Skip to main content

New top story from Time: Biden Reaches the Summit of American Power in a Way Never Imagined

https://ift.tt/3nvF4RQ

This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday.

A President’s joint address to Congress is typically a hectic evening on Capitol Hill. Every member of Congress jams in the second-floor House chamber. Their family members, constituents and, yes, sometimes donors cram into the chamber’s third-floor balcony seats that make Broadway theaters seem gracious in their spacing. Lawmakers get to the chamber early to position themselves along the central aisle so they can have a few seconds of face-time with the President — and get in the camera shots that go to millions of TVs live. As one veteran Republican operative joked last night, “It’s weird watching a State of the Union address and not seeing the whole ‘Sheila Jackson Lee got her seat at 7:24 AM’ thing.” Even in an era of change, some things are constant.

But with seven of every eight seats in the chamber sitting empty last night, the press balcony practicing social distancing and masks still de rigueur, President Joe Biden’s first turn pitching from that joint session was one for the history books. We all knew it would be nuisance and not a novelty. In seats that were off-limits, bands of tape advised no-sitting to remind guests to stay in the spot carrying their name card. Even among Biden’s partisan loyalists, it was some of the thinnest applause I’ve heard in 20 years of covering the annual speech in person and from afar, dating back to sitting in the gallery for the first one of these George W. Bush gave in a pre-9/11 United States.

With fewer members physical present to absorb the sound, every noise registered on the mics. Watching at home on television, every mumble — or in the case of Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, the unfurling of a silver blanket meant to troll Democrats about the children laying under them in refugee camps along the U.S.-Mexican border — was audible. No one struggled to discern any outburst like Republican Rep. Joe Wilson’s 2009 scream at Obama during such a session: “You lie!” An errant cell phone last night became a Twitter whodunnit. (Side note: We are all pretty sure we know.)

Where Biden’s predecessors of both parties treated the evening as a performance to be judged by how often people rose from their chairs, interrupted with applause and for how long, last night had none of that. His speechwriter Vinay Reddy and longtime strategist Mike Donilon didn’t leave breadcrumbs for raucous Pavlovian responses. And Biden, for his part, seemed indifferent to his audience’s response. He seemed to take the sparse clapping in stride and the smaller audience as an invitation to, at some points, stray from the prepared text.

If anything, the lack of unscheduled interruptions helped Biden in ways most Americans may not have recognized. A stutterer since childhood, Biden doesn’t do well with interruption or surprises. When he starts a sentence, either he drives through to the end or he gets tongue-tied. That struggle has been a feature of his speeches on the Senate floor and on the world stage. The fear of stumbling at the Iowa State Fair in 1987 mid-White House run probably led him to plagiarism more than any intent to steal the words he had used plenty of times before with attribution.

Spontaneity is not Biden’s friend. Indeed, you could see times when both Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi caught themselves starting to clap before remembering not to mess with their friend’s cadences. They’d get out of the chair only to wait for Biden’s teleprompters to pause. They didn’t want to knock him off his pace. A year ago, Pelosi marked the end of what might have been Trump’s final turn in that chamber with derision and a ripped-in-two copy of the speech. Last night, she bumped elbows with the President of her party only after he had driven to the end of his final sentence and parked the cart.

As Biden stood at the rostrum last night, it was a reality imagined since at least the 1960s. Biden had a chance to flex. And he did. I’ll leave it to my colleagues to highlight his ideas on policies and politics that flowed from this hour-long speech that will be remembered as much for its novel staging as its high-spending ambition. But nothing can deny this truth: this is not how Biden ever imagined climbing the steps to perhaps the most iconic podium in American politics. Once summoned, he didn’t exactly mimic his predecessors.

Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the daily D.C. Brief newsletter.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Destination San Francisco: Muni Gets You to All the Sights

Destination San Francisco: Muni Gets You to All the Sights By 39 Coit servicing Coit Tower at Telegraph Hill – one of the routes that will be returning in August 2021 as part of Muni’s next service changes. San Francisco is reopening and the  SFMTA is supporting economic recovery by providing Muni access to 98% of the city.  By August 2021, a majority of our pre-COVID routes will be back in service connecting residents and visitors with world-class shopping and dining experiences, off-the-beaten-path local flare, diverse neighborhoods and almost boundless outdoor activities.  Shops, Markets & Dining in Diverse Neighborhoods  Virtually every neighborhood in San Francisco has its own boutique shopping and dining experiences, as well as unique farmers markets showcasing local shops and amenities....

How Improving Muni Also Makes Life Better for Drivers

How Improving Muni Also Makes Life Better for Drivers By Andrea Buffa Photo credit: We Ride Australia If you mostly drive to get around San Francisco, you may be wondering, “what has the SFMTA done for me lately?” San Francisco is a “ transit first ” city, so at the SFMTA we focus our resources on making it easier for San Franciscans to get around by public transit as well as by biking, walking and personal mobility device. While it may seem like adding transit lanes and protected bike lanes doesn’t have anything to do with driving, in fact, it does.  Since San Francisco doesn’t have room to give more space to roads, we have to change the way we use the limited space on our existing streets. (Not that adding more roads reduces traffic anyway – check out this article .) City Traffic Engineer Ricardo Oleo puts it this way: “When you have a city like San Francisco that was built with density in mind, having everyone drive is not a viable option. There’s not enough room to have th...

Safer and Easier Parking in Every City-Owned Facility

Safer and Easier Parking in Every City-Owned Facility By Pamela Johnson Parking at any of our 22 city-owned facilities is now easier and safer than ever. Late last month we completed the Parking Access Revenue and Control Systems (PARCS) project. This four-year effort replaced aging parking equipment with modern technology and significant operational upgrades. Customer using new PARCS kiosk at North Beach parking garage Patrons will notice enhanced lighting, new wayfinding signs, audible alarms, cameras, gate arms, and payment machines with two-way digital intercoms . Behind the scenes is an all-new parking management system and 24/7 command center, connected to every machine. Can’t find your ticket to pay for parking?  No worries! Thanks to license plate recognition technology, cameras located at every facility’s entrance capture patrons’ plate numbers as they arrive . If a customer loses her ticket, the manager is able to re-issue a ticket based on her license plate...

Sunday Streets Returns October 17, with Phoenix Day

Sunday Streets Returns October 17, with Phoenix Day By Pamela Johnson For 13 years, the SFMTA and Livable City have brought "Sunday Streets" to San Francisco neighborhoods. Sunday Streets encourages communities to transform miles of car-congested streets into car-free spaces for neighbors to gather, kids to play, and for organizations and businesses to connect. On October 17, 2021, after more than 18 months of Covid-related shutdowns, Sunday Streets Phoenix Day will again bring free recreational activities, resources, and fun to the streets for tens of thousands of San Franciscans to enjoy. While Sunday Streets was celebrated in one neighborhood at a time in the past, this year's Phoenix Day spans various districts in the City for a simultaneous celebration of community, health, and resilience. This year's theme is "One City. One day. Rising together.”  Highlights this year include historic Sunday Streets SF routes, a 20+ mile community bike ride, three neighb...

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13 By Mariana Maguire Beginning Saturday, June 13, the SFMTA will increase Muni service and frequency, add select routes into service and extend some current routes to continue to support essential trips. A key goal of these service increases is to support the community’s economic recovery by providing more connections to neighborhood commercial districts as businesses begin to reopen. We are also adding more frequent service on targeted routes to help address crowding and improve onboard physical distancing. These service changes will improve transit access through Chinatown, SoMa and the Excelsior neighborhoods, identified by the Muni’s Service Equity Strategy as neighborhoods that rely on transit service the most based on the percentage of households with low incomes, private vehicle ownership and race and ethnicity demographics. Although Muni continues to be for essential trips only, many people have no choice but to use transit to r...

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J कोरोना के बीच शुरु हुई टीवी सीरियलों की शूटिंग, 25 लाख रुपये का कोविड-19 बीमा कवर, जानें डीटेल

कोरोना वायरल लॉकडाउन के बाद अब एक बार फिर इंटरटेनमेंट इंडस्ट्री धीरे धीरे काम पर वापस लौट रही है। महाराष्ट्र सरकार ने कई गाइडलाइन्स के साथ फिल्म और टेलीविजन इंडस्ट्री को शूटिंग की अनुमति दे दी है। लगभग सभी टीवी सीरियल्स from टेलीविजन की खबरें | Television News in Hindi | TV Serials Update in Hindi – FilmiBeat Hindi http:/hindi.filmibeat.com/television/tv-serials-shooting-resumes-25-lakh-insurance-cover-for-crew-know-details-090531.html?utm_source=/rss/filmibeat-hindi-television-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.11.231.156&utm_campaign=client-rss

New top story from Time: ‘We’re Nowhere Close to the Deal’. Coronavirus Aid Package Talks Break Down as Trump Rejects Help for Cities

https://ift.tt/3098lHW WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed Democratic demands for aid to cash-strapped cities in a new coronavirus relief package and lashed out at Republican allies as talks stalemated over assistance for millions of Americans. Another lawmaker tested positive for the virus. Republicans, beset by delays and infighting, signaled a willingness to swiftly approve a modest package to revamp a $600 weekly unemployment benefit that’s running out. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., roundly rejected that approach as meager, all but forcing Republicans back to the negotiating table. Without action, the aid expires Friday. “We’re nowhere close to the deal,” said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. He said they’re “miles apart.” Stark differences remain between the $3 trillion proposal from Democrats and $1 trillion counter from Republicans, a standoff that is testing Trump and Congress ahead of the November election and putting...

New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue

New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue By Luis “Loui” Apolonio Light sculpture at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street Spectators gathered both online and in person to watch new lighting sculptures on Van Ness turned on for the first time on March 31, 2022. The whimsical and brightly colored sculptures located on the new Van Ness BRT boarding platform between Geary and O’Farrell are made of steel with LED lights inside on a timer set to illuminate at night.  The lighting event was kicked off with SFMTA Director Jeff Tumlin and MTAB Chair Gwyneth Borden serving as emcees. Mary Chou, Director of Public Arts and Collections at the San Francisco Arts Commission, spoke about the art installation itself, as well as the process for selecting the artist who would be awarded the project. In addition, Maddy Ruvolo, a member of the SFMTA’s Accessible Services team and a recently appointed member of President Biden’s U.S. Access Board, shared the importance of having accessibility as a ...

With Memorial Day Around the Corner Muni is Still for Essential Trips

With Memorial Day Around the Corner Muni is Still for Essential Trips By Erin McMillan With Memorial Day weekend right around the corner, many of us are eager to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and wide open spaces. But as we enter the biggest holiday weekend since the shelter-in-place order, it’s still important to be acutely aware of how our individual actions can and will affect our communal ability to address the impacts of COVID-19. While we hopefully will arrive at a new normal soon, the shelter-in-place order is still in effect and it’s still important as ever that we remember to physically distance ourselves while out in our neighborhoods and to only make essential trips.   In early April, we temporarily reduced Muni service to our Core Service network which serves the highest ridership lines and supports essential trips to places like hospitals, healthcare facilities, grocery stores, restaurants and other essential services. Thanks to increasing staffing availabili...

Residents Overwhelmingly Support Slow Streets

Residents Overwhelmingly Support Slow Streets By Eillie Anzilotti After over a year of Slow Streets providing safe, low-volume corridors for people to walk, bike, play and travel during the pandemic, we’re excited to share our first comprehensive evaluation of the program . The key takeaway? San Franciscans are overwhelmingly in support of Slow Streets. Slow Streets are designed to limit through traffic on certain residential streets and allow them to be used as a shared roadway for people traveling by foot and by bicycle. Since introducing Slow Streets in April 2020 in response to the Mayor’s Emergency Health Order, SFMTA has designated around 30 corridors covering 47 miles of roadway as Slow Streets. The program has evolved from a critical component of San Francisco’s pandemic response and recovery to a potential new avenue to further the city and SFMTA’s goals around climate action and sustainable transportation. As the Slow Streets program has grown, we wanted to make sure we...