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A fresh breeze is blowing across our national political landscape, bringing with it a new era of honesty, integrity, and competence.

Despite the persistent efforts of Donald Trump and his Republican accomplices to undermine our democracy, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will become our next president and vice-president on Jan. 20, 2021.

President-elect Biden has begun the process of selecting his cabinet. The individuals he has announced so far are a historically diverse group of very experienced, very competent public servants. A few examples: 

• Antony Blinken is the nominee for Secretary of State. Blinken served as the Deputy National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2015 and Deputy Secretary of State from 2015 to 2017. 

• The nominee for Director of National Intelligence is Avril Haines, who previously served as the Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy Director of the CIA. If confirmed, she will be the first woman to lead National Intelligence.

• Alejandro Mayorkas is the nominee to become Secretary of Homeland Security. Mayorkas served as the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2016. If confirmed, he would be the first Latino and the first immigrant to lead Homeland Security.

• The nominee for United Nations Ambassador is Linda Thomas-Greenfield, an African-American career diplomat who previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.

Joe Biden has nominated an outstanding group of individuals to lead our country’s diplomatic and national security operations. They are all very familiar with the agencies they will be leading and are very committed to those agencies successfully carrying out their responsibilities.   

The Biden-Harris administration has already demonstrated that it will be a refreshing contrast to the incompetence and corruption of the Trump administration. 

A new era is beginning — an era in which our president, vice president, White House staff, and cabinet appointees will all reflect the best qualities of our nation.

Larry Feldman

Lakeside