Joe Biden is (currently) President of the United States

Has anybody seen the new president? https://www.instagram.com/p/CKSkiRzj3zc/?igshid=s865dtzbw4hh

Decker is - my- President.

This is very presidential.

NEW: The Biden admin is reopening an overflow facility in Texas for unaccompanied migrant children apprehended at the US-Mexico border. It comes amid an increase in apprehensions + reduced capacity limits at other facilities due to Covid-19. https://t.co/MYRvIr9gm6

— Priscilla Alvarez (@priscialva) February 2, 2021

"It comes amid an increase in apprehensions." It would be nice to know the time frame being referenced here by "amid". Also, it was reported that ICE literally refused to comply with Biden's EO stopping this policy and it isn't clear to me if ICE has yet decided to comply.

"Under President Donald Trump, the US-Mexico border operated under hardline policies intended to keep migrants out of the United States, including a policy that required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico until their court dates in the US and a public health order allowing quick expulsion of migrants encountered by border agents.
Moves to increase capacity and shelter for migrants are indicative of one of the looming challenges for the Biden administration -- more migrants at the border -- but also signal a shift from the Trump administration's posture of turning everyone away."

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/joe-biden-makeover

https://i.imgur.com/V39NIRD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0R88hpL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/D8KQ4Ga.jpg

not good, man
https://i.imgur.com/p20vfbf.jpg

eh, that's just standard issue politicospeak, like those endless kitchen tables they love so much

only one country can win each century, every historian knows that

Canada won last century but the US has a great shot at winning this one

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/wilfrid-laurier-canadas-century-1904

like those endless kitchen tables they love so much

Chuck Schumer and the Smithenbergs

(imo it's good if politicians don't formally message insanely racist and imperalist and incomprehensible nonsense, even if other politicians have done so earlier)

As I was listening to the speech, I also wondered if perhaps Biden views rhetoric like that as a potential path to bipartisanship (or at least greater internal cooperation): identifying a common enemy that the country can unite behind to defeat.

There's a definite rally-the-troops quality to lines like this:

Can our democracy deliver on the most pressing needs of our people? Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate and fears that have pulled us apart?

America’s adversaries – the autocrats of the world – are betting it can’t. They believe we are too full of anger and division and rage. They look at the images of the mob that assaulted this Capitol as proof that the sun is setting on American democracy. They are wrong. And we have to prove them wrong. We have to prove democracy still works. That our government still works – and can deliver for the people.

I don't know if the rhetoric will actually be persuasive, or if it's even a wise long-term play. But it feels like there's a political calculation behind it, at least to some degree.

a potential path to bipartisanship (or at least greater internal cooperation): identifying a common enemy that the country can unite behind to defeat.

https://static.rogerebert.com/uploads/review/primary_image/reviews/starship-troopers-1997/Starship-Troopers-image.jpg

watchmen or what have you

Suspicious that Joe Biden might just believes in American imperialism and his thirst for bipartisanship follows from that rather than vice versa.

https://theintercept.com/empire-politician/

this guy thinks so too

oooh. I was wondering what scahill was up to lately.

it's a good resource even if you don't agree with all his framing of Biden's stances

President Biden calls for Congress to pass the Equality Act with a message to trans Americans:

"For all transgender Americans watching at home, especially young people ... I want you to know your president has your back." pic.twitter.com/fQCXKQBWCS

— The Recount (@therecount) April 29, 2021

Lately I just assume that anything posted about Biden to any of these threads is some gotcha moment that makes him look like a clueless buffoon or racist or warmonger or fascist or whatever, so I end up watching or reading it several times, scratching my head, trying to figure out what he did or said wrong. Like seeing a New Yorker cartoon but struggling to get the punchline.

I thought his address dragged towards the end--I cut out at one point--but the first half was good. The one thing I thought he might get grief over was a throwaway aside: he was talking about cars lined up for food baskets and he said something like "and these were nice cars," as if that made the matter more urgent. Wasn't mentioned, though, in anything I've seen or heard.

blinkered Blinken needs to be shot into the sun and fuuuuuck all this posturing re China and po faced handwringing over leftist governments in S America, but I’ll say it: Biden is so far is the best prez of my lifetime. I have no illusions where his loyalties lie, or that he has anything approaching actual principles. but at least he (or tbh his handlers, cry about it) are attempting to respond to the moment in a way that makes some sort of sense. I know I’m gliding past a lot of gross shit re immigration and cop fondling and needlessly cruel healthcare policy and and etc etc, but hey

keep up the pressure imo and never ever stop bullying neolib politicians and their flacks online.

Probably the furthest left on economic policy since LBJ?

He’s gonna buy a military confrontation in the South China Sea with all those trillions

This is like a laser-guided missile at the top 0.1%:

Senior administration officials confirmed that the plan would include an increase in the top income tax rate from 37 per cent to 39.6 per cent for Americans earning more than $400,000, eliminate the preferential tax treatment of capital gains and dividends for those earning more than $1m and scrap provisions allowing people to pass unrealised capital gains to their heirs free of tax.

More like a half-filled water balloon, but I'll take it.

I mean it will be amazing if it passes intact. The Democratic party has rich donors too. But it's definitely bold by Capitol Hill standards.

And on top of their proposed international framework to end corporate tax evasion on a global scale, it's even more impressive.

Late to the party but wanted to point out that the image sic posted upthread

https://i.imgur.com/D8KQ4Ga.jpg

Was (on Reddit) accurately captioned "Joe Biden Fingering A Minor."

One could list the shortcomings of Biden's program—I could do without "beat China"—but these initiatives are all very good. The repudiation of trickle-down is a huge ideological shift. And it's massively popular—instant polling had approval around 80%. Didn't expect this of him.

— Doug Henwood (@DougHenwood) April 29, 2021

RIP Morbs.

Is Biden finally figuring out that the Democratic platform is actually popular?

it is kind of eerie how well biden's platform tracks with general sentiment (relatively left on economic issues, hard right on immigration)

So...you mean populist ethno-fascism?

not quite that far but I've posted that study before about how those positions are (depressingly) the most popular respectively

what is going on in this photo?? this is like how they shot Lord of the Rings

The Bidens and the Carters at the Carter home in Georgia, last week: @CarterLibrary pic.twitter.com/uz4yGsfAc1

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) May 4, 2021

you can see the strings on Jimmy

looks like they're on the set of Three's Company

The suit is a little too blue

what is going on in this photo?? this is like how they shot Lord of the Rings

very Lynchian too

it's gonna hurt when jimmy dies

Joe Biden is (currently) a security risk to the United States

BuzzFeed News found President Joe Biden’s Venmo account after less than 10 minutes of looking for it, revealing a network of his private social connections, a national security issue for the United States, and a major privacy concern for everyone who uses the popular peer-to-peer payments app.

On Friday, following a passing mention in the New York Times that the president had sent his grandchildren money on Venmo, BuzzFeed News searched for the president’s account using only a combination of the app’s built-in search tool and public friends feature. In the process, BuzzFeed News found nearly a dozen Biden family members and mapped out a social web that encompasses not only the first family, but a wide network of people around them, including the president's children, grandchildren, senior White House officials, and all of their contacts on Venmo.

i'm pretty sure someone could discover Biden's family members and senior officials without hacking venmo. i'm not sure what exact risks are being postulated here.

what do you think "hacking" is

Sadly, Biden is cancelled.

pic.twitter.com/7Z2PZuzGjQ

— Bad COVID-19 Takes (@BadCOVID19Takes) May 17, 2021

Naomi Wolf is what happens when Gwyneth Paltrow becomes a doctor

— A Concerned Citizen (@teachrunlifteat) May 17, 2021

I'm not a real big expert on public intellectuals, but I'm curious - was she ever good? then just got crazy, or is this a case of the bad just becoming more noticeable?

If your job is “public intellectual” you’re probably pretty dumb

https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/03/naomi-wolf-beauty-myth-feminism-conspiracy-theories.html