Joe Biden Day 3 – The Weird Return to Normalcy

Friday January 22, 2021

I turned on the TV yesterday about 4:30 p.m. I was going to watch one of my archaeology shows. The channel that I was on had the Presidential Press Conference. Here was the woman with the red hair and that odd four or five letter last name at the lectern calmly taking and answering questions. People were civil. They weren’t shouting. She called on people largely by name.

I was disappointed from the day before that she didn’t start her first press conference off with “This Inauguration was the largest crowd ever…” and then stop and say, “Oh sorry, that was left over from four years ago,” and put it aside and then continue. But she did get in a few good ones that first day. 

At one point someone asked her about Biden’s first trip abroad, and she responded with. “We are seven hours into this administration and you are asking about world tours?” Then she answered the question (“Haven’t talked to the President about that yet.”) She finished that first press conference with “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Wow. Think about that. They are going to have four o’clock press conferences, like maybe, everyday? And in those meetings questions will be asked and answers given, and those answers will be honest and address the question asked? How refreshing. How adult.

So let’s do a little review of where we were and where we are. 

First off there have been he side by side comparisons of the first press conference of this administration and that of the last. In that first press conference Sean Spicer came out and set the tone by telling a bold faced lie. He did it with anger and hostility in his voice and his manner. Then he left the room. That pretty much told you all you needed to know. It continually amazed me how willing people were to do the last president’s dirty work. How they were willing to not only grovel in the mud but in the excrement.

Let’s look back on a few data points then and now:

– Troops in Afganistan: then 12,000, now 2,500 (against the advice of the military)

– Unemployment: then 4.7%, now 6.7%

– Dow Jones Average: then 19,827, now 30,814

– Federal Budget Deficit: Then $584B, now $3.3T (or $3,300B)

– Republicans in the House: Then 241, now 211

I also think it’s worth pointing out that the Republicans have only won the presidency in this modern era once with a majority of the vote.

There is talk of their “structural advantage.” How states with few people vote Republican and how the Republicans when they gain power game the system to their advantage. There is no sense of decorum or fairness in these power grabs. 

There was talk of the old guard type of Republican last night, and how those sort of politicians have been replaced with as one commentator said, “ambitious brats,” like Hawley, Cruz, and Cotton. Cruz wins for being the slimmest, Cotton the most despicable, and Hawley the most naive, but here we are. There was talk of Ivanka challenging Rubio for his seat. The worst part of that is that if she runs she could win, and wouldn’t you like to see that empty brained person in the Senate and then making noises about running for president? Not that Rubio is any prize, but …

There is also talk about what has happened to the Qanon people. They have lost Parler and kicked off of Facebook. They are now being actively recruited by White Supremacists. Great. We need a campaign to get those that can be saved back to reality. I don’t know how you do that, but it seems a clandestine effort needs to be mounted.

Meanwhile, I’ll bask in the glory of a boring return to truth, belief in science (did you see Fauci up there on the podium yesterday?), and hopefully boring political speeches.

Then there’s Biden’s working on getting Covid under control. Wow. He’s using the Defense Production Act. Why his predecessor didn’t and wouldn’t use it, other than to force the meat packers to their deaths by making them go back to work in Covid infested conditions, is beyond me. As far as I know there was no explanation for that. Wait. There was a sideways one. It wasn’t the Federal government’s job to take control of this pandemic. Naw, let someone else do it. Like the states and cities. That’s right. What stupidity wrapped in arrogance and ignorance. 

Then outgoing CDC director Redfield thought folks were being too harsh in their criticism of his agency because they, in his words, had laid the groundwork and people were getting shots. Yeah. Okay. Then Ron Klain pointed out the facts that the old administration had no plan for getting people vaccinated and that they had fallen way short of their claimed goal. In fact, they had fallen so far short that this administration had a supply of vaccine that was being held back for second shots. Seeing as so few people had been vaccinated they could release more of that for primary shots.

Now we get to the ongoing work of chasing down the criminals. At least the ones not pardoned. But even with the pardons we can still get some of them. Yes, the orange one did pardon some really disgusting people. At least, if Biden pardons anyone the other side won’t have a leg to stand on. However, we might be able to get Manafort and throw him in jail and Stone too. Their pardons were written in such a way that they were pardoned for the crimes they were sentenced for, not the ones they committed. In Manafort’s case he even plead guilty to some of them. The case against him and its prosecution would go like this. “You Honor, the defendant pledge guilty to these crimes. He had not been sentenced to these crimes and he has not been pardoned. We ask that he be sentenced.”

That’s about it. 

Oh then there’s the entertainment after the inauguration. That was the best inauguration entertainment ever! We, the people, got to enjoy it. So much better than seeing shots of the President being hauled from one ball to the next. Hey, wanna do a side by side comparison to what’s his name’s entertainment? I mean Scott Baio, Kid Rock and that no name band compared to J-Lo, Lady Gaga, Garth Brooks, Tom Hanks, Katy Perry, Foo Fighters, Demi Lovato, Bon Jovi, Tim McGraw? No even close. But as Joy Reid pointed out the right has always been jealous of the talent that the rest of the world has compared to them. I guess that’s because the right is a bunch of soulless bastards.

Joy also was up on the fashion angle. She knew who was wearing what. I thought back on the previous inauguration and I don’t remember a word about what any of the women wore. The only fashion statements I remember was when the former first lady went down to show sympathy and wore that coat that said, “Ask me if I care?” or something like that. Classless to the end.

Then there was the fireworks display. OMG! I have seen fireworks displays from around the world but this one was super spectacular.

Enough for now. 

Get to work.