DML Morning Briefing ~ Mon. Sept. 19

Today is September 19. Below are some of the stories grabbing headlines this morning. I hope you share this briefing as doing so will make you the smartest person in the room.

1 – What Biden would do if China launched ‘unprecedented attack’ on Taiwan, White House offers correction
Fox News reports: President Joe Biden said this week that the United States would defend Taiwan if China invaded, appearing to break with the US government’s stance of “strategic ambiguity” on the island.

His comments came in an interview that aired Sunday evening, when a 60 Minutes correspondent asked the president if US forces would defend Taiwan.

“Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack,” Biden responded. The president went on to emphasize his administration’s support for the “One China” policy, which recognizes the government in Beijing while allowing for informal ties with Taiwan.

“Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence. We are not moving – we’re not encouraging their being independent. We’re not – that – that’s their decision,” Biden said Sunday.

MY TAKE: Every time Biden opens his mouth, the White House has to clean up after him.

2 – MSNBC guest: ‘White People Turn Violent When They Don’t Politically Get Their Way All the Damn Time in This Country’
Breitbart reports: The Nation’s Elie Mystal was at it once again Saturday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Cross Connection.”

Mystal reacted to an interview that former President Donald Trump had with radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier in the week, warning of the reaction if he were to be indicted.

However, Mystal said that was how “white people” reacted when they didn’t get their way in America.

“Let’s start here, OK, let’s start with the problem of the fourth estate, the American media,” he said. “Listen to that clip again – Hugh Hewitt made himself sound like Billy Bush in that clip, right? ‘What kind of problems, mister president?’ He is threatening to unleash domestic terrorism on the country if he is held accountable for crime, and you, a media person, is sitting there saying, ‘What kind of problems might we have?’ What is that? What is that? At some point, the fourth estate is going to have to realize its complicity in allowing these white domestic terrorists to organize and attain some level of legitimacy as they threaten our democracy.”

“I want to table that because that is a huge part of the problem,” Mystal continued. “The cause of the problem, of course, is Trump himself and his MAGA acolytes themselves and the people who are willing to do the violence in Trump’s name. Again, I want to say that I’m not surprised that he is threatening this because a – he is literally doing it before, and b – this is literally what conservative white folks do when they don’t get their way. They turned violent.”

MY TAKE: How this racist hater is allowed on television, I don’t know!

3 – Biden Climate Appointee Studied at CCP-Controlled University Linked to Chinese Military
The Washington Free Beacon reports: President Biden’s latest climate appointee studied at a Chinese Communist Party-controlled university that conducts research for the People’s Liberation Army.

Biden this week tapped Dr. Yue (Nina) Chen to serve as chief climate risk officer for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where she will develop “climate risk management frameworks for the federal banking system.” Chen earned her chemical engineering degree from Tsinghua University, which one think tank deems a “very high risk” because of its involvement in a “high level of defense research and alleged involvement in cyberattacks” on behalf of the Chinese military. Tsinghua conducts research on “artificial intelligence, air-to-air missiles, navigation technology, instrument science, and materials science,” according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Chen, who previously held a climate regulator position at the New York State Department of Financial Services, is a proponent of “environmental, social, and governance” guidelines, a socially progressive approach to investing known as ESG. Under ESG, investment managers and insurance companies gauge companies’ risk based on their commitment to progressive goals in the areas of diversity and climate change. Chen spoke at a panel last year on the topic of pressuring industries to “finally leave fossil fuels behind” and redirect their investments “toward solving the climate crisis.”

MY TAKE: Why isn’t Congress investigating Biden-China collusion?

4 – Remains to be seen’: Biden hasn’t made a ‘firm decision’ to run in 2024
The Washington Examiner reports: resident Joe Biden said he will decide whether to seek a second term after November’s midterm elections in a wide-ranging interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, in which he also recommitted to defending Taiwan and declared the coronavirus pandemic to be over.

“Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it’s just an intention,” Biden said in the sit-down that aired Sunday. “Is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.”

Biden, who turns 80 in November, quipped to longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley for the show’s 55th season premiere that he is “in good shape.” He went on to mention election laws that would be prompted by a campaign announcement.

“I’m a great respecter of fate,” he said. “What I’m doing is my job. I’m going to do that job.”

MY TAKE: Magoo won’t run in 2024, and he he knows it. That’s my opinion.

5 – Biden declares Covid-19 pandemic ‘over’ and slams Trump classified document handling
Fox News reports: President Biden said during a television interview on Sunday night that the COVID-19 pandemic “is over.”

“Is the pandemic over?,” a reporter asked Biden. “The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it,” Biden responded.

Biden made the statement during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which was his first interview with a news organization in seven months.

“If you notice, no one’s wearing a mask, everybody seems to be in pretty good shape,” Biden added while he walked through the Detroit Auto Show. Biden has used the COVID-19 pandemic emergency as a reason for his administration’s plan to end Title 42 as well as the recent student loan handout.

MY TAKE: How convenient. Democrats used Covid to push their agenda, now they’ll try to claim credit for the ‘pandemic’ being over to push more of their agenda.