It’s Tuesday.
For Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021, President Biden has received his daily brief. This afternoon he and Vice President Harris will meet with Latino community leaders to talk about the economy, immigration reform, voting rights; they will commemorate the second anniversary of the 2019 El Paso shooting. Late this afternoon President Biden will offer remarks regarding the coronavirus pandemic and the coronavirus vaccine both at home and abroad.
President Biden has tweeted 4 times so far for Tuesday; I will be sharing them down thread.
Monday when Biden Bits was published, President Biden had tweeted 2 times. He added 3 tweets giving him a Monday Tweeting Total of 5 tweets and 0 retweets.
The coronavirus tweets…
This morning I met with members of my COVID-19 response team as we continue to fight the Delta variant surging across the country. We know the best way to fight the Delta variant is to get vaccinated. Find a vaccine near you at https://t.co/4MYpWqXVVo. pic.twitter.com/nkBwq9PwUp
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 2, 2021
On Monday the White House COVID-19 Response Team held a press briefing. Their remarks can be found here.
I just want to touch on something CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said both during the briefing and via Twitter.
Dr. Walensky: Because of what we now know about the Delta variant and infections in those who are vaccinated, we updated our recommendations, including recommending masks in public, indoor settings in areas with substantial and high transmission, shown in orange and red on this map. It is also the reason we continue to recommend universal indoor masking in K-through-12 schools throughout the country so our children can safely get back to school and safely stay there.
Here’s the issue I have with this just mask if your area has a high transmission…
Nobody in my county is going to check if we are or aren’t in a hot spot area. Not one of those anti-mask–anti–vaccine assholes. It just makes it harder, not easier for communities like mine to enforce a store mask policy. IMO. I get it, as she does explain:
I want to be clear: While vaccinated people can spread the virus if they get a breakthrough infection, the odds of them getting sick in the first place are far lower than those who are unvaccinated. And in fact, places with more vaccination generally have less disease.
We can see this on a population level on this slide, where we compare case counts and vaccination coverage by state, with vaccination coverage on the horizontal axis and case counts on the vertical axis.
States with the highest vaccination coverage are the dots furthest to the right on the graph, and states with the highest case counts are the dots closest to the top. Notice that the states that have lower vaccination coverage — those further to the left — have higher rates of community transmission, as shown in red and orange. States that have higher vaccination coverage — further to the right — have lower rates of cases, as shown in yellow.There is any direct correlation with vaccine coverage and case rates. And I think it’s worth reiterating that public health prevention strategies, including masks, continue to work while you’re unvaccinated.
White House.gov. 08/02/2021.
But that doesn’t negate that it does seem like an inconsistent message. Not to mention it confuses the issue and Twitter fights, yes, not the center of the universe by any means, over images of maskless people, or dumb ass questions in the briefing room over former President Obama having a birthday party will continue to muddy the message which is, mask up, get vaccinated so we can return to some form of normal…
Not to mention free travel is still a real thing, folks in areas of high transmissible disease travel to low rated ones maskless and boom, outbreak monkey is real.
For those curious about the Obama Bash…
The event this weekend, which will be held outside, will follow all US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public health protocols, the source said. There will be testing for guests and a Covid safety coordinator on site.
Martha’s Vineyard, in Dukes County, is currently designated by the CDC as an area of “moderate” Covid-19 community spread.
The CDC has only recommended mask wearing indoors for areas of “high” and “substantial” transmission, which includes nearly two-thirds of all US counties.
CNN. 08/02/2021.
Former President Obama turns 60 on Wednesday.
During the COVID-19 briefing linked above Jeff Zients the head of the White House COVID-19 response team said; Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a nearly 70 percent increase in the average number of new people getting vaccinated each and every day. In the last seven days alone, 3 million Americans have gotten their first shot. That’s the highest seven-day totals since July 4th. And just today, we hit 70 percent of adults with at least one shot, including 90 percent of seniors with at least one shot. These are significant milestones in our fight against the virus.
The White House posted a fact-sheet previewing an announcement the President will make during his remarks this afternoon:
Today, the President will announce that the U.S. has now donated and shipped more than 110 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccines to more than 60 countries – a major milestone that cements the United States as the global leader in COVID-19 vaccine donations. According to the United Nations, this is more than the donations of all other countries combined and reflects the generosity of the American spirit.
White House.gov. 08/03/2021.
They shared a “chart” of sorts with a breakdown by country on how much vaccine has been donated so far.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act tweet.
Tuesday.
The White House has updated the following fact-sheet: Bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act.
The updated fact-sheet now includes snips of what’s in the 2,700 plus page draft bill released on Sunday.
Speaking of the draft bill Senator He to the Haw weighed-in…
Using the linked Google Docs, I found the find feature that is more user friendly….yay!!!, but I digress, anyhoo, the Insurrectionist supporter is upset that in the text of the Infrastructure bill the term gender is defined and used.
According to the friendlier find feature the word “gender” appears 5 times; pg. 37 twice, pg. 2,095 twice (the one HeHaw shared), and pg. 2,149.
The gist is, that no company can be denied a federal contract, based on the above things listed. Gender identity is not part of their spending plan, it’s just part of the legalese of the bill.
But here’s the thing and why I’m even mentioning it.
But their outrage also distracts from the actual money we are spending, they are “outraged” over legal text that prevents the government discriminating against people when awarding federal contracts.
I mean for real, there is stuff, pork, I’m sure, though I haven’t really looked as I just found the friendly find feature this morning, but we can bet the pork exists, where, and how much is still unknown to me.
But sure, let’s be mad, cause the term “gender identity” is defined….
The other tweets...
CNN reported this morning; Two more DC police officers who responded to the US Capitol insurrection have died by suicide, authorities announced on Monday, bringing the total to four officers who have taken their own lives in the aftermath of the January 6 riot.
Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Kristen Metzger is quoted as saying “Officer Gunther Hashida, assigned to the Emergency Response Team within the Special Operations Division, was found deceased in his residence on Thursday, July 29.”
Officer Sean Hickman with the department of public information said;
Metropolitan Police Officer Kyle DeFreytag was found dead on July 10.
He “wrote” an op-ed that appeared in the El Paso Times, I will not copy the whole thing, as I normally would if he’d posted his statement via the White House.
Some snips:
[The tweeted text].
To the families of the 23 souls lost on this day two years ago in El Paso, Jill and I send you our love.
And to the country, this somber day is a reminder of the unfinished work to heal the soul of this nation. Two years ago, a gunman armed with rage and rifle targeted the people of El Paso, and our most deeply held American values. He chose this city defined by its diversity that celebrates its rich Hispanic heritage and connection with the people of Ciudad Juárez.
[Snips].
You lost educators and a bus driver. Grandparents and grandchildren. Americans and Mexicans and a German citizen. Families just out running errands. Each a life of meaning and potential and part of what makes El Paso strong. As hard as it is to believe, I want you to know that the day will come when the memory of the one you lost will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. That day will come, and my prayer for you is that it comes sooner rather than later.
To the broader community of El Paso – we continue to be in awe of your courage and resilience. On that day, you showed who we are at our best as Americans.
He [the shooter] thought that his hatred of immigrants could prove more powerful than the culture and vibrancy of the people of this community. He was wrong. Yet America’s intelligence community has confirmed what the people of El Paso know all too well: the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland in recent years has been domestic terrorism rooted in white supremacy. We cannot ignore it. We must confront the spread of hate-fueled violence in every form.
May God bless the 23 souls lost on this day in El Paso and their loved ones left behind.
El Paso Times. 08/03/2021.
They have published a list of the deceased. May they rest in peace.
The daily press briefing is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. D.C., time.
President Biden’s remarks regarding the coronavirus are scheduled to start at 3:45 p.m. D.C., time.
This is an Open Thread.
