A New Day
President Trump is gone and the pictures of Joe Biden graciously taking the oath of office to become the new American President are calming. Most comforting is Biden sitting behind the desk in the oval office. And his V.P. Kamala Harris the first U.S. woman to hold that title, the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the nations second highest office being sworn in with him.
The ceremony was gracious, and most notable the presence of American Presidents of different political stripes united as they have done historically, Clinton, Bush and Obama among them. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
But, Trump refused to attend the ceremony, and his goodbye remarks made at Andrews Airbase as he departed failed to mention Biden by name and concede the election which he still maintains was stolen. The stop the steal campaign of his has made reuniting America so difficult and dangerous.
Biden quickly signed more than a dozen different executive orders (17 of them) including suspending Trumps wall, rejoining the Paris Accords to combat global warming, suspending travel bans on muslims and halting deportations, and halting Trumps wobbly wall. And, reversing a deal with Canada to allow the building of the Key Stone Pipeline. More on that in a moment.
But undoing every Trump policy may not serve Biden well with Republican voters. He has spoken about reuniting the country. He has no republican members of his cabinet, and pollsters say focus groups reveal many of Trumps voters will tune out of Biden’s messaging. If he wants to reach them he has a huge challenge to mend the country.
Justice has to be done, so the perpetrators of the attack on The Capitol will be arrested. Will the white supremacist organizations be classified terrorist organizations and their international links, their funding, and their huge stockpiles of arms be scrutinized? It’s a major issue for law enforcement and government. And don’t forget the senate trial of an impeached Trump will soon take place. Will Trump be convicted even after leaving office? Still to come…
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/us/politics/biden-executive-action.html
KeyStone
The 1200 mile pipeline carrying bitumen from Canada to U.S. refineries in Texas has been cancelled. It means the end to heavy reliance on fossil fuels in an era of dangerous climate emergency. But it also is a body blow to The Canadian economy. Prime minister Trudeau asked Biden to delay his pledge to stop the pipeline, but was as we mentioned above it the suspension of the pipeline was among Biden’s first executive orders. It means thousands of job losses in Canada’s western provinces. The demise of the oil industry and the loss of thousands of jobs a major challenge for Canada. It’s the last thing Trudeau needs politically in an economy already under siege from the pandemic, and a major challenge for people who relied on the income from the oil sector. The Alberta Gov has invested billions in the pipeline. Keystone XL has been a political ping pong game since 2008 and this looks to be a final nail in it’s coffin.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2021/01/18/the-liberals-promised-help-for-oil-workers-as-their-jobs-disappear-so-where-is-it.html
Canada’s National Review calls Bidens decision “foolish” and “a war with American prosperity”.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/bidens-foolish-sabotage-of-the-keystone-pipeline/
South African Variant
This story is not getting the attention it deserves and it’s alarming. A study on the new covid variant (there are thousands of variants but this is notable) in South Africa shows half of those tested with the variant, were still able to get sick despite having vaccines.
That means the variant is vaccine resistant. It’s a small study but can the vaccines be altered to combat this variant and if they can’t where does that leave the world?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-safrica-vaccines-idUSKBN29A27R
The UK variant is already spreading globally and is 70 per cent more easy to transmit but it does respond to the vaccine.
Russia Unrest Begins?
The Kremlin has tried to shutdown a flood of social media posts that are receiving millions of views, from young Russians speaking out in support of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny. They have hashtags of Jan 23, which is when Navalny has called for street protests against Putin this weekend. And he published a damning report of Putin’s wealth and a huge billion dollar palace build near The Black Sea for Putin. The Kremlin denied the report.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/01/21/young-russians-flood-tiktok-with-navalny-protest-cries-a72676
Thanks for reading. Share our latest podcast Back Story with Dana Lewis on how to confront radicalization.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/7372033
Have a good day everyone.