Biden Bits: Faith Has Always Been a Beacon…

Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

It’s Monday.

When Biden Bits was posted for Friday, President Biden had tweeted 2 times. He added 4 tweets giving him a Friday Tweeting Total of 6 tweets and 0 retweets…

The YouTube video is 15 minutes and 49 seconds long. President Biden begins his remarks at the 3 minute and 17 second mark. His full remarks can be found here.

The tweeted video is 31 seconds long. The video was filmed independent of his remarks, but there is crossover…

President Biden: Today, we’re launching the biggest bridge construction program since the Interstate Highway System. 45,000 bridges in America are in need of repair. We’re going to repair them, rebuild them, put them in a position where they make us much more competitive. We’re going to go from being 13th in the world in infrastructure back to being number one. That’s going to create good paying jobs. That’s going to generate economic growth and that’s going to help connect communities. That’s what this is all about.

From President Biden’s Remarks: And that brings me to the announcement I want to make today that’s just part of the infrastructure bill.  My Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes the largest investment in our nation’s bridges since the creation of the Interstate Highway System.  Bridges to connect us.  Bridges to make America work. Across our country right now, there are 45,000 bridges — 45,000 — that are in poor condition.  We’re seeing photos of some of them behind me in all 50 states. 

From President Biden’s Remarks con’t: There’s nothing beyond our capacity when we work together.  When we get this done, we’ll get back to beating the world again.  We’ve [We’ll] once again be number one in the world, instead of where we sit now at number 13, in terms of the quality of our infrastructure. And that’s going to mean more jobs, good-paying jobs, safer communities, and lower costs. 

President Biden: Clean water for every American.  We’re — never done that.  Now we’re going to do it. High-speed Internet for every American.  We’ve never done that before.  Now we are.

President Biden’s Saturday Tweeting total is 2 tweets and 0 retweets. 

On January 11th, 2022, President Biden and Vice President Harris gave remarks in Atlanta, GA., regrading voting rights. The YouTube is 41 minutes and 10 seconds long. President Biden begins his remarks are the 11 minute and 18 second mark. His full remarks can be found here.

President Biden: And here’s one thing every senator and every American should remember: History has never been kind to those who have sided with voter suppression over voters’ rights.  And it will be even less kind for those who side with election subversion.

President Biden’s Sunday Tweeting Total is 3 tweets and 0 retweets…

The 17 times more likely figure comes from the CDC as of November 2021:

CDC.gov.

The two links featured in the image:

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For more information about COVID-NET (methods).

The White House posted the following Proclamation on; Religious Freedom Day, 2022:

From the earliest days of our Nation, courageous people from every part of the world have come to the United States in search of religious liberty, risking everything to flee oppression, persecution, and discrimination because of their beliefs.  Our Founders enshrined the principle of religious freedom in the First Amendment to our Constitution, establishing it as a cornerstone of who we are as a Nation.  Today, America remains a religiously diverse Nation — a land uniquely strengthened by the routine and extraordinary commingling of faiths and belief systems.  On Religious Freedom Day, we recommit ourselves to the protection and advancement of this vital aspect of our American character — and to protecting the freedom of people of all faiths and none, both across our Nation and around the world.

Our country’s greatest strength is and always has been our diversity, including the multitude of faiths and beliefs practiced across our Nation.  My Administration is committed to strengthening the Federal workforce by ensuring that it resembles the full breadth of our people by promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, including on the basis of religion.  That is why I reestablished the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to serve people in need by partnering with both religious and secular organizations.  These public-private partnerships embody the American system of religious freedom and are effective — whether by working together to get people vaccinated against COVID-19, providing nutritious meals to children, or welcoming and resettling refugees to the United States.

Everyone should feel safe when attending a religious service, school, a community center event, or while walking down the street wearing the symbols of their faith.  To help ensure that everyone can practice their faith without fear, my Administration has implemented increased funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which makes funding available to threatened nonprofits — including houses of worship and other religious affiliated entities — to improve their safety and security.  I also signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which included the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act to provide tools that we know are effective in preventing and prosecuting hate crimes.  We must constantly affirm that hate has no safe harbor in America.  My Administration remains steadfast in our efforts to lead and advance human rights including the freedom of religion around the globe at a time when many people are subject to horrifying persecution for their faith and beliefs.

In my life, faith has always been a beacon of hope and a calling to purpose, as it is for so many Americans, and I believe that protecting religious freedom is as important now as it has ever been.  We must continue our work to ensure that people of all faiths — or none — are treated as full participants in society, equal in rights and dignity.  We can only fully realize the freedom we wish for ourselves by helping to ensure liberty for all.  On Religious Freedom Day, let us rededicate ourselves to these fundamental principles.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2022, as Religious Freedom Day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.

White House.gov. 01/14/2022.

On Saturday a gunman entered Beth Israel Congregation in Colleyville, Texas, and took four people hostage. The gunman was identified yesterday, as Malik Faisal Akram, a 44 year-old British National. CNN reported that all hostages were released 11 hours after the standoff started. Akram was killed by a FBI Hostage Rescue Team.

They go on to say; Akram arrived in the United States approximately five weeks ago, landing at New York’s JFK Airport, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN.He arrived legally in December, a separate federal law enforcement source told CNN. Therefore, Akram cleared vetting prior to his arrival, which would have been checked against classified and unclassified information available at the time.Akram was not on a US government watchlist, the law enforcement source said.

In light of the attack on the synagogue, President Biden and Vice President Harris released statements:

President Biden: 

Thanks to the courageous work of state, local and federal law enforcement, four Americans who were held hostage at a Texas synagogue will soon be home with their families. I am grateful to the tireless work of law enforcement at all levels who acted cooperatively and fearlessly to rescue the hostages. We are sending love and strength to the members of Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, and the Jewish community.

There is more we will learn in the days ahead about the motivations of the hostage taker. But let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate—we will stand against antisemitism and against the rise of extremism in this country. That is who we are, and tonight, the men and women of law enforcement made us all proud.

White House.gov. 01/15/2022.

Vice President Harris: 

This morning, we are grateful that four people held hostage in a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas are safe and going home to their families. We thank the brave men and women in federal, state, and local law enforcement, and we stand in solidarity with the Congregation Beth Israel community and the entire Jewish community. While we will learn more about the hostage taker’s motivation, we know this: what happened yesterday at Congregation Beth Israel is a reminder that we must speak up and combat antisemitism and hate wherever it exists. Everyone has a right to pray, work, study, and spend time with loved ones not as the other – but as us.

White House.gov. 01/15/2022.

President Biden addressed the crisis during his stop in Philadelphia.

Hey, folks.  With regard to Texas and the synagogue, I spoke this morning with the Attorney General and — to get a rundown.  He said there’s overwhelming cooperation with the local authorities and the FBI, and they did one hell of a job. 

This was an act of terror.  This was an act of terror.  And it not only was related to someone who had been arrested, I might add, 15 years ago and been in jail for 10 years — the idea that it was something new. 
And they did just a great job. 

I also told him that I wanted to make sure we got the word out to synagogues and places of worship that we’re not going to tolerate this, that we have this capacity to deal with the assaults on particularly the antisemitism that has grown up. 

And so — and I’ll be talking with — I put a call into the rabbi.  We missed one another on the way up here.  And — but they should rest assured that we are focused.  We are focused.  The Attorney General is focused.  I’m making sure that we deal with these kinds of acts. 

And thank God — thank God we have such a professional FBI, as well as — the local cooperation, I was told, was incredible.  It was seamless.  So, I just wanted to let you know that. 

White House.gov. 01/16/2022.

Q: Mr. President, how could this gentl- — how could this man have gotten weapons?  There’s reports that he’s only been in the country for a couple of —weeks.

President Biden: Allegedly — I — we — I don’t have all the facts, nor does the Attorney General.  But, allegedly, the assertion was he got the weapons on the street.  He purchased them when he landed. And — and it turns out there apparently were no bombs that we know of.  That — you know, he said that there are bombs he has as well. But he — apparently, he spent the first night in a homeless shelter.  I don’t have all the detail yet, so I’m reluctant to go into more — much more detail. But — and, allegedly, he purchased it on the street.  Now what that means, I don’t know.  Whether he purchased it from an individual in a homeless shelter or a homeless community, or whether — because that’s where he said he was — it’s hard to tell.  I just don’t know.

Q:  (Inaudible) ramifications for the push to — on — to ensure that guns are not available?

President Biden: Well, no — well, it does but it also doesn’t.  The guns are — we should be — the idea of background checks are critical.  But you can’t stop something like this if someone is on the street buying something from somebody else on the street.  Except that there’s too — there’s so many guns that have been sold of late; it’s just ridiculous. And it’s because of the failure of us to focus as hard as we should and as consistent as we should on gun purchases, gun sales, ghost guns, and a whole range of things that I’m trying to do.

Q: Mr. President, do you know more about the motivations of the person?

President Biden: No, I don’t.  I — there’s speculation, but I’m not going to get into that.  I will — I’m going to have a press conference on Wednesday, and I’ll be happy to go into detail of what I know in detail at that time. 

Q: Do you know why he targeted that specific synagogue, Mr. President?

President Biden: Well, no, I don’t.  We don’t have — I don’t think there is sufficient information to know about why he targeted that synagogue or why he insisted on the release of someone who’s been in prison for over 10 years, why he was engaged — why he was using antisemitic and anti-Israeli comments.  I — we just don’t have enough facts. 

For Monday January 17th, 2022, the day we recognize the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Biden has nothing on his public schedule aside from later this afternoon he will travel back to the White House from his home in Delaware. In light of the federal holiday there are no press briefings today.

President Biden has tweeted 2 times so far for Monday…

The video is 2 minutes and 39 seconds long.

President Biden: Last week, Vice President Harris and I visited Atlanta, Georgia, the cradle of civil rights in America. We paused and prayed at the crypt of Dr. and Mrs. King. We met members of their family–Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III his wife Andrea, his daughter Yolanda. And we met students who were changing the world just like generations of young people before them had done that.

President Biden con’t: In fact, Dr. King was just one of those young people–15 year old student at Morehouse College when he began his journey to fulfill the promise of America for all Americans. A promise that hold that we’re all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. Dr. King wasn’t just a dreamer of that promise, he was a doer.

President Biden con’t: And on this federal holiday that honors him, it’s not just enough to praise him, we must commit to his unfinished work to deliver jobs and justice, to protect the sacred right to vote, the right from which all other rights flow.

President Biden con’t: The attack on our democracy is real. From the January 6th insurrection, to the onslaught of Republicans’ anti-voting laws and a number of states. It’s no longer just about who gets to vote, it’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all. It’s about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion.

President Biden con’t: In his time, through his courage, his conviction and his commitment, Dr. King held a mirror up to America and forced us to answer the question: Where do we stand? Whose side are we on?

President Biden con’t: We’re in another moment right now where the mirror is being held up to America–being held up again. The question being asked again: Where do we stand? Whose side are we on? Will we stand against voter suppression? Yes or no? Will we stand against election subversion? Yes or no? Will we stand up for an America where everyone is guaranteed the full protections and the full promise of this nation? Yes or no?

President Biden con’t: I know where I stand. And it’s time for every elected official in America to make it clear where they stand. It’s time every American to stand up, speak out be heard. Where do you stand? Whose side are you on?

President Biden con’t: On this day of remembrance, service, and action, may God bless Dr. and Mrs. King and their family. And may God bless you all. And may God protect our troops.

The White House posted the following Proclamation on Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2022. The Proclamation was posted on January 14th, 2022, the day before his actual birthday day which is the 15th, of January.

On a late summer day in 1963, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood on the National Mall before hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who had gathered to march for freedom, justice, and equality.  On that day, Dr. King shared a dream that has continued to inspire a Nation:  To bring justice where there is injustice, freedom where there is oppression, peace where there is violence, and opportunity where there is poverty.  Today, people of all backgrounds continue that march — raising their voices to confront abuses of power, challenge hate and discrimination, protect the right to vote, and access quality jobs, health care, housing, and education.  On this day, we reflect on the legacy of a man who issued a call to the conscience of our Nation and our world.

Dr. King pushed us to see ourselves in one another, recognizing that we are “caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”  He reminded us that we have a duty to uphold our founding ideals and work to perfect our Union.  Through bus boycotts, restaurant sit-ins, freedom rides, and marches, the movement that Dr. King helped lead used non-violent protest and civil disobedience to advance the call for justice. He was jailed dozens of times for his efforts, but Dr. King’s commitment to justice never wavered.  From a Birmingham jail, he reminded us that “human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability…injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent, and determined action.”

Living up to his legacy, and what Dr. King believed our Nation could become requires more than just reflection — it requires action.  We must protect the hard-fought gains he helped achieve and continue his unfinished struggle.  That is why the Congress must pass Federal legislation to protect the right to vote — a right that is under attack by a sinister combination of voter suppression and election subversion.  We must confront the scourge of racism and white supremacy — a stain on our Nation — and give hate no safe harbor in America.  We must strive to achieve not just political equality but also economic justice so that workers can earn a decent living, students can learn safely, the sick can access health care, the poor can climb out of poverty, the elderly can age with dignity, and everyone in America can live without discrimination or fear.

Just as in Dr. King’s time, there are those who now say that change would be too disruptive and that these urgent needs can wait. But we must resist complacency, summon new resolve to advance the cause of freedom and opportunity, and do our part to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.  This is the cause of our time.  We are at an inflection point in our history — in the midst of a battle for the very soul of our Nation.  We all must find the courage to keep pushing forward in our struggle to realize Dr. King’s dream for a freer, fairer, and more just society.  We must keep the faith in that righteous cause — and in each other.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Monday, January 17, 2022, as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday.  I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, community, and service projects in honor of Dr. King and to visit www.MLKDay.gov to find Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service projects across our country.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.

White House.gov. 01/14/2022.

The 27 second video comes from his Atlanta, GA., remarks posted above.

President Biden: Just a few days ago, we talked about — up in the Congress and in the White House — the event coming up shortly to celebrate Dr. King’s birthday.  And Americans of all stripes will praise him for the content of his character. But as Dr. King’s family said before, it’s not enough to praise their father.  They even said: On this holiday, don’t celebrate his birthday unless you’re willing to support what he lived for and what he died for.  (Applause.)

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About Tiff 2519 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.