Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 1-22-21

Political
Donald Trump's era in Washington is over.
The all-consuming, camera- hungry, truth-starved era that fixated the nation and exposed its darkest recesses officially concludes at noon Wednesday. The President, addled and mostly friendless, ended his time in the capital a few hours early to spare himself the hu- miliation ofwatching his suc- cessor be sworn in.
"We will be back in some form," Trump told a modest crowd of supporters who gath- ered to see him off at Joint Base Andrews. "So have a good life. We will see you soon."
As Air Force One lifted off for a final time with Trump aboard, Frank Sinatra's "My Way" blared in the back- ground.
He departed a city under militarized fortification meant to prevent a repeat of the riot he incited earlier this month. He leaves office with more than 400,000 Americans dead from a virus he chose to down- play or ignore.
For his opponents, Trump's departure amounts to a blissful lifting of a four- year pall on American life and the end to a tortured stretch of misconduct and indignities.
At least some of the 74 mil- lion Americans who voted for Trump in November are sad to see him go. Scores of them
FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND MELANIA TRUMP
President Joe Biden
plans to take immediate ac- tion to turn the page on the Trump era after his inaugu- ration speech this week, chief of staff Ron Klain said Sun- day after laying out Biden's plan for his first days in office.
Biden is planning a 10-day blitz of executive action on what his administration is calling the "four crises" facing the country — COVID-19, the economic downturn, racial in- justice and climate change.
"He's going to come back to the White House after giving that speech at the Capitol and take some immediate actions to start to move this country forward," Klain told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sun- day.
Klain elaborated on Biden's plans for his first days in a memorandum issued to incoming White House staff, sent on Saturday, titled "Overview of First Ten Days," which was provided to NBC News.
Biden's plans include:
• Wednesday: Rejoining the Paris climate change agreement and reversing for- mer President Donald Trump's travel ban, which applies to several Muslim-ma- jority countries. Biden will also require masks on federal property and interstate travel and take action to extend evic- tion and foreclosure restric- tions.
• Thursday: Biden will sign executive actions related
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
to reopening schools and busi- nesses, and Friday he will "di- rect his Cabinet agencies to take immediate action to de- liver economic relief to work- ing families bearing the brunt of this crisis," according to the memo.
• The following week: Biden will take "significant early actions to advance eq- uity and support communities of color and other under- served communities." He will also take action to address cli- mate change, expand access to health care, and "restore dig- nity to our immigration sys- tem and our border policies."
In the memo sent to staff Saturday, Klain emphasized the stark challenges the nation faces.
"We face four overlapping and compounding crises: the COVID-19 crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, and a racial equity cri- sis," Klain wrote in the memo.
"In his first ten days in of- fice, President Biden will take decisive action to address these four crises, prevent other urgent and irreversible harms, and restore America's place in the world," Klain added.
The executive actions come in multiple forms, in- cluding executive orders, pres- idential memoranda, and directives to Cabinet agencies.
Klain wrote in the memo that legislation will be needed for the administration's more ambitious agenda items, in- cluding immigration reform and boosting the federal mini- mum wage.
Biden unveiled his $1.9 bil- lion Covid-19 relief agenda on Thursday, which calls for measures to help the country combat the public health crisis as well as new injections of cash to help stimulate the economy. The plan would also increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
attempted an insurrection at the U. S. Capitol this month to prevent it from happening at all.
One thing Trump's presi- dency undoubtedly accom- plished: revealing in stark fashion the racist, hate-filled, violent undercurrents of American society that many had chosen previously to ig- nore. It became impossible to overlook as Trump's presi- dency concluded with violent riots of White nationalists and neo-Nazis at the Capitol.
The violent mob attack on the citadel of American democ- racy capped a presidency built upon disregard for democratic norms, antagonizing govern- ment institutions and willful ignorance of the far right's vio- lent and racist tendencies. It will amount to the lasting
legacy of a President whose- blatant neglect of the truth, in ways both casual and im- mense, drove the nation to the brink.
He emerged for a final time on Wednesday, discarding tra- dition and boycotting his suc- cessor's inauguration. Aides said he did not like the thought of leaving Washington an ex- president, nor did he relish the thought of requesting use of the presidential aircraft from Biden.
The ceremony was modest in scope, though it did include a red carpet, cordons of troops and a 21-gun salute. Before de- parting the White House, he offered a wave from his Marine One helicopter.
In a subdued, discursive speech on a windy tarmac, Trump made glancing refer- ences to his accomplishments in office but seemed bitter at his loss.
"I hope they don't raise your taxes, but if they do, I told you so," he said.
Trump Departs Washington A Pariah As His Era In Power Ends
Biden Plans Immediate Executive Actions To Roll Back Trump Era
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2021