Reading the tea leaves of Joe Biden's presidency - TIM LOUIS

With excitement and a fair bit of relief, much of the world watched an inauguration day like no other unfold safely — even with celebration — as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn into office Wednesday.

At long last, we’re finally able to say good riddance to the most dangerous president the US has ever had: Dangerous for the country; dangerous for the international community; dangerous for the planet itself.

Even though he was central to all the pomp and ceremony — from Amanda Gorman’s powerful inauguration poem to walking down Pennsylvania Avenue and fist-bumping spectators — President Biden hit the road running.

He signed over a dozen executive orders in the first few hours of his presidency, more than any of his predecessors have ever done. They include:

Revoking permits for the Keystone XL extension so it’s now dead in the water. (Rejoice all Canadians who are concerned about the climate crisis and our environment!)
Immediately reversing Trump’s racist “Muslim ban” that stopped non-citizens from travelling to the US from Muslim-majority countries.
Making masks mandatory in all US federal facilities — only part of his new government’s huge, national, multi-pronged response to the pandemic.
Putting an immediate freeze on any further oil and natural gas development in the Arctic. (Again, Canadians can rejoice.)
Immediately rejoining the Paris Climate Accord.
Immediately rejoining the World Health Organization and its COVAX initiative to get help to poorer countries so there’s equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

And progressives have even more to be happy about.

All of Biden’s appointments to his cabinet and federal agencies came out on the right side of diversity and democracy. One thing that made me particularly happy was the fact that President Biden has not appointed any right-wing Democrats, such as former Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who was regarded with disgust amongst progressives for deepening inequality and covering up a police killing.

Some analysts are now suggesting it’s very possible that in spite of the fact President Biden has always been a “centrist” Democrat, he might go on to become one of the most progressive American presidents ever.

These analysts point to the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. Prior to becoming president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Johnson was considered a conservative Democrat. However, throughout his presidency he allowed himself to be “pushed” in progressive directions by popular forces. No less important was his unique ability to work with both Republicans and Democrats.

For instance, LBJ was able to bring forward a number of improvements to the lives of ordinary Americans — things like Medicare and Medicaid, and the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting and was championed by civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

My partner, Penny, wonders whether President Biden’s presidency will go on to become something along the lines of what we saw with Philip Owen, the former NPA mayor of Vancouver who pioneered safe injection sites. Their roots might not be obviously progressive, but they’re both gentlemen, in the full sense of the word, and men of conscience. There’s a very good chance Biden will continue doing the right thing, and stake out even more surprisingly progressive territory.

Thursday morning, the world woke up with sigh of relief to a brand-new day. Penny’s and my reading of the tea leaves is that we may be on the brink of one of America’s most progressive presidential terms ever.