Month: January 2021

Hello again painting fans.

This week I will be continuing with the painting of the Chincoteague, Virginia scene. The photo that I’m using (My own from a recent visit.) is seen directly below.

I’ll be using my usual acrylic paints on a 5×7 inch canvas panel.

When last seen the painting appeared as it does in the photo seen directly below.

Since that time I have continued to work on the painting.

I have gone over the original watery paint, now seen in a darker blue. Above, I have begun the sky.

The current state of the painting is seen in the photo directly below.

I’ll have more progress to show you next week. See you then.

In a post on “The Hill We Climb,” the poem so eloquently delivered by 22-year-old Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s inaugural ceremony, David Marcus of The Federalist argues “Hers were the most honest remarks of the day in terms of what the American left actually believes.” Yet, Marcus doesn’t make it completely clear which beliefs he has in mind. Commenting on Gorman’s line “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,” Marcus wonders if this applies only to the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6 or to Donald Trump supporters in general. Later on, he voices his concern is that progressives think “large numbers of Americans are basically racist…are deplorable and must be deprogrammed.”

In contrast, Marcus insists that many conservatives are “increasingly disturbed by what their kids learn in school, by their daughters competing against boys in athletics…”

Interestingly, he sees one of Trump’s achievements as reducing the stigma of racism:

On some level, Donald Trump’s presidency took the sting out of accusations of racism or bigotry against those who do not hold progressive moral and social values. Republicans should not be shy about these issues. Rather they should face them directly as Trump did.

Much is undecided and unknown as we embark on the administration of President Joe Biden. One thing is not. Conservatives will not return to a prone, defensive position on issues of race and culture, nor should they. The post-Trump conservative movement will be culture warriors who look a lot more like Andrew Breitbart than Mitt Romney. That is progress, and it must be maintained.

I mention all this to provide context for Marcus’s latest offering, which is a call for Mitch McConnell to step down or be ousted as the leader of the Senate Republicans.

Marcus, a Manhattanite with experience in theatre who has written for The Federalist since 2013, praises McConnell’s prior service, and especially his decision to deny Merrick Garland a place on the Supreme Court. Yet, McConnell “seems completely opposed to” letting “the conservative movement grow into its new form.”

Whereas McConnell represents “the pro-war, pro-corporate party he came up in” and is “willing to lose everything as long as big business does well,” the future is “a new working-class, diverse party…not McConnell’s white guys at the Rotary Club.”

Yet, in this piece, Marcus doesn’t explain what the working-class wants that distinguishes it from the big business types. In fact, the only sin McConnell seems to have committed is “playing a ridiculous game of footsie with the idea of convicting Donald Trump in his absurd impeachment.”

Marcus argues this move by McConnell “is nothing short of a betrayal of Republican voters” because “It is obvious that conservative voters have not abandoned Trump, even if he has.”

Republican voters won’t have it anymore. They know we are in a culture war that [McConnell] has no interest in fighting. We need Republican leaders who will.

Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Tom Cotton will fight this fight. These are the leaders we need. McConnell’s GOP was destroyed by Trump, but McConnell still doesn’t know it. He’d rather throw in with those who prefer losing to fighting. No. We aren’t going back to McConnell’s losing coalition. Trump lost, but he brought a new group of people to the GOP… It’s time for us to take up Trump’s call for a populist conservatism.

It’s only in Marcus’s piece on Amanda Gorman that he explains the important elements of the “culture war” that Hawley, Cruz, Rubio and Cotton will fight, and McConnell won’t.  Chief among them is the insistence that conservatives “not return to a prone, defensive position on issues of race…”

This is precisely why I wrote on Thursday that the (second) impeachment battle is less about Trump than the future of white supremacy in American politics.

Marcus never questions McConnell’s commitment to small government or a strong national defense. He doesn’t talk about religion or abortion and, other than a complaint about girls and boys playing sports together, Marcus has nothing to say about gender roles or sexual preference.

Insofar that Marcus cares about these traditional conservative concerns, he knows that McConnell fought ably for them by stacking the federal courts with right-wing judges.

And, while it’s true that Marcus criticizes McConnell for being pro-war and pro-corporate, that didn’t warrant his removal from power until he expressed possible support for Trump’s conviction.

It’s clear that McConnell’s sin is not that he’s a Rotary Club Republican but that he won’t defend the Confederacy of Dunces who stormed the Capitol. The vote on Trump’s impeachment is really just a proxy for whether the party belongs to the racist insurrectionists or not.

After all, Trump is in retirement now. Marcus says, “The post-Trump conservative movement will be culture warriors who look a lot more like Andrew Breitbart than Mitt Romney.”

No one can seriously argue that McConnell hasn’t been a warrior for the Conservative Movement, but he’s now confronted with a conundrum. The post-Trump conservatives want a race war, and if he’s not on board with that then he has a more formidable enemy than Harry Reid or Chuck Schumer to contend with. If he thinks he can preserve his power by siding with people like Marcus, he’s sadly mistaken. The Breitbarters want his head, so his only option is to side with Mitt Romney and the Democrats, and put a stake in Trump’s future political prospects.

Hi photo lovers.

With an incoming Presidential Administration, I thought I should use a photo that is both a blast from the past and a nod to the future. The photo was taken July 4th, 2019, while I was on break from some work-related travel in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This is one of numerous photos I took around the city while I was there for five days. I took advantage of the fact that daylight lasts well into the evening that early in the summer. There is quite a bit of street art around the Cool District, and this was one of numerous street murals I saw in early July. This one I like just because of the 3-D imagery, and its incorporation of Rotterdam’s city slogan: Make it happen. I was thinking quite a bit about that slogan as Biden and Harris were both being sworn in, as the first of numerous Executive Orders was signed, as the first Cabinet member was confirmed, and as the new Press Secretary interacted with the press in a fairly straight-forward manner, promising that press briefings would once again be daily occurrences. Make it happen. Getting to the point where in all the turmoil we have a fresh start is a testament to those who worked to make a Biden victory and control of both chambers of Congress happen. You only get what you give, as the song goes. In the past, I loved to travel. Not so much the process of traveling, but of being at a destination, exploring the culture, the sights, interacting with the local folks, etc. I hope in a year or two once more. I don’t what our future has in store for us, but it won’t be just a return to what was. What was ended when the pandemic began. There will a new set of perils and possibilities for us to experience as we all (not just nationally, but internationally) get enough vaccinations and treatments available to finally put an end to this pandemic. What those perils and possibilities will look like I cannot foretell with any certainty. I expect they will come into sharper relief and we’ll have a clearer picture in the months and years ahead. We have to fix what’s broken first. Make it happen.

I am still using my same equipment, and am no professional. If you are an avid photographer, regardless of your skills and professional experience, you are in good company here. Booman Tribune was blessed with very talented photographers in the past. At Progress Pond, we seem to have a few talented photographers now, a few of whom seem to be lurking I suppose.

I have been using an LG v40 ThinQ for over two years. It seems to serve me well, for now, but I know that the lives of these devices are limited. Most of my family seems to be gravitating toward iPhones, so I suspect I may eventually have to succumb and go to the Dark Side of The Force. In a recessionary environment, my default is to avoid major purchases for as long as possible. So, unless something really goes wrong with my current phone, I’ll stick to the status quo for as long as possible. Keep in mind that my last Samsung kept going for over four years (the last year was a bit touch and go). Once I do have to make a new smart phone purchase, the camera feature is the one I consider most important. So any advice on such matters is always appreciated. Occasionally I get to use my old 35 mm, but one of my daughters seems to have commandeered it. So it goes.

This series of posts is in honor of a number of our ancestors. At one point, there were some seriously great photographers who graced Booman Tribune with their work. They are all now long gone. I am the one who carries the torch. I keep this going because I know that one day I too will be gone, and I really want the work that was started long ago to continue, rather than fade away with me. If I see that I am able to incite a few others to fill posts like these with photos, then I will be truly grateful. In the meantime, enjoy the photos, and I am sure between Booman and myself we can pass along quite a bit of knowledge about the photo flog series from its inception back during the Booman Tribune days.

Since this post usually runs only a day, I will likely keep it up for a while. Please share your work. I am convinced that us amateurs are extremely talented. You will get nothing but love and support here. I mean that. Also, when I say that you don’t have to be a photography pro, I mean that as well. I am an amateur. This is my hobby. This is my passion. I keep these posts going only because they are a passion. If they were not, I would have given up a long time ago. My preference is to never give up.

Peace.

Historian Kathleen Frydl argues in The American Prospect that “whiteness” has been the one constant in American politics: “Since the country’s founding, one organized political faction has been dedicated to preserving institutionalized racism, whether slavery or its successors.”

Of course, the whiteness faction hasn’t organized itself strictly within party lines, nor has it ever had complete control of either of the two major parties. The closest we’ve come to that is the pre-1960’s Southern Democrats and today’s Republican Party, both of which are strongly identified with the supremacy of whites and white culture.

As Frydl surveys the near-future of the GOP, she hears echoes of the cleavage of the Whig Party, which broke into pro- and anti-slavery factions in the mid 19^thCentury before collapsing and giving way to the Party of Lincoln.

This is not a strategy for victory for today’s Republican Party which has lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. Its diminished strength in the Sun Belt, particularly Georgia, Arizona and Texas, is now threatening to remove what’s left of its Electoral College advantage. This lack of presidential viability will present its own problems, but it’s really driven by something much more fundamental–what Frydl sees as not only a white agenda but also “falsehoods” and “baseless conspiracy theories.” She puts it this way: “They cannot win national office without endorsing fabulist conspiracies, and they cannot win national office if they do.” Molly Ball of The Atlantic frames the question in a similar vein: “[Donald] Trump may be done with Washington, but Washington—and particularly his adopted party—is not done with him…”

Republicans can’t put off the question of how to deal with the Florida retiree. Trump will go to trial in the U.S. Senate for incitement of insurrection, stemming from his refusal to concede the election results and attempts to prevent Congress from counting the Electoral College votes on January 6th. If Trump is found guilty, a second vote to prevent him from ever enjoying another “position of honor, trust or profit” would preclude him from making a future run for the presidency.

Many Republican senators, all of whom will be jurors, are saying that the party cannot convict Trump and survive. They are particularly worried that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will vote to find Trump guilty.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is explicit on this point, arguing earlier this week that “any Republican-leader type who embraces [conviction] is doing a lot of damage to the party,” and “for the party to move forward, we got to move the party with Donald Trump. There’s no way to be a successful Republican Party without having President Trump working with all of us and all of us working with him. That’s just a fact.”

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin went further, saying “No. No. No.” when asked if he could still support McConnell as caucus leader if he finds against Trump.

Alabama Freshman Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the former head football coach at Auburn University, says a conviction “wouldn’t be good” because “the whole thing is about a team, and if you start separating the team, then it just tears it up.”

These arguments have literally nothing to do with Trump’s guilt, innocence, or suitability for future office. They are solely dedicated to politics, and specifically to the impossibility of the Republican Party being a contender for power if they don’t retain the lion’s share of Trump’s loyal base.

Yet, Trump’s base is virtually synonymous with what Frydl calls the perennial organized faction in American politics that has always “been dedicated to preserving institutionalized racism.” A decision to convict Trump and prevent him from ever running again is therefore not just a vote about one man but about the future of the party. In this case, Trump is the bathwater you want to throw out, but the whiteness faction is the baby you want to keep.

When Frydl says the Republicans “cannot win national office without endorsing fabulist conspiracies, and they cannot win national office if they do,” this isn’t because QAnon is an irreplaceable constituency but because straightforward honest racism isn’t politically palatable and must be channeled and disguised. Presently, the whiteness faction is disguised as a Trump cult of personality and what Graham, Johnson and Tuberville are essentially arguing is that Trump’s hold on that faction is real and unchangeable. If they throw out Trump, they’ll throw the party’s only avenue to power out in the bargain.

Perhaps this is true, but white supremacy has more staying power than a de-platformed ex-president. It may find a more comfortable home than the Republican Party, but it won’t disappear.

McConnell speaks for a different faction. This faction sees Trump less as the representative of a core constituency than an embarrassment and an aberration. Whatever the party’s current problems and future vulnerabilities, it can’t move forward until it is rid of him. The January 6 attack on the Capitol was the final straw, and the institutions of government need to be protected against populist assault. This doesn’t mean that this faction is politically stupid. They, too, are weighing the costs of convicting Trump and wondering if their careers can survive the backlash that would inevitably come.

Yet, they’re also balancing Frydl’s observation that Trumpian “ideas are deeply repellent to the independent and suburban voters Republicans need in order to win many elections.”

In the end, very few Republican senators will base their impeachment vote on Trump’s guilt or innocence, but rather on their assessment of the best way to regain power.

However the senators vote on Trump’s impeachment, their verdict will divide the party from key constituencies it needs to win. Either way, the party will be more divided after Trump’s second impeachment than before it.

Both guilty and innocent verdicts will invite strong third party challenges in the next election, especially if reports about Trump forming some kind of Patriot Party prove true. But the real driver of this crackup is probably not personality-driven. It could be that for the first time in American history, white supremacy is no longer an organizing principle that can bring victory.

It was nice to see Avril Haines be confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new Director of National Intelligence in an overwhelming 84-10 bipartisan vote. It was the first roll call for freshman senators Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock and Alex Padilla. Of course, there were many enjoyable things about the first day of the Era of No Malarkey.  Did you see that fireworks display? Holy Moly!

The 17 Executive Orders were nice, but I think the thing I enjoyed most, surprisingly, was watching White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s debut press conference. Just seeing a friendly face at the podium was comforting, and that she knew what she was talking about and wasn’t bullshitting anyone was almost disorienting. It’s been so long since we’ve seen competence and honesty from anyone in a real position of power that it almost seems like something is wrong. I also loved it when Biden told his new workforce what he expected of them:

JOE BIDEN: But I’m not joking when I say this. If you’re ever working with me, and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot. On the spot. No ifs, ands, or buts. Everybody, everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity. That’s been missing in a big way in the last four years.

There were plenty of firsts to celebrate, including the everything Kamala Harris represents, not to mention the novelty of having a Second Gentleman in Doug Emhoff. We have our first Jewish Senate Majority Leader and the first Jewish senator from Georgia in Ossoff, who is also the youngest senator since Biden was elected in 1972. Warnock is the first black senator from Georgia and Padilla the first Latino senator from California.

The choreography and production values of the various events were extraordinary, and the themes were both reflective of Biden’s vision and yet not overly focused on him. A lot of attention and respect was paid to ordinary Americans, including teachers, health care workers, and even children. Amanda Gorman, only 22, delivered a beautiful poem at the inaugural ceremony that will be long remembered.

Of course, Biden’s inaugural speech was the main event. I’ll tackle that topic tomorrow, but the main focus was on national unity in the pursuit of solving the huge challenges we’re facing as a nation. In his typical fashion, the new president exhorted us to follow our better angels, find the best in each other, and work collectively. The contrast to Trump couldn’t be starker or more refreshing.

It was a very strong and cathartic first day of his presidency. I’m looking forward to Day Two.

Hey all!

Today marks the transition from a long national (and global) nightmare to the Biden Administration. I’d like to start with something that I think is in tune with the new vibe that is just starting to take form:

And to give an idea of the tone that we’re already seeing, even before Biden and Harris assume their offices and responsibilities, their leading a memorial for those who have died from COVID-19. It was moving, to say the least.

In the meantime, we do have the waning hours of the the term of the Great Orange Menace. Let’s get a couple more roasts in. Let’s start with Seth Meyers:

Trevor Noah has his say:

Colbert weighs in:

The jukebox is working and the bar is open. Let’s celebrate. Healing will take time and be very difficult.

Hang in there.

Cheers!

On Donald Trump’s last full day as president of the United States, I have occasion to write about a subject I never touched during his entire term in office: The First Lady. Mary Jordan, the veteran Washington Post and author of “The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump” has a piece out today in the paper about the president’s wife. The piece draws distance between Melania and her twice-impeached husband:

In her final days as first lady, Melania Trump has largely stayed away from the West Wing. While her husband spends his time there in anger — though aides said his dark mood has lightened since he began planning a rousing military send-off for himself — she has shown no sign of any disappointment for how the president’s era is ending.

The article continues in this fashion, creating one dichotomy after another, each of which makes Melania look good when compared to the president. Every negative narrative about the First Lady is offset by some mitigating factor.

First, there is her stoicism and poise in contrast to Trump’s frenetic and panicked demeanor.

Several people who have been in touch with Melania Trump said she is aware of the intense criticism both she and her husband have gotten since the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, but that unlike her spouse she appears completely unfazed…

“She has hours left as first lady, but she is not the type to wander around the rooms of the White House in deep reflection of what happened, of what could have been,” said one person in touch with her. “She is Melania — she keeps the focus on what’s next.”

Another said that unlike her furious husband, “Melania is good.”

 Then there’s her refusal to act like a good sport by inviting Jill Biden to the White House, as is traditional during a presidential hand-off, or to attend the inauguration ceremony. These were decisions outside of her control, with which she did not agree:

They said she would have been happy to attend President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony, as every outgoing president and first lady have for the past 152 years. But rather than dwell on what could have been, she focuses on what she has control over: choreographing her own exit, trying to cement her legacy as a first lady who devoted much time to renovations of the White House, and making plans to continue her “Be Best” initiative.

Unlike her husband, she has at least been preparing for the transition. For example, she quite responsibly began packing her “considerable wardrobe and shoe collection” shortly after Election Day, and she’s been “working with Chief Usher Timothy Harleth to facilitate the move-in of the Bidens.”

White House strategist Kellyanne Conway, the co-chair of Trump’s 2016 campaign, chips in to explain that Melania “was against the protracted challenge to the election results, especially after the results were certified,” and that she opposed holding the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the assault on the Capitol: “She was the only family member who was not there.”

In fact, according to Conway, the First Lady was initially unaware of the breach at the Capitol because she was busy complying with record-keeping requests related to White House property, but once she was alerted, “she urged her husband to intervene and end the riot.”

The most biting section of Jordan’s piece may have been provided by Melania herself, identified as “one person close to the president” who said, “it can be hard to predict what will bother him most” and revealed that Trump was especially aggrieved to learn that celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga will be appearing at Biden inaugural events.

A believer in the power of being associated with marquee names, he hired Elton John and Billy Joel to sing at his and Melania’s wedding in 2005. But his harsh rhetoric, hard-line immigration policy and other stances during the 2016 campaign led Hollywood to largely boycott his inauguration. Now as Trump rages about what he describes as unfair treatment from all sides — from people he hired, from businesses he helped with his policies, from members of his own party and even from celebrities — his wife just shrugs and moves on.

There is no indication, however, that Melania will move on from her marriage. She plans to join her husband at Mar-a-Lago and has been busy looking for a Florida school for their son, Barron. Moreover, she plans to be deeply involved in the site-selection and design of the Trump presidential library, although she has a familiar rival for that task in Ivanka.

Even before Melania officially moved into the White House, Ivanka Trump told people she would like the first lady’s office to be renamed the “first family’s office.” Both women also wanted to decorate the Oval Office — in very different styles — until the president stepped in and canceled both plans.

“The library location has not even been scouted yet, but Ivanka has made her interest clear,” said one person aware of the discussions. “As usual, Melania will have to contend with the other family members.”

 The piece concludes by noting that it’s no surprise that “Melania Trump is far more mentally ready for the post-presidency than her husband.”

Throughout Trump’s presidency, I never saw fit to criticize the First Lady and I don’t have much interest in critiquing her now. She’s an enigmatic figure and it’s difficult to understand her marriage or where she truly stands on many issues. As she leaves the White House, it’s at least clear that she wants to put some distance between herself and her husband and step-children.

It’s an understandable impulse, especially considering the foreseeable legal challenges the family will face in the coming year. The Trump Organization is under heavy scrutiny from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Michael Sherwin, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, is conducting a criminal investigation into the January 6 insurrection. Trump could also face federal and state charges related to his attempt to overturn Biden’s victory in Georgia. And there are civil complaints which will involve him being deposed about his alleged rape of the writer E. Jean Carroll and his alleged theft of his niece Mary’s inheritance.

Melania doesn’t have any control over what happens in court. But she was sure to use the little control she does have while she’s still First Lady to build herself up at her family’s expense. It’s probably futile for her to think she can escape the shame of this presidency and become a respected ex-First Lady known for her #BeBest campaign and advocacy for children. Still, I can’t say I blame her for trying.

McKay Coppins reports for The Atlantic that Republican strategists are planning to pretend that the presidency of Donald Trump never happened. If that’s true, it seems like an impeachment conviction is a prerequisite. If you don’t believe me, consider that Eugene Debs, running on the Socialist Party ticket, won nearly one million votes in the 1920 presidential election, and he was locked up for sedition at the time. If convicted by the Senate, Trump could be denied the right to ever hold another federal position or office. If acquitted, he could run for president again even if he’s in prison.

It won’t be possible for the Republican Party to get beyond Trump if he’s still a candidate for their nomination. In fact, even if he just floats the idea, it will be paralyzing for the GOP. But if he’s precluded from serving, that will make it possible to pretend he never served in the first place.

I honestly can’t see any reason for Mitch McConnell to leave the door open for a Trump comeback, but if he makes that mistake he’ll deserve what comes next. I’m not certain, but I believe McConnell retains enough power and influence in the Senate Republican caucus to get a conviction if he wants one. I think the logic laid out above is pretty compelling and will make sense even to folks like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley who sided with Trump and helped incite the Capitol insurrection. They did so because they have presidential aspirations, and Trump stands in the way of those aspirations.

I don’t know that Cruz and Hawley would pivot on a dime and convict Trump. In truth, they may have destroyed their political careers irreparably, and can’t solve their problems no matter how they vote. The rest of the Republican caucus, however, can strategize more freely, and they can’t get beyond Trump by defending him and keeping his future political prospects alive.

 

 

Don’t ask me why, but I actually watched the Facebook video chat starring MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. He tries to explain why he went to the White House on Friday to talk to President Trump with a detailed plan to carry out a military coup and remain in power. Of course, a photographer captured an image of the top page of his plan, which involved martial law “if necessary,” an invocation of the Insurrection Act, and inserting former Devin Nunes staffer Kash Patel as acting head of the CIA. All of it would be blamed on a made-up story that China and Iran interfered in the election.

As I listened to Lindell spin out his version of his White House visit and what he claims to believe about the election, I was confused about whether he’s insane or cunning, or maybe some strange combination of the two. But, about ten minutes in, he explained that he’s a recovering cocaine addict, and it all suddenly made perfect sense. He sounds just like every tweaker I’ve ever known. Cocaine and meth scramble and disorganize the human brain, and it takes an extremely long time for the body to repair the damage. The post-acute recovery from these addictions is measured in years rather than weeks or months. In some cases, the damage is simply irreversible. Simply put, Mike Lindell has cocaine brain. He’s every bit as brain damaged as someone who has suffered blunt force trauma. He actually needs help.

It sounds like the president’s staffers blew him off as gently as they could, but it’s important to remember that he still received an audience with Trump and that what Lindell was saying and proposing largely comports with what people like Rudy Giuliani, Lin Wood, and Sidney Powell have been saying and proposing. Trump really did try to pull of a coup, and he really has been trying to put Kash Patel in at the CIA. The president just placed a crony in as chief counsel of the National Security Agency.

So, this is basically a failed Tweaker Coup.

Most Republicans in this country have been roped into believing that cocaine dreams are real.

As Biden and Harris introduce their science team in Wilmington on Saturday afternoon, it pays to remember that Trump had no use for scientific advice.

Mr. Trump left the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology idle for 33 months. When he reconstituted it in 2019, only one of his appointees was an academic scientist, with representatives of private industry filling out the council.

Biden chose Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, as his director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and added the position to his cabinet. Lander is known for his pioneering work on the Human Genome Project. Biden also selected Frances H. Arnold, winner of a 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Maria Zuber, the first woman to manage a NASA space mission, to serve as co-chairs of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

We’ve seen where ignoring scientists in favor of industry leaders gets us. Now we’re going to get back to normal and put our future in the hands of people who know what they’re talking about.

I’m excited about it.