Biden says ‘getting vaccinated is the most patriotic thing you can do’ in speech marking July 4th

President Joe Biden has used his July 4th address to urge Americans to get vaccinated, suggesting they will fulfill their patriotic duty by doing so and safeguard “the hard-worn progress” in the fight against the pandemic.

“My fellow Americans, that's the most patriotic thing you can do, so, please, if you haven't got vaccinated, do it now: for yourself, for your family, for your community and for your country,” Biden said, speaking from the south lawn of the White House on Sunday.

Biden credited his administration for getting the US economy back on track, claiming that it was “roaring back” from the days when most of the country was plunged into lockdowns and Americans had their freedom of movement severely restricted by stay-at-home orders.

If you haven’t gotten vaccinated, please do it now. It’s the most patriotic thing you can do.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 4, 2021

"We're seeing record job creation and record economic growth – the best in four decades and, I might add, the best in the world,” Biden said, addressing a 1,000-strong crowd gathered at the lawn.

Drawing parallels between the time 13 American colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776 and the fight against Covid-19, Biden said while the US still hasn’t “vanquished” the disease, it is “closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus.”

Biden argued that persuading as many Americans as possible to get the jab is the only way to combat the Delta variant of the virus, which is considered to be times more infectious than previous mutations, and to “protect the hard-won progress we've made."

While Biden’s speech mostly focused on the role vaccination plays in the return to life as normal, the president appealed to his political opponents, arguing that a united front is needed to “beat the virus” and “rescue” the nation from “division and despair.”

"When we see ourselves not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans, then there is simply no limit to what we can achieve,” Biden said. So far, six months into the Biden presidency, the American public remains polarized, including increasingly on the issue of vaccination.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll, released Sunday, found that only 45% of Republicans have received at least one Covid-19 vaccination dose, while 86 % of Democrats have already done so. A total of 29% of Americans say that it’s unlikely they get vaccinated, among them 47% of Republicans and 6% of Democrats. Biden’s vaccination campaign, which fell short of the 70 percent vaccination rate goal set for Independence Day, is hindered not only by the pushback from the conservatives. The same poll showed that about 35 percent of independents say they are unlikely to get the jab either.

https://www.rt.com/usa/528370-biden-vaccination-speech-patriotic/

Trump Aide's Social Media Platform Gettr Reportedly Hacked on Launch Day

A proffered Twitter alternative, Gettr, a recent social media platform offering, was announced earlier in the week, with Donald Trump's former spokesman, Jason Miller, set to be in charge of the new online forum. The fourth of July was scheduled to be the launch date.

A new social media platform launched by a Trump ex-spokesman, Jason Miller, named 'Gettr' was targeted by hackers directly after it was launched on the 4th of July, Reuters reported, citing Miller.

"The problem was detected and sealed in a matter of minutes, and all the intruder was able to accomplish was to change a few user names," Reuters quoted Miller's e-mailed statement.

Several screenshots emerged online, showing some of the top Gettr profiles, including those of former State Secretary Mike Pompeo, Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene, and Miller, that said: "JubaBaghdad was here, follow me in twitter :)".

According to Miller, the intrusion has been "rectified". Verified Gettr accounts of prominent Republicans appear to be reinstated.

The new social media platform was officially launched on the Fourth of July, with Miller celebrating by pledging that it would challenge Big Tech and mainstream media platforms.

“GETTR is a direct challenge to the social media oligarchs from Silicon Valley, and what better day to declare independence from their woke tyranny than July 4th?” Miller posted. “GETTR is the marketplace of ideas. We will not cancel people for their political opinions, and GETTR offers far more features and better technology than anything else out there.”

Gettr is being touted as an alternative social media platform that claims to be free of bias and censorship that can be seen on mainstream social media including Twitter and Facebook. The platform became available earlier in the week, immediately prompting chuckles from some netizens, who compared it to Twitter and wondered at the meaning of the name "Gettr".

Miller clarified in the platform's front page statement that "GETTR’s name is derived from the idea of 'getting together' as a community on social media."

“Users won’t have to choose between conservative-leaning platforms with inferior technology and slicker liberal Apps that crush their freedom of expression,” Miller explained, adding, "with GETTR, they’ll get back their freedom of speech and have a superior product at the same time.”

Although many media outlets have associated the new platform with the former US president, Donald Trump, his involvement in Gettr is unclear. While Trump remains banned from mainstream social media platforms, he also does not appear to have a verified Gettr account.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202107051083308392-trump-aides-social-media-platform-gettr-reportedly-hacked-on-launch-day/

Hunter Biden engaged in some daddy pay care: Devine

While Joe Biden careens around the country eating ice cream and behaving like a kind, but slightly dotty grandpa, it’s worth remembering the cynical way he used his son, Hunter, to generate cash for the family.

Hunter, now 51, wanted to be an artist or a writer, but he was assigned by his father the role of family breadwinner through lucrative grace-and-favor jobs and sweetheart deals facilitated by Joe’s network of connections in Delaware and, later, throughout the world.

The irresistible temptations of gushing torrents of unaccountable cash would lead Hunter into a brutal addiction to crack cocaine, which he details in his memoir “Beautiful Things.”

Resentful of the expectations placed on him, Hunter complained that he was forced to give half his salary to his father.

“I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family for 30 years,” Hunter wrote in a 2019 text message to his daughter, Naomi, that was found on his abandoned laptop.

“It’s really hard. But don’t worry, unlike Pop [Joe], I won’t make you give me half your salary.”

There’s no direct evidence of such a wealth transfer on Hunter’s laptop.

But what we do know is that, while Joe was vice president, Hunter routinely paid at least some of his father’s household expenses, including AT&T bills of around $190 a month.

We know from an e-mail on June 5, 2010, with the subject “JRB bills” to Hunter from Eric Schwerin, his business partner at Rosemont Seneca, that he was expected to foot hefty bills to Wilmington contractors for maintenance and upkeep of his father’s palatial lakefront property. Joe’s initials are JRB, for Joseph Robinette Biden.

The bills that June included $2,600 to contractor Earle Downing for a “stone retaining wall” at Joe’s Wilmington estate, $1,475 to painter Ronald Peacock to paint the “back wall and columns” of the house, and $1,239 to builder Mike Christopher for repairs to the air conditioning at the cottage of Joe’s late mother, Jean “Mom-Mom” Biden, which was on his property and which he would later rent to the Secret Service for $2,200 a month.

“This is from last summer I think and needs to be paid pretty soon,” wrote Schwerin of Christopher’s bill.

Another $475 “for shutters” was owed to RBI construction, of Bear, Del., about 15 minutes west of Wilmington.

Schwerin’s e-mail to Hunter begins: “FYI, there are a few outstanding bills that need to be paid and I am not sure which ones are a priority and which should get paid out of ‘my’ account and which should be put on hold or paid out of the ‘Wilmington Trust Social Security Check Account.’ ”

He goes on to explain “there is about $2,000 extra in ‘my’ account beyond what is used for monthly expenses.” It is unknown why Schwerin used quotation marks around “my.” But it appears the account is used, at least in part, to pay expenses for Joe.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/04/hunter-biden-engaged-in-some-daddy-pay-care-devine/