While Clinton, her team and party leaders deserve most of the blame, President Obama’s failures set the stage for Trumpism….Here are the 9 ways, in bullet points
- Day one promise to close Gitmo, without counting D votes (just like Clinton’s lifting ban on gays in military)
- obstruction of prosecutions for torture, war crimes
- obstruction of prosecutions for Wall Street crimes
- broken promise to renegotiate NAFTA
- secret negotiation of TPP + Hillary’s credibility when she opposed it
- taking HRC’s advice to intervene in Libya (Benghazi, emails)
- allowing Clintons to violate pledge about Foundation
- he didn’t lambaste GOP for obstruction on SCOTUS, Zika
- he allowed Michigan and Wisconsin to bash unions with no cost
--in NY Times, Charlie Savage details the risks Obama has left to Trump by expanding presidential power
--Hillary Blames FBI Director Comey for sinking her chances in final weeks
--Trump says he “doesn’t want to hurt Bill and Hillary” but doesn’t rule out more investigations
--top Clinton pollster says fascination with poll-based predictions my have hurt turnout
--Norman Solomon and RootsAction lead the call for Donna Brazile to step down as DNC chair…and Rep. Keith Ellison is a leading choice to replace her
--in odd note to readers, NY Times publisher and editor pledge to return to journalism
--in 60 Minutes interview, Trump is less combative, more responsive to questions, but his policy intentions remain largely undefined
--Trump names Breitbart flamethrower Stephen Bannon his top advisor, and taps RNC chair Reince Priebus as chief of staff
--newest hack grabs user files of another philanderer site, Adult Friend Finder
--Julian Assange sits for interview on Swedish sex crime charges, with Ecuadorean lawyer posing questions written by Swedish prosecutors
--in Israel, radicals in the Knesset push legislation to legalize illegal settlements
--Austin musician Leland Potter and friends release protest song “Grab This Country By The Pussy” by the Rubilators
--Leon Russell, and Okie who made it big as an LA session man and then made a name for himself as honky-tonk singer-songwriter, is dead at 74 Here’s a link to one of my faves, Roll Away the Stone