National Guard (specifically the District of Columbia Guard in this case) cannot be summoned at will by the Washington D.C. mayor and, instead, has to be approved by the Pentagon and the president. And, in this instance, the approval was said to be delayed because President Trump didn’t sign off the deployment of the National Guard. With such a large delay in the deployment of guard backup, the deaths and the damages sustained from the mob uproar could’ve entirely been managed more safely and efficiently.  

Eleanor Holmes Norton is D.C.’s only representative in Congress. While she can introduce legislation, she is unable to vote on the final passage of bills on the House floor. In the 2nd impeachment vote on Donald Trump, D.C. didn’t have a say/vote. Just recently, after the insurrection at the Capitol, Eleanor has re-introduced a bill that would give control re-introduced a bill that would give Washington D.C. control over local prosecutions. In 1978, a constitutional amendment that would give Washington residents a voice in Congress cleared both houses in 1978 but failed to get 22 out of the 38 states required to ratify the amendment. Proponents of D.C. statehood also argue that Washington D.C. (693,972) has a larger population than that of Vermont (623,657) and Wyoming (579,315). With this push for D.C. statehood, this may very well be able to set the precedent for other US-owned territories like Puerto Rico.

With both Georgia Senate seats belonging to the Democratic Party and the new Biden administration, there seems to be hope for a D.C. statehood to become a reality. Just last year, the House of Representatives passed a proposal to grant statehood to much of the Washington D.C. area (except for most federal offices, the Capitol, the White House, and the Mall), but was completely denied by the Republican-dominated Senate. 

An interesting fact is that D.C. has 6 of the 10 richest neighborhoods in the country, and is home to the nation’s top schools. 

What are your thoughts on the fight for D.C. statehood? Would it become easier or harder for a potential bill or statehood consideration to be passed in a Biden administration?

NYTimes

CBS News Video

Short Informational Youtube Video

Fact Check

Time

Bellingcat, Parler, and the Capitol Mob

Bellingcat is a UK based group who use legal open-source methods to conduct remarkable investigations. Most recently, they sleuthed out the identities of the Russian FSB agents who poisoned Vladimir Putin's biggest domestic political rival, Alexi Navalny, to the point of being able to call one on the phone, impersonate another agent and make a recording of the agent confessing to the crime. See https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/navalny-releases-recording-call-alleged-poisoner-74843938

Parler, as you might know, became known as an alternative to Twitter for far-right wackos in addition to however many other users it attracted before getting kicked out of AWS for failing to curb calls for assassinations, violence, civil war, and various threats. Before it went down, however, someone with skills and a nice internet pipe scrapped *the entire website's worth of data* as in 100TB of video or something like that. Parler, apparently, collected user data like Social Security #s and government ID's, left deleted material associated with users, didn't strip out metadata from pictures and videos, and now all that information has been warehoused by amateur investigators. Amazon will hand it over when warrants are issued. But as I understand it... Bellingcat is on the case now. It's also likely that foreign spies and criminals have all that user data from their own efforts, but it might not be that helpful to them since organizing people whose identities have or will be compromised in public, and to law enforcement, is not great for covert political destabilization.

Here's Bellingcat's video compilation of 1/6, and they are posting more snippets on an ongoing basis. My guess is that GOP members of Congress voting against impeachment haven't seen as much of this as I have, didn't read between the lines about the briefings the Congressional leaders got, and are going to be horrified in the coming weeks as more comes to light and the public grows ever more disgusted with what happened. If you aren't convinced that 1/6 was the disgraceful coup attempt that it was, sit back and prepare to be appalled:

More evidence that the mob was full of very bad people:

https://thebulwark.com/the-trump-mob-in-their-own-words/

I feel a little bit like we are in an early season of the Walking Dead, when some other group didn't realize that they had gone and messed with the wrong people. FBI : Terrorists :: Carol, Mishon, and Daryl : some damn fools trying to establish a totalitarian enclave. The national security state built after 9/11 is not going to be riddled with QKKKrazies, this I promise you. It's pathetic that the whole lot of them wasn't arrested on the way out, but then again, letting them celebrate during and after makes for better pictures and better narrative than a bunch of battle scenes with less unambiguous heroes and villains. 

President Trump Impeached, Again

On January 12th, The House voted to approve a resolution that encourages Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and declare Trump unable to perform his duties. However, Pence has already said that he will not attempt to do so. Thus, the House moved towards the impeachment process and on January 13th, Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the article of impeachment against Trump. Trump has now become the first president in US history to be impeached twice, with legislators voting 232-197 to impeach him. Of the 211 Republicans, 10 joined Democrats in voting for impeachment. 

Several of the Republicans that sided with the Democrats said a factor in their decision was the president’s refusal to call off the rioters or allow for the immediate mobilization of the National Guard. Along with this, in a speech at a rally just hours before rioters sieged the Capitol, Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell.” After Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the article of impeachment, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell made an announcement rejecting the Democratic calls to bring the Senate back immediately to convict President Trump. This will allow Trump to serve out his remaining days in office. Schumer has called on McConnell to invoke emergency authority, the ability to reconvene the Senate if the two leaders both agree to bring the chamber back. Schumer also made a statement on January 13th saying that “a Senate trial can begin immediately, with agreement from the current Senate Majority Leader to reconvene the Senate for an emergency session, or it will begin after January 19th.” He also added that either way, “there will be a vote on convicting the president for high crimes and misdemeanors; and if the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again.” 

If Trump’s trial occurs after he leaves office, Democrats would then be in control of the Senate with the seating of two Georgia Democrats and Vice President Kamala D. Harris would be sworn in. This would set Democrats at 50 votes in the Senate, with Harris serving as a tiebreaker. If the trial took place with this Senate, Trump could say that he was impeached by a Democratic-controlled Congress and have the ability to make claims to anger his supporters and give them a reason to protest.

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The Impact of the Georgia Senate Runoff Elections

On January 11th, 2021, with 99% of the votes in and a 50,000+ vote gap between the candidates in the Georgia Senate Runoffs, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have been projected and declared as winners. Trump's refusal to acknowledge the validity of the elections has undoubtedly negatively influenced the republican voter base and impacted the outcomes of the Senate runoff elections. 

This win is extremely crucial for the incoming Biden administration, because the Democratic Party now holds the trifecta (that President Obama once held) -- House (222 D to 211 R), Senate (50-50), and Presidency (Joe Biden). With the additions of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff as Senate Democrats, the party count in the Senate is now a 50-50 split right down the aisle. And so, Kamala Harris, the vice president, will be the deciding vote in the Senate. 

The trifecta provides very apparent benefits and freedoms for Biden’s administration: the ability to simply vote along party lines and be able to pursue their agenda wholeheartedly and in unconventional manners. However, through Biden’s Cabinet nominations, it seems like Joe Biden is approaching his presidency and trifecta in a moderate approach, selecting William Burns for Cia director, Merrick Garland for attorney general, and Gina Raimondo for commerce secretary, all of which whom are categorized in the middle of the Democratic party and of which are reflective of Biden’s desire for a middle ground with Senate Republicans. And so, Biden’s moderate approach will be able to secure possible Senate Republicans to vote across the party lines, but it would force Senate Democrats to have no choice but to back him. However, compromise is not exactly a surprise to Biden, a previous vice president and Congress insider, as he has likely much wider of a political network than any of the past 3 Democratic Presidents with political officials from both sides of the aisle.

By establishing and building on the support for his mandate, Joe Biden may very well be able to build momentum. With the trifecta, there almost seems to be an added pressure to pass meaningful legislation otherwise there might be future, detrimental effects in the public’s trust for the Party’s efficiency and abilities to enact change. And so, we, the American public, will truly see how the Biden administration will fare with this trifecta and their effectiveness at pursuing their agenda after their honeymoon phase or first 100 days.

With the trifecta in hand, what priority agenda items should Joe Biden and his administration pursue? What is your opinion on Biden’s nomination of relatively moderate Cabinet members and other future nominations?

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NYTimes

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CNN

Members of Congress fear spread of covid during lockdown at Capitol Hill

 

Congress lockdowns as protestors ambush Capitol Hill

About a week later from the attack on Capitol Hill, Congress is voicing out concerns regarding potential exposure Covid - 19 while being locked out in a bunker with unmasked colleagues.

Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey recently tested positive for Covid - 19 and suspects that the source of transmission to her were the unmasked colleagues she sheltered with on 6th January. While rushing to shelter, a number of members of Congress overlooked instructions to wear masks. 

In agreement with her susception, other members of Congress also fear they might have been exposed to covid.  Apart from Congress, experts claim that the riots were a "superspreader event".  Apart from trump supporters there were journalists, security guards, policy men, and many others who may have been exposed.  Doctors warned member of Congress to get tested, wear their masks, and stay socially distant for next few days.

Freedom of will is often brought up in discussions regarding a mandatory mask order. To what extent should this freedom exist if it is hurting others? Should it be mandatory for them to wear masks to take shelter or does that go against the freedom of will? 

Conan the Barbarian speaks up for democracy!

I mentioned this in class today. Worth the full 7 min and not just a news summary. And now I've learned to embed tweets! Trouble!

Twitter is still negative value added to society overall. It amplifies the reach of bad sources (IOW it's a giant megaphone for propaganda), rewards pithy flame wars over substantive conversation, and even good sources retweet items of dubious merit, I think I just caught Joy Reid retweeting some video of people being taken off a plane as if they were on  a 'no fly' list, which makes no sense.. But with careful curation and a tendency to heavily discount all new information, I might just get some personal and pedagogical use out of Twitter after all.

My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week's attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/blOy35LWJ5

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 10, 2021

Trump's Ban From Social Media

Ever since a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6th, many individuals across the United States have voiced their opinions. Although it is good to spread awareness of the massive problems Trump has caused, the common people don’t have the power to take action against Trump and his supporters. However, many platforms have taken steps to try and help the situation. 

Platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Amazon, Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, Google, YouTube, TikTok, Apple, Discord, Stripe, Shopify, and even Pinterest have banned or restricted Donald Trump’s account and/or forums affiliated with pro-Trump violence and conspiracies in light of the attack on the Capitol. Many platforms have suspended Donald Trump’s account from posting on their forums as they believe it is “too great a risk.” Google, Apple, and Amazon have taken down Parler, a social media app for conservatives and far-right extremists, from their websites and other platforms have taken down content and chat groups that may be used to spread hate and incite violence.

Trump and his followers argue that this restriction is a direct assault on their First Amendment. However, the First Amendment prohibits government censorship and does not apply to decisions made by private businesses. Therefore, the social media companies’ actions were completely lawful. Although it was legal, many people, Republican and Democrats alike, are worried about social media companies being able to block certain users and decide what speech is acceptable. 

In the end, the First Amendment doesn’t require a private forum to publish everyone’s speech. Although Trump is losing access to platforms he used to be able to speak freely on, Trump, being the president, will never lose his ability to share his views to the public. Although the social media companies’ power over speech is a slight bit concerning, when it comes to being silenced, the president is the last person we should need to worry about.

With social media's growing impact on our everyday lives, do you think they should have the power to restrict people from posting to the public?

Washington Post

AP News

NPR

House Drafts Articles of Impeachment Following Incitement of Violence by Donald Trump

 

The days leading up to the riots at and attack on capitol hill were fueled by the debate over the last election. In response to the riots the House of Representatives have drafted (for the second time) articles of impeachment. 

In the official draft, House of Representatives state that shortly before the Congress gathered to verify electoral votes, Trump claimed to his supporters "we won this election, and we won it by a landslide". They say through his he encouraged people to get out and incited them.  

There have been many question raise to the fact that since he is going to leave office on January 20th, what is the point in the impeachment process?

However, there are two significant reasons why the impeachment process is important regardless of the time he has left in office.

The first reason is from a legal and technical standpoint. According to the constitution, if a president is impeached and convicted they will be removed from office and can not run for any future office position. Although, his removal will not significantly (if at all) shorten his presidency, it will prevent any future chance of him gaining power in any seat of office. 

The second reason is to set a precedent for the future and to protect the integrity of our democracy. If Trump is not impeached what's stopping others in the future to follow in his actions and call a riot every time they lose an election? 

Trump has been impeached before but was not convicted in Senate. What happens in the future if the Senate aligns with the party of the president and doesn't convinct them in fear of losing votes not because of their view on the situation at hand? However, even if House of Reps. was to vote that is a possibility in future. Would it make more sense for all of Congress to vote on the matter? 

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NEW YORK POST

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