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kpete

kpete's Journal
kpete's Journal
March 17, 2021

So much blood on such tiny hands.


:large

Close up of President Donald Trump notes is seen where he crossed out "Corona" and replaced it with "Chinese" Virus as he speaks with his coronavirus task force at the White House.
https://twitter.com/PDXEleven/status/1240714980132966400?s=20
March 17, 2021

After Republicans threaten to stop all Senate business Biden reveals he'd support filibuster reform

President Joe Biden told ABC News that “he supports changing the Senate’s filibuster rule back to requiring senators talk on the floor to hold up a bill, the first time he has endorsed reforming the procedure the White House has for weeks insisted the president is opposed to eliminating.”


He told George Stephanopoulos he wants to return to the "talking filibuster."

Bold red headline at the Washington Post

Biden, for the first time, says he wants to overhaul the filibuster

WILMINGTON — President Biden said Tuesday he wants the Senate to overhaul the filibuster, embracing for the first time a major change to the chamber's rules that could make it easier for him to enact a far-reaching agenda that is blocked by Republicans.

“I don’t think that you have to eliminate the filibuster. You have to do what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview to be aired Wednesday. “You had to stand up and command the floor, you had to keep talking .?.?. so you’ve got to work for the filibuster.”

“So you’re for that reform? You’re for bringing back the talking filibuster?” Stephanopoulos said.

“I am. That’s what it was supposed to be,” Biden replied. “It’s almost getting to the point where democracy is having a hard time functioning.”

https://www.washingtonpost....

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1371984810445475841?s=20
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-supports-reforming-senate-filibuster-abc-news-exclusive/story?id=76499156
March 16, 2021

A "Far Side" Toon

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March 16, 2021

Shot Chasers: How Officials in Trump's Lame-Duck White House Scrambled to Score COVID-19 Vaccination

… Among this group, Vanity Fair has learned, were chiefs of staff of cabinet agencies, some of whose bosses had become notorious for publicly disregarding pandemic safeguards like mask wearing. They wanted to know, “Would they be able to get four or six doses for their front office?” said a former senior administration official. Though some would claim to be inquiring on behalf of their teams, the official said, in fact “their ask was not about their employees.”

Though it is not clear who ultimately succeeded in crashing the list, which morphed continuously as names were punted off of it and then mysteriously reappeared, most petitioners ran into a surprisingly hard line. “It ain’t happening,” was a common refrain, said one career official familiar with the decision-making. In part this was because Meadows—who, like many working in the White House, contracted COVID-19 late last year—had received explicit directions from his boss. On December 13, President Trump tweeted that White House employees would wait their turn unless “specifically necessary.”…

Why, in a White House infamous for flouting pandemic precautions, would some political appointees in the executive branch show such determination in attempting to score a shot? According to the former senior administration official, the answer is simple enough: Vaccinations would enable these high-flying rule flouters to “maintain” their active lifestyles.

The previously unreported struggle over the White House list was just one front in a sprawling secret war that raged for months at the highest levels of the federal government. The question of how to equitably vaccinate a federal workforce of 2.1 million people in the midst of a presidential transition ended up pitting the National Security Council against officials from Operation Warp Speed, and career staff against political appointees. It also sparked resentment, suspicions of missing doses, and allegations of line jumping…

the rest:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/03/how-officials-in-trumps-white-house-scrambled-to-score-covid-vaccinations?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=vf&utm_mailing=VF_CH_Exclusive_031521&utm_medium=email&bxid=5bd67bd53f92a41245df1ad1&cndid=46207384&hasha=ca4267b462a60f252cf85401b3c734ff&hashb=5332756476ecd7c5f9b2b720ab35d3363bdb0ec7&hashc=4a7a36d6457c7c211bfe331ba51970246bbc906b15de5017113fc13ff1513856&esrc=AUTO_PRINT&source=EDT_VYF_NEWSLETTER_0_COCKTAIL_HOUR_ZZ&utm_campaign=VF_CH_Exclusive_031521&utm_term=VYF_Cocktail_Hour

March 16, 2021

Trump admin more or less forged CDC documents.

(CNN)A review of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Covid-19 guidance has found that some of the agency's guidance during the Trump administration was not grounded in science or free from undue influence, according to a statement from a CDC spokesperson.

The review found that some guidance "used less direct language than available evidence supported," "needed to be updated to reflect the latest scientific evidence" and "presented the underlying science base for guidance inconsistently," according to the spokesperson.
Additionally, the review identified three documents that were not primarily authored by the CDC and yet were presented as CDC documents, according to the spokesperson. The agency has removed two of the documents from its website, and updated and replaced the third.

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1371607826573975552?s=20
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/15/politics/cdc-guidance-trump-administration-review/index.html

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