US President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's at a White House event. Alex Brandon / Pool via CNP
Politico: The unexpected Pentagon chief
A media-shy Lloyd Austin works behind the scenes to carry out the president's plans. Lloyd Austin was sitting in his car in a church parking lot after Saturday night mass when he got the call that would change his life. The phone clicked, and a voice asked him if he would please hold for the president-elect. That’s when Joe Biden asked Austin to make history as the first Black man to lead the Pentagon.
For Austin, a physically imposing but intensely private man, this was not the plan. After retiring from the military as a four-star general in 2016, Austin settled into the private sector. He never built the traditional Washington political network, or campaigned for a post in the administration.
Never comfortable in the spotlight, Austin has assumed a behind-the-scenes role in the Biden administration, providing his counsel but ultimately carrying out the decisions made by the president and a close coterie of longtime aides.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This is a classic main stream media "puff piece".
I didn't read the article. Knowing what administration appointed him and his acceptance of that appointment says all I want to know about the guy.
ReplyDeleteIf "a puff piece" why post it?
ReplyDeleteas for anon: just read Breitbart and NY Post and know all the news you need to know. ho ho ho
A blazing repartee from Lapides. He actually got the paste off his fingers and DIDN'T capitalize!
Delete"...intensely private man, this was not the plan. After retiring from the military as a four-star general in 2016, Austin settled into the private sector. He never built the traditional Washington political network, or campaigned for a post in the administration."
ReplyDelete"He retired from the armed services in 2016 and joined the boards of Raytheon Technologies, Nucor, and Tenet Healthcare." - Wiki
You do not get on those boards by abstaining from politicking. To reach O-10 you have to be political. It starts at O-5 or O-6. That is how I know it is a sappy puff piece.
I do not know to whom Mr. Ho Ho Ho (Lapides) was replying, but his allegations of reading Breitbart and NY Post maybe off base and are definitely tawdry. Does 1:00 read NY Post or Breitbart? No clue. I know I do not. I do have Breitbart linked. For me Breitbart has limited use due to website utility. Otherwise, I would read it everyday. As it is I only go there rarely.
I did challenge Lapides to point out what was wrong with Breitbart. I listed stories posted at Breitbart to those covered by other outlets. I asked him what was wrong in story selection.
You know what Lapides did? He turtled.
My friend Lapides does not respond to "challenges" by misfits
ReplyDeleteUnderstandable Lapides doesn't respond to those "challenges", he's preoccupied with coherency and truth.
DeleteThe ascension of the 63-year-old Bannon has prompted a smattering of speculation that Breitbart, which strongly favored Trump during the presidential campaign, could transform itself into a mainstream news site with a more neutral or establishment profile. But that seems highly unlikely for a site that has made its mark through audacious postings and by frequently taking sides, former staffers say.
ReplyDelete“Generally, we have been fighting for the idea of nationalism, with a two-pronged approach,” said Marlow, Breitbart’s editor in chief. “One, we believe in upholding American values; they are to be respected. And two, we believe in strong countries and strong neighbors. We are deeply opposed to the corruption in international bodies and organizations.”
The site’s editorial thrust reflects Bannon’s nationalist, immigration-restrictionist beliefs and trumpets Breitbart’s continuing grievance and outrage against those who trespass against its worldview. The homepage focuses on a handful of thematic categories: praise for President Trump; attacks on his critics and on the news media’s coverage of Trump; praise for like-minded nationalist politicians such as the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders and France’s Marine Le Pen; stories critical of left-leaning political figures such as Michael Moore, Lena Dunham and George Soros; and random reports about immigrants and refugees causing trouble in their adopted lands, especially Europe and the United States.
When Trump imposed a travel ban on refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations, many news organizations focused coverage on mass airport protests and legal criticisms. Breitbart took a different tack. The headline on its lead story blamed a Muslim rights group with supposed links to terrorist organizations for “promoting protests & lawsuits as Trump protects nation.”
The framing of the piece sent a possible signal about what the president’s enemies might expect from the site. And so, from Capitol Hill to the lobby shops on K Street, a single question is being asked about Breitbart in varying incarnations, and in tones ranging from glee to sheer terror: “Do they weaponize Breitbart to go after anyone who opposes Trump?”
So you are alright with the corruption in international bodies and organizations.
Delete
ReplyDeleteLogin
‘They’re Very Ungracious People’: Trump Rails at Biden Admin for Not Acknowledging His ‘Accomplishments’ in Office
By Ken MeyerApr 29th, 2021, 7:53 am
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Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo primed former President Donald Trump to go on the attack against Joe Biden’s administration for not doing more to recognize the “accomplishments” of his predecessor.
Trump gave an interview to Bartiromo on Thursday morning, and he started by ripping Biden’s first presidential address to Congress for not speaking more about the migrant situation at the U.S. southern border. Bartiromo, who has been very accommodating to Trump in the past, leaped on his comments as she remarked that “unfortunately, Mr. President, this administration is blaming you and your administration and they refuse to give you any credit for many of the accomplishments you’ve had.”
Bartiromo continued by groaning that Vice President Kamala Harris recently said that the border situation is a problem the Biden administration inherited from Trump.
“You see how they’re blaming you on everything and they do not attribute the successes that you had to your administration,” she said. “How do you feel about that?”
“It’s ridiculous,” Trump said. “Obviously they’re very ungracious people. I did the vaccine. They like to take the vaccine. But even the fake news isn’t giving them credit for that. We did the vaccine, saved tens of millions of lives throughout the world by coming up with a vaccine. If I weren’t president, vaccine, you wouldn’t have a vaccine for five years, three to five years would be the minimum. I got it done in less than nine months. And that’s only because of me.”
Trump continued to fume about the Biden administration taking credit for Operation Warp Speed, saying “we had a great delivery system and all they did is take what we had and keep it moving.” He then railed at the temporary pause of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, suggesting it was done for political reasons or to appease Pfizer.
When are you going to come clean about that student Lapides?
DeleteThe above reminds me of Aside from his signature black suit and red tie, Rodney Dangerfield’s iconic catchphrase — “I don’t get no respect” — was the centerpiece of, not only his standup routines but also his award-winning career as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP, an increasingly extremist party whose members still can’t all admit that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, has a message for Joe Biden: Stop being so radical and divisive. That was the gist of Senator Tim Scott’s rebuttal to the president’s first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. Painting Biden’s calls for unity as “empty platitudes,” the South Carolina Republican accused Democrats of dividing Americans in pursuit of a far-left agenda, and of abandoning GOP lawmakers who sincerely want to come together to advance common-sense legislation. “We need policies and progress that bring us closer together,” Scott said. “But three months in, the actions of the president and his party are pulling us further and further apart.”
ReplyDeleteAs a thesis, it was fundamentally dishonest. But it was also telling: Lacking a serious and coherent agenda of their own, and under the spell of a wannabe-strongman, Republicans’ response to Biden is to misrepresent him as they open up new fronts in the culture wars. Sure, at times on Wednesday night Biden seemed moments away from breaking into “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”—but, Republicans want Americans to believe, that’s just a front for a fringe agenda that has, in the words of Scott, helped push the nation “off its shared foundation.” Or, as Ted Cruz summed up Biden’s address: “Boring, but radical.”
They’re not wrong that the ambition of the agenda the administration has pushed in its first 100 days can sometimes be overlooked because its point man is, well, Joe Biden; it can be hard to wrap your head around the fact that the guy bullshitting about golf with John Boehner is putting forth one of the most unabashedly progressive platforms in recent history. But his project isn’t to make crazy ideas seem normal, as Republicans contend; it’s to make the case for what should be normal. Polls suggest he’s doing just that: a CNN survey after his address Wednesday found that nearly three-quarters of viewers believed the policies Biden proposed would move the country in the right direction; a CBS News poll came in with similar results, with 85% of respondents saying they approved of the speech and as many or more describing what they saw as “inspiring,” “caring,” and “presidential.” The country may be bitterly polarized, but a majority approve of Biden and his policies—especially compared with his predecessor.
1. Do you believe that Biden is the legal winner of the election and is the rightful president?
ReplyDelete2. If not, what of those in the GOP that got elected in the same election. Are they illegally in place?
3. Any comments on the Trump health care program he told us was coming.
4. Comments on Trump infrastructure proposals?
Breitbart liking Trump is not a shocker. Breitbart exists not only because of the Left, but also, because of milquetoast RINOs like Boehner, Cantor, McConnell, Jeb Bush and others.
ReplyDeleteJeb Bush had one billion dollars for his election campaign and he lost in the primaries.
Jeb lost it, when he said we must love the illegal. Trump could have finished the wall and then granted amnesty. The difference is the order of operations. It is a big difference and it is one that people who want cheap wages, poverty, RINOs & DIMZ in charge, will not debate.
What would be wrong with letting Trump get wall funding, build the wall in two years and then giving amnesty? Instead every fuckshit in the world threw up road blocks.
Trump is in the top 10% of honest politicians in Washington. You won't find Biden, Kamala or Pelsoi in that group.
Clueless Fred has no idea why Marc Elias is worried.
ReplyDeleteIn passing I note:
ReplyDeleterecent polling now suggests that since Trump has left the White House, registered Republicans increasingly place the party above Trump. That is a reversal of what was. In a few months, GOP will drift away from supporting Trump. What this will mean I leave for you Trumpies to deal with.
Still relying on those polls are we, which of your polls did you show your student?
DeleteDavid Gergen: Can Biden measure up to FDR and LBJ?
ReplyDeleteDavid Gergen
Only twice before in history has an American president done what Joe Biden did tonight: issue a clarion call for a transformation of the nation's social safety net.
Franklin Roosevelt was the first to envision a strong, impenetrable safety net that would protect citizens from cradle to grave. That was the essence of his first 100 days after his election in 1932. Inspired by Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson chose his first congressional speech as the forum for laying the groundwork for his Great Society programs after his 1964 election.
But can Biden be as successful? He certainly gave one of his most effective speeches tonight. For the first 40 minutes of his address, he laid out a menu of delights for the middle class that will surely be popular. His arguments for his plans were well crafted and deftly delivered.
But there is one crucial difference between Biden and his predecessors, Roosevelt and Johnson: those two men began the fight with far more political strength in Congress. Roosevelt's Democrats held 59 of 96 Senate seats and 313 House of 432 House seats when he was first elected. And coming off a landslide election, Johnson commanded 68 Senate seats and 295 House seats. Biden, by contrast, holds congressional power by a thread.
It is also a fair question whether the price tag for the President's plans -- about $6 trillion in total -- is so towering that public support will wane over time. For now, Biden holds the upper hand with the American people. Whether he can keep it may well determine whether he will join Roosevelt and Johnson in the Democratic pantheon.
Grade: A
David Gergen has been a White House adviser to four presidents of both parties and is a senior political analyst at CNN. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-founded its Center for Public Leadership.
David Gergen!?!? Lololololololo,
Deleteseriously Lapides you've got to do better than that!
simple test question
ReplyDeletewho won the presidential election
a. Trump
b. Biden
Call the names you want it's still Gergen lololololololo!
ReplyDeleteYou don't know?!?! Lololololololo!
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteLapides since it's a test, when are you going to come clean about your ex-student?
You know reports don't stay buried forever.