Biden's five-day world tour.

September 12, 2023

          President Biden has just completed a grueling five-day trip around the world. His schedule included the following:

• Thursday: Depart DC, layover in Germany for refueling.

• Friday: Arrive in India; Biden meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

• Saturday: Biden participates in seven separate meetings at the G-20 summit in New Delhi.

• Sunday: Depart India arrive in Vietnam; Biden participates in four meetings, then holds a press conference.

• Monday: Biden participates in seven events/meetings in Vietnam; departs for Anchorage; arrives in Anchorage and delivers remarks honoring first responders. Departs for Washington, DC.

The full Presidential Daily Schedule is here: President Joe Biden - Public Schedule Calendar | Factbase.

          Five days, three continents, twelve meetings, one press conference, and five presidential daily intelligence briefings—that is a lot by any measure! The G-20 meeting was a qualified success, given the complications presented by Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s stance toward Taiwan. As summarized in the NYTimes by Michael D. Shear,

“In three days of diplomacy in Asia, President Biden rallied world leaders to help finance poor nations, fortified the coalition backing Ukraine and struck a deal with Vietnam to counter Chinese aggression.”

          After a grueling schedule and multiple diplomatic successes, the leading story in much of the media is the press conference that was tucked into the schedule in Vietnam on Sunday after eleven meetings over the prior two days. The NYTimes (which covered Biden’s trip fairly and focused on substance) described the press conference as follows:

          “Although Mr. Biden fielded questions on a range of foreign policy issues, including China’s economic troubles and climate change, he spoke softly and appeared tired. To make a point about climate deniers, Mr. Biden rambled into a familiar story about liars in a John Wayne movie, which left some in the audience deeply perplexed.”

          That’s it. That is all it took to set right-wing media sources aflame with proclamations that “Joe Biden is too old” (or worse). I won’t link to those sites because I don’t want to drive traffic to them, but the NY Times’ description above is fair. Biden was tired but nonetheless answered questions on a broad range of foreign policy issues. And it is true that he tried to work in a reference to John Wayne—a reference that was too complicated for the point he was making and meaningless to about half the voting population who have never seen a John Wayne western.

          It is also true that Biden stated at the end of his press conference: “I am going to go to bed.” Again, a bad choice of words, but geez! Even presidents get to sleep. My wife and I (then in our mid-50s) once flew to Italy on a flight that had a long unscheduled delay at Heathrow. We arrived at our hotel in Rome ten hours later than scheduled—about 8:00 AM local time. We planned to be in Rome for two days (on our way to Florence). We decided to “take a nap” before starting our first day’s sightseeing in Rome. We woke up 24 hours later, having slept through 50% of our time in Rome. Clearly, neither of us is qualified to be president.

          I look at Biden’s schedule above and doubt that I would have been coherent in India, much less Vietnam and Anchorage. Biden performed admirably on the trip, which itself is a sign of stamina and strength. And he didn’t cancel any visits to local sites because he was worried about rain mussing his hairdo. Nor did he question the competence or integrity of the US intelligence community. (In case I am being too opaque, those are both references to actual things Trump did while traveling to and from global summits.)

In short, Biden’s five-day world trip was an unqualified success. Except in right-wing media outlets and its “centrist” sympathizers.

Trump moves to disqualify Judge Chutkan.

          Trump moved to disqualify Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over his criminal trial to overturn the 2020 election. See The Hill, Trump demands recusal of Judge Chutkan in federal 2020 election interference case. In seeking Judge Chutkan’s recusal, Trump claimed that comments made by Judge Chutkan during sentencing hearings of J6 defendants prove that she is prejudiced against Trump. The motion is here: Motion for Recusal.

          Judge Chutkan will decide the motion quickly. She issued an order requiring the government to file an opposition no later than September 14 and Trump to file a reply three calendar days after the government files its opposition.

          The motion is a sign of Trump's desperation and is an attempt to set up a claim of unfairness if he is convicted. In other words, he believes that he will be convicted.

          Applying the law to the facts, Judge Chutkan should deny the motion ASAP.

Mark Meadows requests a stay of the Georgia proceeding pending his appeal of the denial of his removal petition.

          Like Trump, Meadows is also desperate. His motion to remove the Georgia criminal case against him was denied. A federal statute allows Meadows to appeal that denial. Meadows filed an emergency motion for stay before federal Judge Steven C. Jones and has stated his intention to seek a stay from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Meadows’ brief before Judge Jones is here: Emergency Motion for Stay.

          Judge Jones has issued an order for expediting briefing, directing the state to file its opposition by 12:00 Noon on September 12, 2023. Although Meadows filed a credible brief, Judge Jones and the court of appeal should deny the request. Meadows has failed to establish the extraordinary grounds for emergency relief.

Marjorie Taylor Greene should be expelled from Congress.

          Marjorie Taylor Greene continues her calls for a “national divorce.” On Monday, she posted on Twitter that “if the Biden admin refuses to stop the invasion of cartel led human and drug trafficking into our country, states should consider seceding from the union.”

          Greene has sworn to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution provides:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution.

          The particular form of oath for a US representative is specified by 5 US Code § 3331:

I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic [and] that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

          The oath taken by Greene is a general constitutional command. The specific oath requires her to defend the US against domestic enemies—such as those who call for the dissolution of the US. She should be forced to resign from the House of Representatives for breach of her oath. Instead, she will be rewarded by a weak and narcissistic Speaker of the House whose only goal is to maximize the number of days before his tenure is unceremoniously terminated by another faithless member of his party.

Opportunity for reader engagement.

          See the opportunity for Tuesday, September 12, 2023, from our friends at Force Multiplier and Rural Democracy Initiative:

Votes from Rural America are key to holding the Senate and winning the presidency in 2024. Please Join Force Multiplier and the Rural Democracy Initiative on September 12, 2023, at 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM Eastern.

 REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT HERE ( A link will be sent on the day of the event).

Speakers include:

·      Sarah Jaynes, Executive Director of Rural Democracy Initiative,

·      Cynthia L. Wallace, Co-founder and Executive Director of New Rural Project (NC),

·      Tully Olson, Executive Director of Montana 55+

Your donation supports the work of 8 groups in key states through RDI's Rural Victory Fund:

·      Rural Arizona Action

·      Courier Newsroom (Nevada)

·      Big Sky 55+ (Montana)

·      We the People MI

·      PA United

·      New Rural Project (NC.)

·      Black Male Voter Project (GA.)

·      Rural Organizing (OH.)

Concluding Thoughts.

          Lawrence O’Donnell made the following observation while discussing the anniversary of 9/11: Only two groups have attempted to attack the US Capitol in the last half-century—al Qaeda under the direction of Osama bin Laden on 9/11 and MAGA extremists under the direction of Donald Trump on January 6. Only one of those groups succeeded. The plot by al Qaeda was foiled by the brave passengers and crew on Flight 93 who prevented the hijackers from crashing a commercial jetliner into the Capitol.

          Trump planned the attack on the Capitol as a diversionary tactic to prevent the constitutional transition of power—an injury more grievous than any damage to the Capitol. In that sense, Trump's objective was worse than al Qaeda’s. But—like the passengers on Flight 93—the Capitol Police, DC Police, and other law enforcement officers prevented Trump from achieving his true goal—wrecking the US Constitution.

          Commentators frequently fall into the narrative trap of saying that Trump's plot came within minutes of succeeding. It did not. It is true that if Congress had not returned to complete its work on January 6, the nation would have experienced a period of constitutional uncertainty. But just as our nation recovered after 9/11 and January 6, it would have rallied and prevailed against any further damage Trump might have inflicted if his plan to delay the count of electoral ballots had succeeded.

          It is a sucker’s bet to wager that Americans will roll over and give up when the odds are stacked against them. It may take a while, but when Americans rise to a challenge, there is little that can stop them. Certainly not Trump and his MAGA minions. America is bigger and more resilient than they believe—or we can imagine. Take confidence from the scale and heft of a great nation and the resolve and determination of its people.

          Talk to you tomorrow!