Beyond Labels

We plan to discuss President Biden’s first week (well, 5 3/4 days) in office.

In particular, we plan to focus on the flurry of Executive Orders he has issued–presumably focusing on the most “impactful” or “significant” (as viewed today). Here’s a link to a whitehouse.gov search to list the orders and comments.

I expect that we will also discuss other aspects of the new Biden era—his inaugural address, the Administration’s press briefings/policy, the pending impeachment trial of ex-President Trump and other senate matters.

See you tomorrow!

(Don’t forget—if you want to participate, register at the bhpl.net event calendar to get the Zoom link and password.)

I wasn’t able to be at the meeting yesterday but did listen to this podcast that I found interesting. There is usually a transcript option also available though it doesn’t look like that has been posted yet. https://cafe.com/stay-tuned/policing-the-capitol-with-scott-thomson-charles-ramsey/

Having given the subject ten days to “marinate,” we’ll discuss the event itself, the actions of various parties before and after the event, and speculate about implications going forward.

As always, it will likely be a far-ranging discussion. But here are some potential sub-topics:

• Which parts of Trump’s speech should not be protected by the First Amendment? (Annotated here by the WaPo.)
• Was impeachment the “right” consequence for Trump’s action? What other alternatives could have been chose?
• Which members of government distinguished themselves in a positive way? A negative way? What “consequences” for those “negatives?”
• Has media coverage been fair?
• What should happen with the Articles of Impeachment going forward (i.e., how to handle the competing demand for time vs. confirming executive branch appointees, legislating, etc.)?

And I’m sure there will be much more…