This week we examine the first few days of Joe Biden’s presidency, and the high volume of executive orders it has produced.

In a recent press statement, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has argued that we are closer to midnight on the doomsday clock than at any time since 1947. Meanwhile, as the United States continues to feel the ideological aftershocks of the tumult that ensued during the transition between administrations, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a new alert warning about future unrest and potential terrorism… but their concern seems to extend far beyond any single particular ideological group.

Then turning our attention to presidential administrations past and present, we look at Trump’s record of “draining the swamp” compared with his final days in office, the pardons he issued (and chose not to issue, as with the case of Julian Assange), and his choice in revoking his own executive order on ethics. This, contrasted with President Biden’s first days in office, and the unprecedented number of executive orders it has seen. While many view it as a proportional response to the last administration, do Biden’s executive orders also represent the potential for concern?

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SHOW NOTES

* COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY: Press Release—IT IS NOW 100 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT 

* REMEMBERANCE: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

* ALERT: US terrorism alert warns of politically motivated violence

* SECRET PARDONS: Secret Pardons for Self, Family?

* ASSANGE: Trump slammed for failing to pardon Assange, Snowden

* Trump Didn’t Pardon Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange And His Supporters Aren’t Happy

* SWAMP THE DRAIN: Trump's pardon largesse a boon for well-connected fraudsters

* Trump Revokes Lobbying Ban After Promising to 'Drain the Swamp'

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