A Victory, but not Freedom, in 2021
Julian Assange wins one
Julian Assange will not face more than 100 years of imprisonment if today’s verdict stands. The judge in his extradition trial ruled against his immediate deportation to the U.S. because of his fragile mental condition. And who wouldn’t be fragile after being forced to seek asylum in the UK’s Ecuadoran embassy in June 2012, and then being imprisoned in a British jail since April 11, 2019?
On January 4, 2021, Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled against the US request to extradite him and stated that doing so would be "oppressive" by reason of his mental health; the United States has 14 days to appeal. The decision to appeal will fall to the Trump Regime. The official change-over to the Biden Regime will not take place until January 20.
Meanwhile, Baraitser’s decision leaves journalists vulnerable since the substance of the case was not addressed. The espionage charges against Assange relate to Wikileaks’ exposure of U.S. war crimes committed in Iraq. It will be a dark day for all journalists, and everyone else, if those charges are allowed to stand. A bail hearing is set for January 6.
Biden’s Proposed Appointees are bad news for small-d democrats
Incoming President Joe Biden seems enamored by neo-liberals (domestic policy) and neo-conservatives (foreign policy).
Some notable appointees include:
Ron Klain, Chief of Staff. Klain is a long-time Democratic Pol who was closely tied to the Clinton Regime. This is where he likely met Biden, who was a long-time Clinton associate. Biden’s Clinton loyalty may be what got him on the ticket with Obama. It is still unknown what Hillary Clinton received for dropping out of the 2008 primary contest against Obama. It may well have been that the Clintons got to pick Obama’s running mate. In any case, many of Biden’s current appointees paid their dues with the Clintons before becoming officials in the Obama Regime.
Other notable appointees to Biden’s Executive Office include: Susan Rice (Director of the Domestic Policy Council); Anthony Fauci, Trump’s Covid-19 spokesperson (Chief Medical Advisor to the President); the infamous Neera Tanden (Director of the Office of Management and Budget) whose main claim to fame is acting as the hatchet person attacking progressives, including Bernie Sanders, in the party; and
Last but not least is John Kerry (Special Presidential Envoy for Climate) who seemingly won the Presidency in 2004 against George W. Bush, until punch-card machines in Ohio started acting peculiar (page 4). By the way, if Biden was going to pick a former presidential neo-liberal candidate as the special envoy for climate, why didn’t he pick Al Gore? At least he knows something about the environment, even if it’s wrong, according to Michael Moore.
Biden broke precedent by picking a four-star Army general, Lloyd Austin, to watch over the military. Until now, the Secretary of Defense has always been a civilian. In addition, Austin is fresh from a stint on the board of Raytheon Technologies, one of the biggest military contractors.
Jennifer Granholm is the appointee for the Secretary of Energy. She is the former Attorney General and Governor of Michigan, which is known for its huge workforce that builds gas-guzzling automobiles. Wonder what she thinks about electric cars and climate-friendly energy?
Clinton-clone Antony Blinken, formerly of Harvard and Columbia universities, will give his new job as Secretary of State the old college try. Blinken’s best known quote was uttered when he was helping Sen. Joe Biden formulate his position for the invasion of Iraq. Blinken called the pro-war vote, “a vote for tough diplomacy.” Oh yes, Blinken co-founded WestExec Advisors along with Michele Flournoy (another Biden supporter waiting for a call). Flournoy told The Intercept that the firm’s mission was “facilitating relationships betwen Silicon Valley firms and the Dept. of Defense, and law enforcement.” In other words, to bring us all together.
Janet Yellen, formerly of the Federal Reserve Board, gets the nod for Secretary of the Treasury, even though she doesn’t like to spend any money. Is austerity looming over the land of 50 states?
Xavier Becerra, who until recently was California’s Attorney General, was picked to be the Secretary of Health (Medicare4All?) and Human Services. Several pundits have singled Becerra out as one of Biden’s best picks. But there are many in the Los Angeles labor movement who would disagree. I was one of the delegates to the L.A. Federation of Labor, which is the steering committee for millions of L.A.’s union members. When NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) came up, Becerra, then a member of Congress, assured us that he would vote against “the giant job sucking sound,” to paraphrase Ross Perot.
In spite of continued assurances from Becerra that he was on our side in attempting to defeat this landmark trade agreement, he ended up voting for it in Congress. Labor was furious, and unanimously voted not to support Becerra in his future election campaigns. This was an unprecedented act by the mainstream Federation of Labor. Becerra continued to be persona-non-grata for several years, until leadership in the Fed changed, and old wounds were forgotten. My point is that Becerra is no friend of the working class, and it is foolish to count on him for anything.
Then there’s the boy wonder, former Mayor of South Bend, Pete Buttigieg. What mischief will he get into as Secretary of Transportation? What, me worry?
This is only a partial list of the rogues’ gallery we’ll be dealing with for the next four years, unless of course, the Republicans retain control of the Senate and do us a good turn by rejecting the lot of them. Like the Assange verdict, Biden’s election may be a victory, but it is certainly not freedom.
COVID-19 infection (R scores) update
Support The Left Coast
– only Five Bucks a Month!