President 44 rips into Republicans for failing to oppose Trump’s wrongdoing, asking “what took you so long”; Obama should answer, too….
--second CIA whistleblower is reported ready to blow, as AP drops blockbuster story on Rick Perry’s efforts to install board members on Ukraine gas company
--federal judge in NY reject’s Trump’s broad immunity claim, orders tax returns turned over to DA
--subpoenas are landing all over Trumpland, but his stonewalling has been effective since Dems to control of House
--Matt Taibbi has questions about CIA whistleblower #1 that probably apply to the next one, too
--Kurt Volker provided damaging text messages, but his testimony sends different signals
--at WhoWhatWhy, Klaus Marre spanks Adam Schiff for unforced errors
--at Buzzfeed, they slap Joe Biden for bragging about getting Ukrainian prosecutor fired while repeatedly exonerating him
--at The Guardian, Kate Aronoff says Joe’s a bad bet for Dems
--while we’ve been distracted by tweets, Russiagate and now Ukrainegate, the federal courts are being packed by conservative white males
--in latest immigration ploy, Trump moves to deny entry unless they can prove they have health insurance, or can afford it
--without any consultations, Trump again announces US is leaving Syria
--journalist Stephen Kinzer comments that Trump’s instincts are correct
--Kinzer, a Boston Globe columnist, is guest in our latest in-depth interview about his book about CIA mystery man Sid Gotlieb, Poisoner in Chief
--Trump’s bromance with Kim Jong-un hits the rocks in Stockholm, where talks collapsed at end of first day
--Khalilzad resumes talks with Taliban
--deadly protests continue in Baghdad, and sometime violent, masked protests continue in Hong Kong
--Philippines strongman Duterte reveals health problems, and PBC mentions new film The Kingmaker, about Imelda Marcos’ scheme to make son next president
--flipping the bird to California again, White House opens 700,000 acres to oil and gas extraction; PBC mentions new film, The Story of Plastic
--as bans on vaping expand due to wave of illnesses, cigarettes killed over 400,000 Americans last year