'In 100 days, we can change the course of the disease'

President-elect Joe Biden vowed yesterday to administer 100 million coronavirus vaccinations during his first 100 days in office, while repeating his promise to mandate face coverings on airplanes, in federal buildings, and other places under the government's control. Biden also wants to open the majority of the country's schools within the first 100 days of his presidency and provide adequate funding for districts to implement safety measures such as better ventilation and hiring more staff to oversee smaller, more distanced classrooms of children. "We did not get into this mess quickly, and it's going to take time to fix," he said. "But I am convinced that in 100 days we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better." —Politico

• — The immigration challenge. Biden has vowed to immediately reverse the Trump Administration's restrictive immigration policies. In total, Trump has made more than 400 alterations to immigration policy, and together the moves have reshaped virtually every part of the U.S. immigration system through executive action, policy guidance, and regulatory change. The bureaucratic realities mean it could take years to erase the central pillars of Trump's legacy. —Politico
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• — More Cabinet nominations. Biden plans to nominate former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as his Agriculture secretary and Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his Housing and Urban Development secretary. Biden's choice of Vilsack, an Obama Administration alum, indicates he wants the USDA to stay more focused on its traditional roles of supporting farmers and ensuring food safety. The choice of Fudge may appease some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who lobbied Biden to choose her for the agricultural post. A formal announcement is expected this week. —Axios
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• — Mayor Pete to China? Biden is considering a high-profile ambassadorship for former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, possibly sending him to China. The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who quickly rose to the top of the party during the campaign, played a key role in Biden's nomination. Letting him deepen his foreign policy chops could boost his future, since many inside the Democratic Party believe he will return as a presidential candidate. —Axios

Sargent: What Trump's antics have revealed

"What Republican voters think, or say they think, about who really won matters less than the fact that, as a consequence, they actively want their elected representatives to subvert our democracy and keep Trump in power illegitimately. ... It doesn't matter if these demands are bound to fail, though that's a relief. What matters is that they are demands that elected officials act outside the law to overturn the election's true and legitimate outcome, to keep Trump in power extralegally." —Greg Sargent in The Washington Post

Greg Sargent is a Washington Post opinion columnist covering national politics. He is the author of "An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics."

MORE: Trump ally lobbying fellow House Republicans to support Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the election —CNN

Georgia Republicans seek to restrict voting

Republican lawmakers in Georgia outlined a plan yesterday to restrict vote-by-mail in the state and roll back the election laws that contributed to the state's record-high turnout in the 2020 presidential election. The move appears designed to respond to President Trump's repeated false claims that mail voting is rife with fraud.

• — The legislation would eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, add a voter ID requirement to mail ballots for voters with an eligible excuse, and eliminate drop boxes. The lawmakers also vowed to unwind a legal agreement that standardized Georgia's signature-match policies earlier this year and trained poll workers in best practices.
  
  — Ironically, it was Georgia Republicans who created the state's no-excuse absentee voting system in 2005, under Gov. Sonny Perdue, who now serves at Trump's secretary of Agriculture. Early voting was hugely popular in Georgia's November election, in which the vast majority of voters cast a ballot by mail or in-person early.
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• — Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reiterated on Monday that there is no evidence of widespread fraud or a stolen election. "I know there are people that are convinced the election was fraught with problems," he said. "But the evidence. the actual evidence, the facts tell us a different story." —NBC News

The anti-hackers got hacked

When governments or companies around the world get hacked, the cybersecurity firm FireEye often gets called to come in and investigate. But the California-based company said yesterday that its own cyber defenses suffered a major breach by what it believes was a "state-sponsored attack."

• — FireEye didn't name a country, but suspicion immediately fell on Russia and its intelligence services. "Based on my 25 years in cybersecurity and responding to incidents, I've concluded we are witnessing an attack by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities," Kevin Mandia, the company's chief executive, said in a statement.
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• — The U.S. intelligence community and private cybersecurity firms said stepped-up efforts protected last month's U.S. elections from any significant foreign interference. But some government officials and private analysts speculated that Russia and others would probe for other valuable targets during the election season.
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• — "The hack of a premier cybersecurity firm demonstrates that even the most sophisticated companies are vulnerable to cyberattacks," said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "I applaud FireEye for quickly going public with this news." —NPR

Salas: Protecting judges protects democracy

"For judges and their families, better security is a matter of life and death. But its importance goes beyond our well-being alone. For our nation's sake, judicial security is essential. Federal judges must be free to make their decisions, no matter how unpopular, without fear of harm. The federal government has a responsibility to protect all federal judges because our safety is foundational to our great democracy." —Esther Salas in The New York Times

Esther Salas is a U.S. District Court judge for the District of New Jersey and sits in Newark. In July, her son was killed and her husband gravely injured at their home after being shot by a disgruntled attorney.

MORE: Joan Lefkow: My husband and mother were killed by someone with a vendetta. Federal protection is essential —Chicago Tribune

Flynn isn't innocent says judge

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan formally dismissed former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's prosecution yesterday after President Trump's pardon, but said the act of clemency does not mean Flynn is innocent. In a 43-page ruling, Sullivan also expressed deep skepticism about the Justice Department's stated reasons for abandoning the case, criticizing it for applying a different set of rules to Flynn.

• — Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying in an FBI interview and to senior White House officials about the scope of his pre-inauguration conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak after Moscow intervened to boost Trump in the 2016 U.S. election.
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• — Sullivan said he likely would have denied the DOJ's effort earlier this year to drop the case, seen by many legal experts as an attempt by Attorney General Bill Barr to bend the rule of law to help a Trump ally. He also said he was troubled by the government's "dubious" rationales and "ever-evolving justifications" that ignored applicable law, appeared irrelevant, or contradicted prosecutors' previous statements.
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• — "President Trump's decision to pardon Mr. Flynn is a political decision, not a legal one. Because the law recognizes the president's political power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case as moot," Sullivan wrote, adding, "However, the pardon does not, standing alone, render [Mr. Flynn] innocent of the alleged violation." —The Washington Post

Dickman: Republicans, aren't we better than this?

"What has become of my party? After a career spent in Pennsylvania and national politics as a Republican, I'm disappointed to see some Republicans' behavior in the aftermath of the election. ... When President Bush lost re-election, I was disappointed because I thought he deserved re-election. But my former colleagues in the administration, including [Attorney General Bill] Barr, also recognized that our democracy came from the people directly and that they had spoken. This is what it means to live in a democracy and to have respect for your fellow Americans." —Murray Dickman in The Philadelphia Inquirer

Murray Dickman was a senior aide to former Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh and an official at the Justice Department under former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

MORE: Mitt Romney tears into Republicans who are threatening to protest the Electoral College vote that will confirm Biden's election victory —Business Insider

A happy reunion...at Walmart

Abby went missing on Nov. 8, from the backyard of her home in Dothan, Ala. The 4-year-old, black-and-white, mixed-breed dog somehow freed herself from her collar and took off for parts unknown. Her owner, June Rountree, and her husband circled the neighborhood night after night searching for her, went door-to-door to ask neighbors if they had spotted the dog, and visited local animal shelters—all to no avail. After three weeks, they started to lose hope.

• — Then, on Nov. 28, Rountree, a longtime cashier at Walmart, was busy working her regular shift at register 6. Suddenly, there was a commotion. A dog was running around the store, and people were trying to catch her. The dog ran directly to register 6.
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• — A shocked Rountree spotted the familiar patch of white fur around her snout and neck. It was Abby! "I called her name and she came to me," Rountree said. "I bent over and hugged her. I completely lost it then. I couldn't speak. I was in complete shock and just couldn't believe it."
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• — Her overjoyed owner says she has no idea where Abby had been, or how she managed to track down her human mom at work. "How she knew I worked there, I do not know," says Rountree. "She wasn't skin and bones, [so] I want to thank whoever she came upon that gave her something to eat." —The Washington Post

The problem is not so much that some lunatics are willing to die for this insanity, but that those willing to die for a cause are often even more willing to kill for it. —John A., New Mexico

Did I read this right? Did the Arizona Republican Party just declare itself a domestic enemy of the Constitution of the United States of America? —Dave M., Colorado

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.