Biden Sleeps Through Shutdown Crisis - The Friday AM Quickie 12/20/24
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THE BIG NEWS
What Would It Mean If Saudi-Backed, Putin-Friendly Elon Musk Is Shadow President and House Speaker?
President Joe Biden has not had a word to say about the federal government barreling toward a shutdown after midnight tonight, a clusterf*ck engineered by Donald Trump and his "shadow president"-elect, Elon Musk. Biden spent yesterday at home in Delaware, "with nothing on his public schedule outside of his daily briefing," per Politico. "He did not address the funding talks when he returned to the White House Thursday evening."
"Where is the 46th President right now? What is he saying about this?" Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told NBC News. "I have not heard him weigh in one ounce over the last month."
Democrats on Capitol Hill report the same silence from Biden. "I haven't spoken to him," Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking member of the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, tells Politico, "adding that she didn't expect to in the near future."
It may be that Biden's decline has been even worse than the public could see. Citing interviews with nearly 50 sources, the Wall Street Journal reports that Biden aides concealed his declining condition beginning in the first few months of his term. They limited his access to lawmakers and cabinet secretaries, canceled important meetings, and "tightly scripted" his appearances – but even that wasn't enough to hide his exhaustion and confusion when he did interact with supporters. Biden will take his last foreign trip to Italy next month; he reportedly plans to meet with Pope Francis on Jan. 10 to "discuss efforts to advance peace around the world." Hopes and prayers, everybody!
With the neglectful blessing of the felonious president-elect, who has also been oddly quiet, it seems the oligarchary has taken charge of the government even before Trump's formal return to power. "Elon's the shot-caller, it's pretty clear to me," California Rep. Mark Takano says.
Some Republicans are talking him up as the next House Speaker.
"Billionaires must not be allowed to run our government," warns Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. But the lame duck in the White House certainly won't stop them.
The looming shutdown not only threatens aid to Americans harmed by climate disasters and funding for other critical programs. It also creates a democratic emergency. A spokesperson for the federal Office of Management and Budget tells Politico that a government shutdown "would disrupt a wide range of activities associated with the orderly transition of power." The big question is if wannabe "Day One" dictator Trump can take advantage of the chaos – or whether it works against him and the agenda of his oligarch "puppeteers".
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
NYPD Breaches Amazon Picket Line
Nearly 10,000 Teamsters-affiliated Amazon workers went on strike yesterday at seven of the company's delivery hubs in California, Georgia, Illinois, and New York. The union tells the Associated Press that management ignored a Sunday deadline for contract negotiations, in which workers are demanding improved wages, benefits, and workplace safety. The company calls the strike "illegal," although the National Labor Relations Board has certified Teamsters organizing efforts. At the picket line in Queens, New York, cops arrested an organizer and a striking worker – and then, per In These Times, "threatened mass arrests before breaking the line" to allow Amazon delivery vans to pass. "If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed," Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien says. Tom Smith, a retired construction worker in New York, tells the Washington Post he canceled his Amazon Prime membership due to steadily rising prices that have outpaced the rate of inflation, adding that the company can "easily afford to pay their workers more and stop spending on figuring out how to limit the workforce."
Canada's Leftist NDP May Determine Trudeau's Fate
Calls have been growing for Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign, including, more openly this week, from members of his own party. Although Trudeau's popularity has been in a long-term decline, his position has been weakened by a simmering panic over how the country will deal with Donald Trump, who has been threatening to annex Canada as "the 51st State" and refering to Trudeau as "governor" while promising to level a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports. Trudeau's finance minister Chrystia Freeland publicly defected this week ahead of a wholesale cabinet reshuffle announced yesterday. Trudeau has resisted calls to resign, but the Liberals may yet face a no-confidence vote, which, per the Associated Press, "would trigger an election that would very likely favor the opposing Conservative Party." Leftist New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh has refused to say how he would vote on a no-confidence measure, but he has suggested that having a functioning government to respond to Trump's tariffs "might be more important for Canadian workers than triggering an early election." Canada's House of Commons resumes business on Jan. 27, one week after Trump's inauguration.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Georgia Appeals Court Sides with Trump, Removes Fulton County DA Fani Willis from Racketeering Case The Fulton County District Attorney's Office plans to appeal the ruling to the state supreme court, but if they lose there, experts say the election interference case is likely headed for dismissal. via the Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- 'Privatized Healthcare Is a Crime Against Humanity': Protesters Rally Outside Courthouses in Pennsylvania and New York as Luigi Mangione Faces 'Double Jeopardy' Federal prosecutors unsealed a murder case against the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO's assassin yesterday, adding to the bevy of charges he faces in two states. via the New York Times and HuffPost.
- Impeached South Korean President Stonewalls Investigation Into Martial Law Debacle Meanwhile in Russia's Kursk region, "North Korean soldiers began to go home in body bags," according to the Ukrainian military. via the Associated Press and Al Jazeera.
- 'Thank you, Gisèle Pelicot': European Leaders Praise French Rape Survivor Following Conviction of 51 Men "I now have confidence in our ability to collectively grasp a future in which everyone, women and men alike, can live in harmony, mutual respect and understanding," Pelicot said after the court in Avignon reached its verdict. via Le Monde, the New York Times, and the Guardian.
SOME NUMBER
2,000
That's "roughly" how many US troops are in Syria, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said yesterday – more than double the number the military has claimed for years. "It's been going on for a while," Ryder said, blaming the secrecy on "diplomatic considerations."
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Tim Pool Licks Some Joe Rogan Boot
Meanwhile, it turns out the new top-ranked US podcaster is apparently a big fan of Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Timothée Chalamet Pitches Theo Von on Affordable Housing
I approve of this use of the benefits of celebrity.
PARTING WORDS
"The assignments would be either me sweeping the floors…or they sent me around the classroom cleaning, organizing books to distract myself. …
"I wish I could say I was a proud grad of Hartford Public Schools. But I consider myself more as a survivor."
-- Aleysha Ortiz, 19, speaking to the Washington Post about her lawsuit against Connecticut's Hartford Public High School, from which she graduated with honors without knowing how to read or write. Ortiz completed her assignments using the talk-to-text app on her phone and a calculator. She began attending the University of Connecticut-Hartford part-time in August. One Hartford paraeducator tells the Connecticut Mirror that "this happens a lot," even with kids who are not in special ed, blaming short staffing for the student neglect; Ortiz's lawyer, Courtney Spencer, agrees, saying "it's not just Hartford."
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