by Bob Barr | Nov 30, 2020 | Daily Caller Article |
Daily Caller When he introduced his “national security team” last week, Joe Biden declared that “America is back.” A more accurate label would be, “the Establishment is back.” Long-time denizens of the Washington Beltway are hoisting more than one glass of champagne in anticipation of more such announcements in the coming weeks. Whether or not this “team” will “lead the world” as Biden boldly declared is at best open to debate, but what is not in dispute is the unmistakable Washington Establishment pedigree of the men and women he brought forth two days before Thanksgiving.His Secretary of State designee, Antony Blinken, is described by the media as a “veteran foreign policy hand” and a “longtime diplomat.” In other words, someone who will be greeted with relief by the many careerists at Foggy Bottom who have chafed for nearly four years at the current administration’s diplomatic bluntness.Biden also announced Alejandro Mayorkas, who had served in that Department for several years during the Obama administration, as his pick for Secretary of Homeland Security. While fellow Democrats unsurprisingly praised this choice, the fact that his 2013 Senate confirmation hearing to be deputy secretary at DHS was marred by a serious ethics investigation during his tenure as head of the Citizenship and Immigration Services is already raising red flags in the Senate, which remains for now at least under GOP control.Potentially problematic also is Biden’s choice as national security adviser – Jake Sullivan. While Sullivan possesses “extensive foreign policy background,” which certainly is appropriate for the job, he also served as a top deputy and close confidant of Hillary Clinton during her contentious...
by Bob Barr | Nov 25, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall All things considered, America has done remarkably well through the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite profoundly dramatic changes to the very fabric of American life (primarily the result of state and local government overreach), we are nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. The economy slowed, but it did not stop. Schools closed, but children are still learning (at least sort of). People are sick and some are dying, but there is a miracle cure on the horizon. All this, thanks to private sector innovation.So why does Joe Biden want to kill it?When you think about it, America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is nothing short of incredible. In just a matter of weeks this past Spring, how we work, learn, and live changed dramatically. However, rather than the economy grinding to a halt, many American businesses quickly pivoted – with considerable, if somewhat uneven success – to a work-from-home model. The same with schooling; it still continues to be a struggle (no thanks to petulant teachers and their unions), but remote learning allows at least some semblance of academic instruction. Even restaurants found lifelines by partnering with food delivery startups after state and local government tyrants shut them down arbitrarily.None of these successes would have been possible even five years ago. Exponential advancements in broadband means internet speeds are faster, and cheaper than ever before, thereby allowing tens of millions of Americans to work from home without major internet interruptions. Technical devices are more affordable than ever, making remote opportunities more possible for the working class. And, thanks to app technology that can create jobs out of thin...
by Bob Barr | Nov 23, 2020 | Daily Caller Article |
Daily CallerWhile our venerable Constitution describes the basic structure of our tripartite federal government and outlines the powers to be exercised by each of the three branches, the mechanisms whereby those functions are translated from word to deed reside in the real world, not on parchment. So it is with presidential transitions. The Constitution is silent on how the change from an incumbent president to a successor is to occur. A presidential term lasts four years and ends precisely at noon on January 20 of the year following the November election. That is where the certainty ends. How those nearly three transitional months play out often have been rocky rather than smooth, and occasionally downright hostile. The current stand-off between President Trump and apparent President-elect Biden promises to be no exceptionThat neither Trump nor Biden likes the other is no secret, and in this they are in good historic company. America’s second president, John Adams, disliked his successor, Thomas Jefferson, to such a degree he left Washington before the latter’s swearing in and never looked back (Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams, repeated the snub by refusing to attend his successor’s inauguration in 1829). History records that the 31st president, Herbert Hoover, and the man who trounced him in the 1932 election, Franklin Roosevelt, were on such poor terms by the time of the latter’s inauguration that neither spoke a word to the other on the ceremonial car ride to the U.S. Capitol.At times, the presidential transition process has veered into the juvenile, as when Bill Clinton’s White House staff removed the “w” from typewriters and keyboards on their way out...
