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'America First' diplomacy is over, Biden tells G-7 summit

Hank Berrien
The Daily Wire
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Biden G-7 Summit
© Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Biden told leaders at the G-7 summit on Friday, the same day the U.S. reentered the Paris Agreement, that the days of "America First" diplomacy championed by former President Trump were over, according to The New York Times.

As the New York Post, which cited Biden's intent to declare on Friday that the "America First" era was over, noted, "Biden has swiftly dismantled Trump's foreign policy agenda, which saw the U.S. withdraw from the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump believed were against the nation's interests."

One official told the Post, "Now he will get the opportunity as president of the United States early in his term to declare that America is back and the trans-Atlantic alliance is back. He will look forward to driving home the core proposition that the trans-Atlantic alliance is a cornerstone for American engagement in the world in the 21st century, just as it was in the 20th."

Biden claimed, "America is back, the trans-Atlantic alliance is back ... we are not looking backward." He stated, "We have to prove that our model isn't a relic of history. We must demonstrate that democracies can still deliver for our people in this changed world. That is our galvanizing mission. Democracy doesn't happen by accident. We have to defend it. Strengthen it. Renew it."


Comment: Translation: "Neoliberlaism is back. Neoconservatism is back."


Comment: It would be interesting to hear Mr. Biden detail exactly what he means by the term Democracy, and then using such definitions, hold them up against his own executive orders and what occurred during the presidential election.

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Eagle

DOJ charges 9 alleged Oath Keepers with conspiracy for role in Capitol riots

Shawna Chen
AXIOS
Sat, 20 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Oath Keepers
© Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Department of Justice has arrested six additional people with ties to the far-right Oath Keepers militia group for their participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the agency announced Friday.

Driving the news: A total of nine members of the group have been charged with coordinating the attack using military-style tactics. "The case against those affiliated with the Oath Keepers is the largest conspiracy case brought by the U.S. Justice Department so far in the Jan. 6 insurrection," AP writes.

Details: The indictment alleges the defendants "did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and others known and unknown" to forcibly infiltrate the U.S. Capitol and obstruct Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden as president.

Comment: The above charges (according to some) serve to satisfy at least two agendas: The first is to help perpetuate the perception among many that there was some kind of "insurrection" or "attempted coup" at the capitol on January 6th. The second is to help drive home the idea that even the exercise of free speech aimed about what some consider was a real coup of the stolen presidential election (among a number of other developments) will NOT be tolerated - lest one be treated as a "Domestic Terrorist".

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Attention

Putin's condemnation of 'caveman nationalism' contradicts Western attempts to paint him as Russian ultranationalist

Paul Robinson
RT
Sat, 20 Feb 2021 08:08 UTC
Putin
© SputnikRussian President Vladimir Putin
Commentators have attempted to compare Vladimir Putin to various fascist political figures from the past. In reality, the Russian president embodies a state-centred patriotism that celebrates Russia as a multiethnic community.

"Putin, like Hitler, is an ultranationalist." If one was looking for the de-facto Western orthodoxy about Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, this headline from 2014 would just-about sum it up. As American journalist Martin Kalb put it, in his book Imperial Gamble, Putin is above all "ultranationalistic," a leader who is "convinced that only an authoritarian, ultranationalist regime can protect Russia from its enemies."

What is meant by "nationalism," let alone "ultranationalism," is never explained, although the implication is always that it is something very bad and that Putin is an adherent. Which makes it very hard to explain why, in a video meeting this week with parliamentary leaders, Putin denounced in no uncertain terms what he called "caveman nationalism". Something doesn't add up.
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Briefcase

Biden's AG pick Garland to prioritize civil rights, domestic terror


Newsmax
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 07:42 UTC
AG Merrick Garland
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesAG Merrick Garland
In 1995, Merrick Garland was tasked with supervising a sprawling U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation into the bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.

Former colleagues recall that he maintained his composure as he surveyed the crime scene, coordinated the investigation among numerous law enforcement agencies and put together a trial team to bring bomber Timothy McVeigh and his co-conspirator Terry Nichols to justice.

"It really was one of those things that took a lot of organization, coordination, smarts. Merrick Garland had it all," said Donna Bucella, a former Justice Department colleague who worked alongside him in the aftermath of the bombing.

Now, 26 years later, the threat of domestic terrorism is once again at the forefront of Justice Department's agenda as Garland, 68, prepares for a new role as President Joe Biden's pick for attorney general. The topic is likely to be a major theme on Monday when Garland appears for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

If confirmed by the full Senate, he will inherit the beginnings of a probe into the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by protesters including some of former President Donald Trump's supporters, as well as the challenge of preventing future domestic attacks.

Comment: The Dem's redefinition of the country is the old definition - with little improvement on the horizon.

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Syringe

White House working with Facebook and Twitter to tackle anti-vaxxers

Nandita Bose
Reuters
Sat, 20 Feb 2021 10:04 UTC
Goog/FB/Twit/Biden
© Google/Twitter/AP/Reuters/Facebook Jumbo/KJN
The White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc's Google about clamping down on COVID misinformation and getting their help to stop it from going viral, a senior administration official said.

President Joe Biden, who has raced to curb the pandemic since taking office, has made inoculating Americans one of his top priorities and called the move "a wartime effort." But tackling public fear about taking the vaccine has emerged as a major impediment for the administration.

Since the onset of the pandemic, calls from lawmakers asking the companies to tackle the spread of COVID misinformation on their platforms have grown.

The White House's direct engagement with the companies to mitigate the challenge has not been previously reported. Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain has previously said the administration will try to work with Silicon Valley on the issue. A source, who has direct knowledge of the White House's efforts, said:
"Disinformation that causes vaccine hesitancy is going to be a huge obstacle to getting everyone vaccinated and there are no larger players in that than the social media platforms. We are talking to them ... so they understand the importance of misinformation and disinformation and how they can get rid of it quickly."
The Biden White House is especially trying to make sure such material "does not start trending on such platforms and become a broader movement," the source said, citing the example of the anti-vaccine protests at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in early February, and said the White House wants to stop events like that from happening again.

Comment: If one person's information is another's disinformation...where is the truth? Censorship conflicts with choice, no matter its intention.

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Stop

Russia blasts Biden regime for 'persecution' of Trump supporters, political dissidents

Eduardo Rivero
National File
Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00 UTC
Zakharova/US capitol
© AzerNews/Tasos Katopodis/Getty ImagesRussian FM Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova • National Guard at the US Capitol
Russia calls on the United States to observe the human rights of political opponents.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement lambasting the United States government under Joe Biden for the "ongoing persecution campaign" taking place "against anybody at all who does not agree with the results of the latest presidential election."

In the statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova delivered a scathing assessment of the human rights situation in the United States under President Joe Biden.

Zakharova described the ongoing crackdown against Trump loyalists in the United States:
"The FBI has reportedly opened more than 400 criminal cases and applied for more than 500 search warrants and subpoenas for suspects; it has also brought charges against and detained around 200 people. Only several dozen defendants have been released on bail or placed under house arrest. The others are being subjected to harsh pressure, with members of their family and social circle being coerced into giving a 'convenient' testimony. Moreover, people who have not even been officially charged are losing their jobs; they are being banned from social media and publicly ostracised."

Comment: It is telling that the USA has to be reminded about persecution and the right to hold a different opinion. Doing America a favor, Russia called it out. Will Congress look in the mirror and take notice?

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No Entry

Left and right fume over Dems' bill to ban 'twice-impeached presidents' from burial at Arlington or honoring of their names


RT
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 02:15 UTC
Arlington National Cemetery
© Reuters/Jonathan ErnstArlington National Cemetery
House Democrats have apparently found time to plot more ways to punish Donald Trump - even as a pandemic and other troubles devastate their constituents - angering Americans of virtually all political persuasions.

The 'No Glory for Hate Act', sponsored by Representative Linda Sanchez (D-California) and co-sponsored by 13 other Democrats, calls for banning any "twice-impeached president" from being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The ashes of such a president couldn't be inurned at Arlington, either.

The bill's heading refers to prohibiting the use of federal funds for the "commemoration of certain presidents," but only Trump fits the criteria of being impeached twice by the House. To the chagrin of Democrats, he's also the only president to have been acquitted twice by the Senate. But ironically, like predecessor Barack Obama, Trump never served on active duty in the military and therefore doesn't qualify for burial at Arlington anyway.

Not to be tripped up by that technicality, the Trump punishers went further in their bill, prohibiting the use of federal funds to create or display any symbol, monument or statue commemorating a twice-impeached president. Not only would the legislation also ban the naming of any federal building or land after such a president, but it would also block federal funds from being used to help pay for a government at any other level to put his name on a building or other property.

In short, the bill would essentially ban use of federal funds to honor Trump's name in virtually any way. And it would strip Trump, er, any twice-impeached president of retirement benefits, clerical services and mailing privileges. The only retirement benefits customarily afforded to former presidents that would be allowed is Secret Service protection.

Comment: Legislators are elected to be in charge of public policy and legal endeavors for the betterment of the nation, and to apply a modicum of rationality in service to 'the people'. Is it too much to expect them to set aside their petty differences and vindictive agenda to take responsibility?


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Briefcase

British human rights lawyer Karim Khan elected new ICC chief


AfricaNews
Sun, 14 Feb 2021 14:09 UTC
Khan
© AFPICC new chief prosecutor as of June, 2021, Karim Khan
British Human Rights lawyer Karim Kahn has been elected as the new International Criminal Court chief prosecutor.

He will take over the daunting job in June from the incumbent chief Gambian-born Fatou Bensouda, who was sanctioned by the US over her investigations into the Afghanistan war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Khan, 50, previously led a special UN probe into crimes by the Islamic State extremist group in which he pressed for a trial on the lines of Nuremberg for Nazi war criminals. More controversially, he also represented late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam.


Comment: Who is Khan and what are the expectations:

See also:

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People 2

Biden administration urges passage of Equality Act to rewrite Civil Rights Act to conflate gender identity with sexual orientation

Noah David Alter
The Post Millennial
Fri, 19 Feb 2021 18:20 UTC
joe biden
The Biden administration is urging the United States Congress to pass the Equality Act in a move designed to bolster civil rights protection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Axios reports.

The bill, if passed, would code the social constructionist view of gender into law according to some critics, which would have a myriad of effects.

One concern is over the role of transgender women in women's sports. Many people have expressed concern over the participation of transgender women in women's sports, arguing that they have an inherent physical advantage based on bone density, height, and various other factors.

Opponents of the bill are concerned that it would federally mandate that women's sports allow transgender athletes to compete, diminishing the athletic achievements of cisgender women.

Other concerns regarding the bill's treatment of gender identity are that it would require families and doctors to take on an unquestionably affirmative stance towards transgender children. Opponents of the bill have argued that this could ultimately hurt children who are confused about their gender identity, as they may be pushed down an affirmative path when it may not be appropriate due to ideological demands.
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Binoculars

Leaked papers allege massive UK govt effort to co-opt Russian-language anti-Kremlin media & influencers to 'weaken Russian state'

Kit Klarenberg
RT
Thu, 18 Feb 2021 18:11 UTC
fcdo
© Andrew Aitchison / Getty Images
For all its alarmism about Russian 'propaganda' and 'misinformation', the UK government appears to be behind a multi-million-pound push to boost negative coverage of the Russian state, both in Russia and neighbouring countries.

At a European Union summit in November 2017, then-UK prime minister Theresa May announced plans to designate Russia a "hostile" state, and pledged to spend in excess of £100 million over the next five years on tackling the alleged threat of Kremlin "disinformation" internationally.

Now, hacktivist collective Anonymous has released what appear to be internal UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) files that shed significant light on how vast and ominous these efforts can be.

According to the papers, Whitehall has sought contractors to covertly infiltrate media and civil society at multiple levels - all under the aegis of schemes to, among other things, improve literacy, promote cultural activities, ensure "balance and plurality" in media reporting, and counteract propaganda.

Supporting anti-Kremlin media

One of these contractors, Zinc Network (more on them later) explained in its pitch documents that it was in the process of "delivering audience segmentation and targeting support for two of Russia's leading independent media outlets - Meduza and MediaZona".
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