Amen to this
One of the things that the election of Joe Biden promised us was normalcy. We have seen that over and again with President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Last Friday, reporters caught the Bidens out for a morning stroll with Champ and Major, admiring the Valentine’s Day display Dr. Biden constructed on the White House lawn. President Biden shared the time when Dr. Biden wrote “Joe loves Jill” in all 18 panes of the Vice President’s office window. “None of them said ‘Jill loves Joe,’” he joked. He then walked over and gave one of the reporters his coffee. Man, normalcy sure feels good. That normalcy is one of the best things about Joe Biden.
During his CNN town hall in Wisconsin, Biden was asked when we might get back to life as we know it. He pointed out that while he cannot give us any specific dates or deadlines, he hopes we might have a normal Christmas next year and pledged to have 600 million vaccines available by July according to the Guardian. The Baltimore Sun described President Biden’s overall presence at the town hall as good, with him displaying “respect, empathy, and kindness.” While the reporter of this piece said that he is perhaps blinded by four years of a “bully and blowhard,” Biden is genuine. He is too consistent to be anything else. When Biden says things such as (quoted by Washington Post): “I literally pray that I have the capacity to do for the country what you all deserve be done,” you know you are talking to a genuine guy, and he genuinely wants to do right by the American people. You can see that in his cabinet selections.
The following cabinet members have been confirmed: General Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense; Janet Yellen, Secretary of Treasury; Avril Haines, National Intelligence Director; Antony Blinken, Secretary of State; Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation; and Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security. Mayorkas and Biden have already made several changes to immigration policy, including doing away with Trump’s Migrant Protocol Policy. On February 16, the White House issued a release, indicating that the U.S. will begin processing individuals who have been trapped in Mexican border towns. They were careful to note to people looking to immigrate that “our borders are not open” but that they are beginning the process of “reopening access to an orderly asylum process” for those who have already applied. This is merely a first step in making changes to punitive policies that did not work.
Confirmation hearings have now been scheduled for Merrick Garland’s appointment to Attorney General within the next couple weeks. Biden has no time for foolishness as he moves forward with his agenda for America. When asked about Donald Trump at CNN’s town hall, President Biden responded that he is “tired of commenting” on Trump. “For four years, all that’s been in the news is Trump. The next four years, I want to make sure all the news is about the American people.” Amen to that.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years