White House News (白宮消息) | Nov. 28, 2020

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How Michael Flynn perfectly explains Donald Trump's presidency

Nov. 27, (CNN)Three weeks into Donald Trump's presidency, he fired Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. On Wednesday, eight weeks to the day when Trump will leave the White House, he pardoned Flynn for lying to the FBI as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Flynn's rise, fall and -- sort of -- reclamation -- function as fitting bookends of Trump's four years in the White House, a testament to the hubris, loyalty and borderline lawlessness that sit at the heart of the most radical presidency in modern history.

That Flynn wound up in the Trump White House at all is telling.His initial appeal to Trump was twofold: 1) Flynn was a high-ranking military officer who had served as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and 2) Flynn had been removed from that job during the Obama administration after a series of clashes with other government officials.

Trump's adoration of the military coupled with his desire to cast himself as the exact opposite of Barack Obama in every possible way drew him to Flynn. And Flynn delivered. After a somewhat low-profile career in intelligence, Flynn suddenly blossomed as a hard-edged partisan -- willing to say almost anything about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and anyone else who got in Trump's way.

"Lock her up," Flynn said of Clinton in a wild -- and wildly well-received -- speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. "You're damn right...     continue to read

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Trump pardons former national security adviser Flynn
Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Nov. 25 - Outgoing President Donald Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday for lying to FBI agents investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,” the president tweeted. “Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!”

Trump's move is an extraordinary intervention on behalf of an ally who pleaded guilty in 2017 and has spent the last two years fighting to overturn his original plea. It was not immediately clear whether Trump's pardon also included Flynn's failure to register as an agent of Turkey in 2016, a crime to which he admitted as part of his plea agreement.

Before reversing course, Flynn initially cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller for nearly two years, including by providing evidence of potential obstruction of justice by the president. He sat for 19 interviews with prosecutors.

Trump had long been expected to pardon Flynn, pummeling prosecutors and the FBI for their handling of the case, part of a concerted attack on the investigations against him. Trump has falsely accused the FBI and Justice Department of mounting a “coup” against him in the years after his election. Trump also repeatedly attacked prosecutors and FBI officials involved in the Flynn case, even though he fired Flynn for lying to both the bureau and Vice President Mike Pence in early 2017...     continue to read

‘I’m Absolutely Expecting Him to Do Something Weird’: How Trump Could End His Presidency

Presidents typically reserve their most controversial decisions for their last weeks in office. Imagine what that could mean for Trump.

Oct. 28 - As we count down the days to Election Day, the pundit class is wringing its hands in worry over whether President Donald Trump will accept a possible win by Joe Biden and agree to leave the White House.

But even if Trump calmly walks out the door of the White House on the morning of January 20th, a more immediate problem looms: What might Trump do with the final 77 days of his presidency if he loses? There are 1,860 hours between Wednesday, Nov. 4, and noon on Jan. 20, when Trump’s first term expires. And that’s plenty of time for him to upend plenty of presidential traditions...     continue to read

PBS NewsHour live episode, Nov. 27, 2020
Nov. 28, 2020

White House News (白宮消息) | Nov. 27, 2020

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CNN host stunned by Biden’s ‘jaw-dropping’ honesty about COVID — instead of urging Americans to ‘inject bleach’

​Nov. 26 -  CNN host Alisyn Camerota found herself pleasantly surprised this week when she saw President-elect Joe Biden giving Americans an honest assessment of the current state of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

After playing a clip of Biden talking about the stark public health crisis facing the country while also acknowledging the sacrifices Americans are making this Thanksgiving, Camerota said it was a remarkable contrast with the kinds of messages President Donald Trump has been sending about the pandemic.

“You almost have to reprogram your brain to hear the reality, to hear somebody, a leader, level with the American public, and say, we need to redouble our efforts,” she said. “We need to recommit to the fight, we need to steel our spine, as opposed to, it’s going to magically go away or we should inject bleach.”

She then contrasted Biden’s message to Trump’s, in which the president openly encouraged people to gather in large groups despite the worsening COVID-19 crisis.     continue to read

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Supporters of President Donald Trump rallying for an unreal event: the theft of an election.

The assault on Biden’s presidency has already begun​

Nov. 26 - Reality appeared to hit US President Donald Trump this week when the General Services Administration gave approval for the transfer of presidential power to President-elect Joe Biden to begin. But don't be fooled: reality will not be where Trump wages a long campaign against Biden.

The assault will be conducted in the realm of unreality, as Trump's Twitter account shows. "Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!" "RIGGED ELECTION!" "2020 is a long way from over". He participated by phone in hearings in the Pennsylvania State Senate on the issue of "massive voter fraud".

The disconnect with the facts on the ground recalls how Trump questioned president Barack Obama's citizenship during his terms in office. Now Trump is again trying to create something – the perception of a "stolen" election, charges of illegitimate power, Biden "voter fraud" claims – from nothing.

It appears to be effective, too. While one-third of US voters believe Biden won because of voter fraud, 77 per cent of Republicans believe that's the reason for his victory, according to a Monmouth University poll.     continue to read

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Taiwan cabinet details plans to regulate pork imports from US

Nov. 27 - The Cabinet on Thursday (Nov. 26) released a five-point plan for the regulation of American pork products, in an effort to ease public concerns over residues of the livestock drug ractopamine, before Taiwan opens its market to such imports from the United States next year.

At a Cabinet meeting, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said the measures will allow the government to closely supervise imported pork "from Customs to the kitchen" and to safeguard the health of the Taiwanese people.

First, American slaughterhouses and meat processing plants that are exporting to Taiwan for the first time will be required to obtain authorization from Taiwanese health authorities, pending on-site inspections, Su said     continue to read

PBS NewsHour full episode, Nov. 26, 2020
Nov. 27, 2020
Thursday on the NewsHour, the U.S. Supreme Court blocks New York's limits on religious gatherings, Americans adapt to a dramatically different Thanksgiving Day during the pandemic, essential workers' Brief But Spectacular takes on COVID-19, and an extended look back at those lost to the virus.

White House News (白宮消息) | Nov. 26, 2020

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The term has appeared on podiums and backgrounds at Mr Biden's recent speeches
Did Joe Biden create the 'office of the president-elect'? Here's what you need to know

Nov. 26 - If you've seen Joe Biden give a speech in recent days you would have likely noticed that his campaign has been using the term 'office of the president-elect' on his podiums and signage on stage.

Mr Biden is the president-elect and will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021.

But many critics on social media have questioned if the office of the president-elect is real or assumed that Mr Biden may have invented the term.     source

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Joe Biden argued Donald Trump could not be trusted on coronavirus.

Joe Biden's first 100 days as US president — this is what he promises to do

Nov. 25 - Joe Biden will be sworn in as US president on January 20 and he already has a lot to get on with.

The first 100 days of a new presidency has become something of a benchmark for how a president will get things done in their administration, after Franklin Roosevelt set a first 100-day standard when he took office in 1933.

Like many before him, the president-elect has promised a plethora of changes.

Here are some of the key things he's promised to do once he takes office.     source

海參崴[8]，俄語名符拉迪沃斯托克[9]（俄语：Владивосток，羅馬化：Vladivostok，IPA：[vlədʲɪvɐˈstok] （ 聆聽）），简称符市[10][11]，是俄罗斯滨海边疆区的首府，也是遠東聯邦管區行政中心所在。「海參崴」是該市的中國傳統名[12]，1860年被割讓予俄羅斯帝國後改為今名「符拉迪沃斯托克」，意為「控制東方」[13]。


Vladivostok (Russian: Владивосто́к, IPA: [vlədʲɪvɐˈstok] (listen)) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area of 331.16 square kilometres (127.86 square miles), with a population of 606,561 residents,[11] up to 812,319 residents in the urban agglomeration. Vladivostok is the second-largest city in the Far Eastern Federal District, as well as the Russian Far East, after Khabarovsk.

White House News (白宮消息) | Nov. 25, 2020

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President-elect Joe Biden looks on during an event to introduce key foreign policy and national security nominees and appointments at the Queen Theatre on November 24, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. On Tuesday evening, Biden appeared on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt for his first post-election interview.
Biden Says Trump Admin Hasn't Been 'Begrudging' in the Transition Process

Nov. 24 - President-elect Joe Biden said during his first interview since winning the presidential election that the transition between his incoming administration and President Donald Trump's outgoing administration "has not been begrudging" thus far.

The interview, which aired Tuesday evening on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, was conducted in Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden and members of his transition team are headquartered. Though the General Services Administration (GSA) granted Biden's team access to transition funds and materials on Monday and the White House gave Biden access to daily presidential briefings on Tuesday, Trump has not yet conceded the election.

During Tuesday's interview, Holt asked Biden about whether the GSA's acknowledgment of the election results had improved communication between the two camps.

"Yes. Immediately we've gotten outreach from the National Security shop, from—just across the board," Biden said. "We're already working out meeting with the COVID team in the White House, and how to not only distribute, but get from a vaccine being distributed, to a person being able to get vaccinated. So I think we're going to not be so far behind the curve, as we thought we might be in the past."     continue to read

Richard Archuleta, Taos Pueblo, NM voting rights advocate. 

GOP Trail of Tears
Giving Thanks to Indigenous Voters

• by Greg Palast
• for Nation of Change
• November 24, 2020

For those of you who wanted to see Donald Trump skedaddled from the White House, this is the week you should be celebrating Thanksgiving giving thanks to Indigenous peoples for giving Biden the White House.  The Native People’s vote provided the margin for Biden in Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona.

In Arizona, for example, the Tohono O’odham nation voted 98% Democratic!

If it were up to White folk, Trump would have walked away with Arizona, but Indigenous precincts in Navajo Nation lands reported a 60% to 90% vote for Biden-Harris.

The Indigenous vote has been crucial before.  In 2004, Native Nations gave John Kerry the votes he needed to win New Mexico and the presidency, but Kerry was never inaugurated… Because those native votes were never counted.

That’s right. Never counted.     source

Biden Introduces Foreign Policy Team, Says World Is ‘Looking Forward’ To America Leading Again

Nov. 24 - President-elect Joe Biden introduced his foreign policy team to the nation Tuesday, saying numerous world leaders have called to tell him they are looking forward to the U.S. returning to “lead the world” after President Donald Trump’s administration.

Biden’s foreign policy strategy intends to stray away from Trump’s more contentious relationships with certain world leaders, which Biden’s imminent administration views as unproductive. Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, Tony Blinken, argued America “can’t solve the world’s problems alone.” Biden’s team is notably much more friendly toward China than the current administration, with the incoming president describing the communist regime as a “competitor” rather than an adversary.

Biden spoke while flanked by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Blinken and his other nominees for foreign policy positions — Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the United Nations, and Alejandro Mayorkas as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. Biden has also selected former Sen. and Secretary of State John Kerry to lead his administration’s international efforts on climate change.   continue to read  


RELATED: GOP Reportedly Plans To Block Certain Biden Cabinet Picks, Dems May Offer ‘Sacrificial Lamb’

PBS NewsHour full episode, Nov. 24, 2020
Nov. 25, 2020
Tuesday on the NewsHour, President-elect Joe Biden moves quickly on the transition to the White House, the troubling surge continues as COVID-19 cases and deaths rise, the coronavirus exacerbates widespread food insecurity as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, and national security professionals train the next generation of women.

White House News (白宮消息) | Nov. 24, 2020

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Antony Blinken, talking about refugees, told a Sesame Street character we ‘all have something to learn and gain from one another’. 
Antony Blinken: Biden's secretary of state nominee is sharp break with Trump era
A born internationalist, Blinken will seek to soothe the frayed nerves of western allies

Nov. 24 - After reports first emerged on Sunday night that Antony Blinken would be secretary of state in the Biden administration, one interview from his past began circulating on social media.

It was a September 2016 conversation with Grover, a character from Sesame Street, on the subject of refugees, directed at American children who might have new classmates from faraway countries. “We all have something to learn and gain from one another even when it doesn’t seem at first like we have much in common,” Blinken told the fuzzy blue puppet.

After four years of an administration that has separated migrant children from their parents and kept them in cages, Blinken’s arrival at the state department will mark a dramatic change, to say the least.

While Mike Pompeo has remained a domestic politician throughout his tenure as secretary of state, giving the lion’s share of his interviews to conservative radio stations in the midwest, for example, Blinken is very much a born internationalist.     continue to read

Antony Blinken is a longtime Biden confidant who served as No 2 at the state department and as deputy national security adviser in Barack Obama’s administration.
Joe Biden to nominate Antony Blinken as US secretary of state
Two other internationalists, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Jake Sullivan, also tipped for top jobs

Nov. 24 - Joe Biden will nominate two veteran diplomats to the top US roles on the world stage – Antony Blinken as secretary of state and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the UN – in a move aimed at sending a message to Americans and allies that the new administration will mark a return to competence and experience.

Jake Sullivan, another Democratic insider, will be the new national security adviser, reflecting Biden’s approach of choosing professionals from the foreign policy establishment in preference to business executives and politicians, who were a hallmark of the Trump administration.

Blinken was Biden’s national security adviser when Biden was vice-president, and then served as the deputy secretary of state in the last two years of the Obama administration. Sullivan was an adviser to Hillary Clinton, took part in secret talks with Iran that led up to the 2015 nuclear deal, and then succeeded Blinken as Biden’s national security adviser in the Obama White House.

Thomas-Greenfield comes from the diplomatic corps, with a career stretching back to Reagan, and rose to become assistant secretary of state for African affairs in the Obama administration. The country’s most senior black diplomat was quickly fired by Donald Trump and his team, who distrusted diplomats, seeing them as part of an amorphous “deep state”.     continue to read