Posted on Categories News & Comment

PBC News & Comment: Trump Recruits Posse of Warmongers

Most chaotic week yet: Trump recruits bloodthirsty hawks to scare Little Kim, tanks markets, signs budget after veto threat….–Replacing McMaster with John Bolton, Trump signals strong prospects of war with Iran, North Korea

–Gareth Porter outlines Bolton’s obsession with Iran

–Bolton’s superPAC, funded by the Mercers, used Cambridge Analytica and knew they were using Facebook data

–Cambridge Analytica sales pitch claimed central role in Trump 2016

–Trump warms up war drums with new charges of Iranian hacking, theft of intellectual property

–after tweeting veto threat, and rambling about the bad budget bill, Trump signs it

Daily Beast claims that Guccifer 2.0 is Russian intelligence officer, but the leaked “evidence” cited is just speculation

–another weak story in WashPost—based on emails they haven’t actually seen—tries to elevate the status of Papadopoulos in Trump campaign

–Trump tanked markets worldwide with new tariff plans

–former Trump mistress and Playmate Karen McDougal details their affair to Anderson Cooper on CNN, and Cooper’s Stormy Daniels chat should air on 60 Minutes this weekend

–in new, in-depth interview, reporter Patrick Martin shares his findings about the big batch of former spies and soldiers running as Democrats for Congress

–Trump hasn’t signed SESTA yet, but its passage led Craigslist to take down all personals ads

–Florida teens lead major march in DC, and many other cities on Saturday, and Parkland students release a wish list

–FBI tries to defend its lies to angry judge in trial of Omar Mateen’s widow

–some recommended reads:

–Jonathon Offir offers important context in jailing of Ahed Tamimi

–at Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi delivers strong commentary on Iraq war and its legacy

–the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is even bigger than we thought