© Jacquelyn Martin/APRoger Severino
Perhaps not. On Wednesday, Biden broke a presidential norm that Trump never dared violate. Biden did so by firing members of independent agencies appointed by the previous administration. In the days preceding the firing, Biden's deputy director of the Presidential Personnel Office, Gautam Raghavan, asked for the resignation of several Trump appointees. These included Roger Severino, Jennifer Dickey, Andrew Kloster, and Dan Epstein. In an apparent violation of federal law, Raghavan threatened to fire them if they didn't resign. This, even though the appointees are serving fixed terms.
Firing appointees serving fixed terms that have not expired would be unprecedented. But when several refused to resign, they were indeed fired. Severino, who served on the Administrative Conference of the United States council, is now suing the Biden administration over his termination. "The Council does not wield any executive power — indeed, it does not wield any power at all as a purely advisory entity — so President Biden has no constitutional power to terminate Mr. Severino or any other member of the Council," Severino's lawsuit said. "President Biden's attempt to remove me contrary to law exposes his lofty promises of healing and uniting all Americans as nothing more than cynical manipulation," Severino said in a statement.
Severino has a good point. While Biden's inaugural address promised a new agenda to bring the public together, his staff appear set on settling political scores. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. After all, Raghavan has a history of launching personal attacks against government employees. In 2017, he doxed a Transportation Security Administration agent who screened his husband at an airport. Raghavan tweeted that he believed the agent named James Stokes unfairly profiled his husband and patted him down because he was gay.
A feature of American politics that most voters don't fully comprehend is that presidential personnel decide which policies are carried out, even when they don't fully align with the promises a president made to voters. Centrists who voted for Biden in the hope that he would be the "great uniter" had no idea that a man like Raghavan was waiting in the wings. Biden's patriotic message has met its match in a partisan witch hunt led by one of his own officials.
It's not a good sign for the next four years.
From killing the Keystone XL energy pipeline to ending effective policies that reduced illegal immigration, and now this unprecedented move to fire appointees on independent agencies, Biden's administration seems as partisan as any before it.
Ryan Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) is the author of They're Not Listening, How the Elites Created the National Populist Revolution.
Reader Comments
"...First a reality check I discussed before.
Biden isn’t Biden.
The real JB is too cognitively impaired to perform duties of any public office — clearly not the nation’s highest that requires clear-headed interactions with foreign leaders, as well as US public and private establishment figures.
The real JB isn’t up to the task. So a double (an impersonator) acts in his place publicly.
The “Biden” who debated Trump, delivered the inaugural address, and makes public remarks is JB’s double.
The real JB has blue eyes. The color of his double’s eyes is brown.
Photos of JB and his double show distinct differences in demeanor.
The real JB forgets names, facts and has trouble making public remarks without mumbling and bumbling.
His double is articulate.
After studying “original photographs” of both figures, James Fetzer concluded the following:“
Joe Biden has free ear lobes, not attached ears, like his body double…” “Joe Biden has a smooth chin, not a cleft chin, like his body double…” “Joe Biden also has a wider cranium than his body double.”
“Others, including myself, noticed that Joe Biden has blue eyes while his body double has brown.”Fetzer pointed out other differences between both figures.
Most prominent in my judgment are distinctive differences in public demeanor.
I agree with Fetzer’s conclusion that “a great fraud has taken place over the nation’s airways to deceive the American people about the appearance, health and cognitive competence of (the real JB) and that such inconsistencies may justify an investigation and/or certification of the former Vice-President’s appearance and attendance.”
As for the voice of both figures, Fetzer defers to analysis of experts on this issue, adding:“(V)oice morphing technology has advanced to the point that even a body double can project a voice that is indistinguishable from that of the impersonated party.”Fetzer declared “under penalty of perjury (that the information he presented) is correct and true.”
James H. Fetzer is “distinguished McKnight UniversityProfessor EmeritusUniversity of Minnesota Duluth.”
JB’s double delivered the foreign policy address on Thursday.
Saying he’ll “repair our alliances (and) engage with the world once again” is all about continuing to advance the nation’s imperium — seeking dominance of other nations over mutual cooperation.
Diverting attention from Washington’s aim to rule the world unchallenged, “Biden” falsely accused China and Russia of “advancing authoritarianism…to damage and disrupt our ‘democracy (sic).’ ”What hasn’t existed since the nation’s founding was ignored, clearly what’s nonexistent in Washington now — just a fantasy version of the real thing.
If democracy began emerging in the US for real, it would be banned by congressional legislation and/or executive order..."
Shout out & thanks to Joyly for the link to: Absolute Proof - the Mike Lindell bombshell evidence of election rigging I is packed with evidence. [Link]