Biden Bits: She is on Her Way Home…

Biden Tweets Christmas Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

President Biden’s public schedule for Thursday, December 8th 2022:

8:30 AM The President delivers remarks
Roosevelt Room In-Town Pool
9:00 AM The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Closed Press
12:00 PM In-Town Pool Call Time
In-Town Pool
12:15 PM The President and The Vice President have lunch
Closed Press
12:30 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:10 PM The President delivers remarks on building a stronger economy for union workers and retirees; The Secretary of Labor attends
South Court Auditorium Pre-Credentialed Media [RSVP here by 8:00 AM]

The press briefing:

President Biden’s remarks:


President Biden has tweeted…

He has tweeted 4 times so far for Thursday.

The YouTube live feed is 31 minutes long. The President enters the room at the 22 minute and 5 second mark. His full remarks have not been posted by the White House.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken released the following statement:

This morning, I joined President Biden, Vice President Harris, National Security Advisor Sullivan, and Cherelle Griner in the Oval Office, as Cherelle spoke to her wife Brittney, who is now on her way back to the United States and to her wife’s loving embrace. I am grateful to the State Department team and to our colleagues across the government who worked tirelessly to secure her release.  I especially commend Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, who is accompanying Brittney back to the United States, as well as his entire team. We also extend deep appreciation to our many partners who helped achieve this outcome, including our Emirati friends, who assisted in the transfer today.

While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly.  Despite our ceaseless efforts, the Russian Government has not yet been willing to bring a long overdue end to his wrongful detention. I wholeheartedly wish we could have brought Paul home today on the same plane with Brittney. Nevertheless, we will not relent in our efforts to bring Paul and all other U.S. nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad home to their loved ones where they belong.

State.gov. 12/08/2022.

The First Lady:

CBS White House correspondent Steven Portnoy tweeted:

From the CBS News article: [Viktor] Bout, who was most recently held at a federal prison in Marion, Illinois, was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency in Thailand following a sting operation in 2008. He was convicted of conspiring to kill Americans and began his 25-year sentence a decade ago. 


When the post was posted for Wednesday, President Biden had tweeted 2 times. He added 9 tweets giving him a Wednesday Tweeting Total of 11 tweets and 0 retweets.

The 48 second video is the congratulatory phone call made by President Biden to Senator Warnock (D-GA), after Senator Warnock survived the Georgia election run-off held Tuesday.

Sen. Warnock: Hello.

President Biden: Congratulations, man.

Sen. Warnock: Thank you, sir.

President Biden: As they say, where I’m from–from the grace of God and the goodwill of neighbors, man, congratulations. That’s a big deal. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Sen. Warnock: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

President Biden: I know you haven’t spoken yet and you’re ready to go out and I don’t want to dominate your time, but I’m really looking forward to seeing you and getting you sworn in, again.

Sen. Warnock: Yes, yes, yes. My family’s here–pardon the noise in the background, Mr. President.

President Biden: Are you kidding? They should be cheering.

Sen. Warnock: [inaudible] A little bit excited.

President Biden: They should be cheering!

Sen. Warnock: Yeah, they are!

President Biden: All right. Congratulations, buddy.

Sen. Warnock: Thank you! This will make it easier for us to get some things done.

President Biden: Sure it will. I guarantee you it will. All right thank you pal.

Sen. Warnock: We’ll keep fighting. Keep the faith.

President Biden: All right. Bye bye.


The photo was taken on Tuesday December 6th 2022, when President Biden traveled to Arizona to celebrate the investment of TSMC into the area. The YouTube of his remarks is 18 minutes and 22 seconds long.

Reuters said his guests included: Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Chief Executive Tim Cook, TSMC founder Morris Chang and the head of chipmaker Micron Technology Inc (MU.O), Sanjay Mehrotra, and NVIDIA Corp (NVDA.O) founder and CEO Jensen Huang…

He tagged the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo in the tweet; tagged individuals still do not show up in WordPress.


S.4524 Speak Out Act summary says: This bill prohibits the judicial enforceability of a nondisclosure clause or nondisparagement clause agreed to before a dispute arises involving sexual assault or sexual harassment in violation of federal, tribal, or state law.

The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent on 11/16/2022.
It passed the House on 11/16/2002 with 315 Yea’s, 109 Nay’s, and 8 Congresspeople did not vote.

From the White House:

S. 4524, the “Speak Out Act,” which prohibits judicial enforcement of a nondisclosure clause or nondisparagement clause agreed to before a dispute arises involving sexual assault or sexual harassment.

Thank you to Senators Gillibrand, Hirono, Blackburn, and Graham, and Representatives Frankel, Bustos, Buck, Cicilline, Griffith, Nadler, and Jayapal, and many others for their leadership.

White House.gov. 12/07/2022.

Judge J. Michelle Childs was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 19th 2022; the vote was 64 yeas and 34 nays. Two Senators did not vote.

Judge Tiffany Cunningham was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 19th 2021; the vote was 63 yeas and 33 nays. Four Senators did not vote.

Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on May 24th 2022; the vote was 49 yeas and 43 nays. Eight Senators did not vote.

Judge Arianna Freeman was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit on September 29th 2022; the vote was 50 yeas and 47 nays. Three Senators did not vote.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court on April 7th 2022; the vote was 53 yeas and 47 nays.

Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on June 24th 2022; the vote was 53 yeas and 40 nays. Seven Senators did not vote.

Judge Eunice C. Lee was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on August 7th 2022; the vote was 50 yeas and 47 nays. Three Senators did not vote.


I held over his 3rd Thursday tweet to share it now:

The video is 1 minute and 23 seconds long.

The video starts with the text; There are only 167,000 surviving World War II veterans in the United States Today. Some of them came to the White House for a holiday tour. A special guest wanted to say hello.

Transcribing the video is hard given the length and the fact that they did not include the names of the Veterans; I’m skipping right to the press briefing from yesterday where the White House Press Secretary said; Today, on the 81st anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the President met with a group of 23 World War Two veterans, family members, and volunteers, and thanked them for their service. The veterans traveled to D.C. on an Honor Flight from Austin, Texas, to attend the Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Observance at the World War Two Memorial on the National Mall. These veterans served on the homefront, across the Pacific and European theaters. Today we remember and pay tribute to the 2,403 service members and civilians that died during the attack on our forces at Pearl Harbor and honor the extraordinary contributions that these veterans made to guide our nation through the world’s darkest moments.


The no need for added context tweets from Wednesday;


December 6th 2022 Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut issued the following announcement:

Governor Ned Lamont today announced that thousands of Connecticut residents convicted of cannabis possession are set to have these records cleared in January using an automated erasure method. Records in approximately 44,000 cases will be fully or partially erased. The policy is an integral part of the 2021 legislation Governor Lamont signed into law to safely regulate the adult use of cannabis.

“On January 1, thousands of people in Connecticut will have low-level cannabis convictions automatically erased due to the cannabis legalization bill we enacted last year,” Governor Lamont said. “Especially as Connecticut employers seek to fill hundreds of thousands of job openings, an old conviction for low-level cannabis possession should not hold someone back from pursuing their career, housing, professional, and educational aspirations.”

Residents who have had their records erased may tell employers, landlords, and schools that the conviction never occurred.

How people will receive erasure will depend on when they received their conviction. Specifically:

Portal.ct.gov./office of the Governor. 12/06/2022.
  • Convictions for violations of C.G.S. § 21a-279(c) for possession of under four ounces of a non-narcotic, non-hallucinogenic substance imposed between January 1, 2000, and September 30, 2015, will be automatically erased on January 1, 2023. People included under this provision of the law need not do anything to make these convictions eligible for erasure.
  • Convictions for the following violations can be erased if one files a petition in Superior Court:
    • Convictions for violations of C.G.S. § 21a-279 for possession of less than or equal to four ounces of a cannabis-type substance imposed before January 1, 2000, and between October 1, 2015, and June 30, 2021.
    • Convictions for violations of C.G.S. § 21a-267(a) for possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia for cannabis imposed before July 1, 2021.
    • Convictions for violations of C.G.S. § 21a-277(b) imposed before July 1, 2021, for manufacturing, selling, possessing with intent to sell, or giving or administering to another person a cannabis-type substance and the amount involved was under four ounces or six plants grown inside a person’s home for personal use.

Criminal justice agencies under the state’s judicial and executive branches continue to implement the information technology upgrades needed to provide automated erasure of significantly more eligible criminal records pursuant to Connecticut’s Clean Slate laws (Public Act 21-32, as amended by Public Act 21-33 and Public Act 22-26).

The Clean Slate automated erasure system is expected to be fully implemented during the second half of 2023. Implementation involves significant information technology upgrades to allow criminal justice agencies to send and receive data to determine who can have their offenses erased and to update record systems. The state already has invested more than $5 million to implement information technology upgrades as part of a large-scale system development and integration project spanning multiple state agency systems. The information technology systems involved are complex, and some are outdated. In addition, significant interpretation issues may require clarification by the General Assembly this session, as detailed in a letter delivered to the co-chairs of the Judiciary Committee by the Connecticut Criminal Justice Information System Governing Board.

People eligible for Clean Slate include those who have not had any other criminal convictions for seven or ten years (depending on the conviction to be erased), have completed sentences for all crimes for which that person has been convicted, and meet other eligibility criteria under the laws. Eligible offenses include most misdemeanors, most Class D and Class E felonies, and most unclassified felonies with a possible prison sentence of five years or less.

Further information on Clean Slate and cannabis erasures, including implementation updates and instructions for filing petitions, will soon be provided on a forthcoming state website.

Portal.ct.gov./office of the Governor. 12/06/2022.

The YouTube is 13 minutes and 20 seconds long. President begins his remarks at the 7 minute and 27 second mark.

His full remarks:

Thank you.  I’m sure if the lights were on all of you instead of me, there’s a lot of people in this church that I know and have not only consoled one another but have taken time to console me in the loss of my family.

Jackie, thank you for the introduction.  More importantly, thank you for your courage. 

Folks, events like this are hard.  They’re hard for all of you, because it brings back the very moment that everything happened, no matter how many years pass, no matter how many years go by.  And it brings it back.  But your voices matter. Your voices matter a great deal.

Rector Morgan, thank you for welcoming us to St. Mark’s to remember, to heal, and to fulfill a purpose.

Ten years ago, this nation’s vigil was created here in Washington to pray for the souls of Sandy Hook and their families.

Ever since this — that time, this church has been opening its doors to more victims and more families of a violence that rips at the very soul — at the very soul of this nation.

To all of you here tonight, it’s under different circumstances, but I know a little bit what the loss feels like.  It’ll be an anniversary on the 18th of this month that I lost my wife and daughter and nearly lost my two sons when a tractor trailer broadsided them.  And it’s not long after that, the anniversary of losing my son.  I know that feeling.

Everyone is different, but I know that feeling.  You know, it’s like a black hole in the middle of your chest you’re being dragged into.  And you never know if there’s ever a way out.

And what I admire so much about all of you is you show up and remember, because remembering brings it back — the very moment that it happened. 

But all of you, and all of you at the time — and I spent several days up at Sandy Hook and then went back — at the time, it was — it was astounding to see, even then, the courage that was represented.

Jill and I met with you, prayed with you, and have worked with you.  We’ve seen you turn pain into purpose.  Together, we’ve made some important progress: the most significant gun law passed in 30 years, but still not enough.  (Applause.)  Still not enough.

Even as our work continues to limit the number of bullets that can be in a cartridge, the type of weapon that can be purchased and sold, the attempt to ban assault weapons — a whole range of things that are just common sense.  Just simple common sense.

But, you know, we did it before.  You may remember.  In the ‘90s we did it with the help of the very people in here, led by Speaker Pelosi in the House and many others.  And we did it.  And guess what?  It worked.  The number of violent mass murders reduced were significant.  A lot of people’s lives were saved.

You know — and we can do it again.  (Applause.)

Scripture says, “The light shines in darkness, and darkness has not overcome it.”

To all of you here tonight, you are the light.  You are literally the light.  And your loved ones, your friends, they’re the light.  And they’ll always be with you, no matter what happens.  They’re always with you.

How many of you ask yourself, “What would my son or daughter want me to do at this moment”?  They’re in your heart.  They’re part of you.  They’re always going to be with you.

And at this national vigil for victims of gun violence, I ask the country to join me in a moment of silence to remember every one of them.

(A moment of silence is observed.)

And we ask God to give us the strength to finish the work left undone done on behalf of the lives we’ve lost and all the lives we can save.

May God bless you all and keep you safe.  (Applause.)

White House.gov. 12/07/2022.

His Fourth Thursday Tweet…


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About Tiff 2521 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.