it is okay to criticize joe biden. we're going to need to do a lot of it in the next four years, so might as well get into practice.

🧵In coming days & weeks, a bunch of awesome younger folks will be taking on roles in the Biden Administration, some for their first experience in government. Herewith some free advice, worth what you paid for it. I encourage others to add their best advice below this thread! 1/

1) You may be appointed by the president—but you are taking an oath to the constitution, and you work for the people of these United States. You owe them integrity, honesty, & transparency, as well as your best work. 2/

Take your ethics undertakings seriously. Learn the rules and follow them. Don’t ever think they don’t apply to you. And don’t do or write anything you would be ashamed to see in the newspaper the next day. 3/

2) Government is a team sport. Your job is to help your team succeed. That means help your boss, help your peers, and help your employees. If they rise, you rise. If they fail, you have failed. So start by figuring out who they are, what they need, and what you can offer. 4/

3) Every workplace has unwritten rules, too: what I call “invisible furniture.” You will be bumping into a lot of it in your first months on the job. Make a point of learning it, & remember that it’s never dumb to admit what you don’t know—it’s the quickest way to learn. 5/

Why is anyone surprised #BidenLied ?

Had the media actually done their damn jobs, you would know Joe Biden makes Donald Trump look like Honest Abe.

Don’t believe me? Let’s stroll... 👇🏽

Joe Biden claimed he was shot at in Iraq (he wasn’t)

#BidenLied about his wife and daughter being killed by a drunk driver for political purposes, several

#BidenLied about confronting Slobodan

Joe Biden claimed to be against the three strike rule his racist legislation enacted (he wasn’t #BidenLied

“I went to law school on a full academic scholarship...and ended up in the top half of my class." (Total bullshit #BidenLied

Has there been a moment in modern history where so many people in free societies have believed such damaging lies?
https://t.co/HrZcnJJ61W
1/

It’s easy to point to the US, where nearly 90 per cent of people who voted for Donald Trump believe Joe Biden’s election victory was not legitimate.
2/

But it’s not just the US. In France, a minority of adults are confident that vaccines are safe, which explains why only 40 per cent say they plan to get a Covid-19 shot.
3/

Meanwhile, across the world, substantial minorities believe that the Covid-19 fatality rate has been “deliberately and greatly exaggerated”.
4/

How did it come to this? The simplest explanation — to repurpose a phrase from former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers — is: “There are idiots. Look around.”
5/

NEW: The Biden administration arrived in January to find an exodus of foreign service officers at State, climate scientists gone at Interior and EPA, and workplace safety inspectors at Labor dropped under Trump. @rbravender reports on the path ahead. ($)

Biden is scrambling to make government work cool again, hoping to staff up w/ young idealists who buy into the "build back better" slogan. His admin is looking at ways to rehire some of the many scientists, retired officials, & other experts who hit quit over the last 4 years.

It won't be easy. Some agency veterans who left have moved on from the US government & say they're not interested in coming back. Fights over where to prioritize federal $ will likely mean Biden & Congress have tough choices about which of their pet issues they want to pay for.

And even some government employees who are relieved by the Democratic president's rhetoric about empowering the federal workforce are worried about how another administration after Biden might approach workers.

The gov jobs portal is packed with openings, like a Kansas-based EPA criminal investigator, a diversity & inclusion specialist for the Peace Corps, & a guide at Kings Canyon National Park. It's critical that these jobs are filled across the bureaucracy, per former US officials.