WNU Editor: I for one would be surprised if the Supreme court rules against the Affordable Care Act. But what I found interesting about this press event is that five questions were permitted to be asked, and he answered them. They were softball questions, and he rambled on. But at least he was not yelling.
Showing posts with label U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Is Biden's Worldview That The U.S. Must Be Center Stage In Global Affairs Even Achievable?
Joe Biden visits U.S. troops in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2011, when he was vice president. Biden has been highly critical of President Trump's foreign policy and says he'll work to improve frayed relations with many traditional U.S. partners. Dusan Vranic/AP
President Trump distilled his foreign policy into the phrase "America First." In practice, the result has often been friction with allies, withdrawal from international agreements and the scaling back of the leading international role the U.S. has played for generations.
President-elect Joe Biden wants to restore a more traditional U.S. posture: warmer relations with longstanding partners, a recommitment to organizations like NATO, and a U.S. that's once again front-and-center on the global stage.
"The world does not organize itself," Biden wrote in a lengthy article in Foreign Affairs in March. "For 70 years, the United States, under Democratic and Republican presidents, played a leading role in writing the rules, forging the agreements, and animating the institutions that guide relations among nations and advance collective security and prosperity — until Trump."
Read more ....
WNU Editor: If you want to be center stage in global affairs you must put the money, effort, energy, focus, and presence to make it happen. Does Joe Biden have that within him to make that happen? Maybe 10 years ago he had it. But today, many in the world see what I see. A man who is old, suffering cognitive difficulties, and only appears to be busy for a few hours a day.
But even with these limitations, there is a team behind Biden, and this is what I expect from a Biden administration when it comes to international relations and global affairs.
The hope in Europe is that the U.S. under Biden will reverse Trump's insistence that its allies must pay their "fair share" in defense procurement. If what I am reading and hearing from Biden's campaign and transition team .... they are not going to pressure NATO allies to keep to their promises.
The U.S. will join the Paris Accords, thereby hurting its economy in the middle of a pandemic, and it will join WHO without insisting that it reform itself to avoid a repeat of its disastrous and slow response to the coronavirus pandemic.
I would not be surprised if in the coming months we start to hear that there are talks between Iran and the U.S.. And after that the removal of some sanctions.
The U.S. military presence in the Middle East will increase, and the process for the final withdrawal of the remaining U.S. military forces in Afghanistan will be reversed.
Not mentioned in the above report is Africa. President Trump made the decision in September to downsize Africom, the official Pentagon's presence in Africa. That decision is going to be reversed.
A reversal of Trump policy when it comes to Cuba. The removal of some sanctions on Venezuela.
On China I expect the Biden administration will cave in to China's insistence that their trade deal done with Trump be re-negotiated. A Biden administration will also avoid any mention of the labour camps in Xinjiang, and it will pull-back from President Trump's efforts to form an Asian alliance to face China by focusing instead on strengthen bilateral security/military arrangements with it's allies. I think this pulling-back in efforts to put together an Asian alliance to face Chinese aggression will be seen years later as a huge strategic mistake by the U.S..
On the issue of North Korea, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un always maintained a line of communications between each other even with all of their differences. That line is going to be cut-off.
On the issue of Russia, I expect a worsening of relations under a Biden administration. START will be renewed for another five years, but aside from that, I do not see anyone in the incoming Biden administration having a clue on what is happening in Russia right now. And what is worse. Are not interested to even know.
Monday, November 9, 2020
U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden Announces The Forming Of COVID-19 Task Force (Video)
WNU Editor: I am not sure if President-elect Joe Biden's push for mandating a nationwide mask order is going to be even discussed in 10 weeks. But I do expect in the weeks and months to come the Biden administration will be trying their best to take credit for today's Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough even though they have nothing to do with it.
Some Democrats Pushing To Have Biden's Department Of Justice Prosecute President Trump When He Leaves Office
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden won the presidency promising to bring Americans together. But now his administration is sure to come under pressure from some Democrats to risk exacerbating divisions by investigating and prosecuting Donald Trump.
It would be a turnabout of the “Lock him up!” chants regularly directed at Biden by Trump’s supporters at campaign rallies.
Although Biden has said that prosecuting a former president would be a “very unusual thing and probably not very good for democracy,” he also vowed in an NPR interview in August that he wouldn’t “interfere with the Justice Department’s judgment of whether or not they think they should pursue the prosecution of anyone that they think has violated the law.”
With Republicans likely to retain control of the Senate, Biden’s nominee for attorney general will be sure to face tough questioning during confirmation hearings about the new administration’s intentions toward Trump. And Republican-led committees could strike back by amping up the investigations of Biden and his family’s finances that they’d already begun.
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WNU Editor: Joe Biden has already indicated that he would not interfere with the "Justice Department's judgement on who they may prosecute". I interpret this as a greenlight to his future Justice Department to prosecute President Trump if they should decide .... and I do expect them to open a file. The problem is that they need a crime to prosecute President Trump on when he leaves office, and during his term as President I have lost count on how many investigations have been conducted on him that produced nothing. This leak to Bloomberg could also be a warning to President Trump from Joe Biden. Go after Hunter Biden where there appears to a mountain of evidence of wrong doing, I will then go after you.
Sunday, November 8, 2020
The Leaders Of Russia, China, And Saudi Arabia Have Yet To Congratulate Joe Biden
Chinese President Xi and Russian President Putin. Kremlin.ru
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping stay silent while Iran waits to see how US will compensate for Trump sanctions
Most world leaders rushed to congratulate Joe Biden on his election, but Russia and China, two likely losers from the defeat of Donald Trump, remained silent, perhaps waiting for the outgoing president to concede defeat.
The president of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, is thought to be the first to have congratulated Biden, tweeting his welcome within 24 minutes of the US networks declaring Biden victorious.
By contrast, Vladimir Putin, accused of collusion in Trump’s 2016 victory, and Xi Jinping kept their counsel.
Iran, suffering from Trump-inspired sanctions and now recording nearly 500 Covid-related deaths daily, celebrated Trump’s demise and said the US should now compensate Iran for its mistakes. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, due to leave office next summer, said he will wait to see what Biden does before deciding if there is any difference between Trump and his successor.
Rouhani said: “Trump’s damaging policy has been opposed by the American people. The next US administration should use the opportunity to make up for past mistakes.”
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WNU Editor: Chinese President Xi is going to wait until President Trump concedes defeat or Biden is finally certified .... China's Xi Jinping stays silent on Donald Trump's defeat, but appears to be preparing for a President Biden (ABC News, Australia). Ditto for Russian President Putin .... Putin Is Mum on Biden’s Victory, Foreshadowing Tense Years Ahead (NYTimes). More here .... Joe Biden Congratulated by Russian Opposition Leader, Not by Vladimir Putin (Newsweek). Not everyone is happy with Putin's response .... Distinguished Russiagate disciple Michael McFaul upset that Putin hasn’t congratulated Biden for presumed election win (RT).
Update: Saudi Arabia has finally congratulated Joe Biden .... Saudi Arabia Finally Congratulates Biden on His Win (US News and World Report/Reuters).
Newspapers Around The World React To President Trump's Defeat
* Joe Biden was finally named the presumptive victor of the US presidential election Saturday
* Newspapers worldwide splashed the result on their front pages with headlines congratulating Biden and mocking his rival Donald Trump
* Some outlets in Iran and Egypt focused on unfounded reports of voter fraud
* Others warned of the big changes that could come under President Biden
After four days of anxious anticipation, the results of the US presidential election finally hit newstands around the world on Sunday morning as media outlets praised Donald Trump's defeat while warning of foreign policy changes to come under Joe Biden.
Sunday's newspaper headlines from the UK to Kenya to Australia were chock full of congratulations for Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, who will become the United States' first female, and first black, vice president.
'A new dawn for America', read the headline of The Independent in Britain, showing a photo of Biden standing next to Harris and noting her historic achievement.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: We are now in the "honeymoon phase". Let us see how long this adulation will last.
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