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PBC News & Comment: Trump Is Hell-bent to Wag the Dog

Attack on Syria appears imminent, as Trump tweets threats at Putin and Assad as Mueller investigation closes in on 45….–Congress gave Trump funding without restrictions, only a few Democrats in Progressive Caucus raise any concerns

–Scott Ritter details two separate narratives on alleged chemical incident, but objects to military strikes before an investigation happens

–also at The American Conservative, filmmaker Ron Maxwell says Trump is being played by neocon hawks

–at The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald analyses Trump’s actions, concludes he’s more confrontational toward Russia than Obama was

–GOP Speaker Paul Ryan is stepping down, won’t run for re-election

–with Rand Paul opposing confirmation of Pompeo to State and Haspel to CIA, Dems could block both nominations…but will they?

–Xi Jinping says China will lower tariffs on auto imports, signaling that trade war may be averted

–Trump signs anti-sex trafficking bill, with serious side effects, and sex workers respond with new app called Switter, based in Australia

–insiders report Mueller will be fired, but that’s Mattias Mueller of Volkswagen

NY Times reports that Trump made a second attempt to fire Bob Mueller in December

–bill intended to prevent Trump from sacking Mueller is stalled, may not cover all the bases

–in latest class war salvo, Trump signs order to require work for people who get what he calls “welfare”

–the Zuckerberg hearings got lots of coverage, but Zuck deflected most questions and appeared to be OK with new regulation

–Israel says its snipers should cheer after scoring a hit, but defends shooting unarmed Palestinians

–last November’s spill of Keystone pipeline was twice as bad as reported

–Yvonne Staples of the Staple Singers dies at age 80, here’s a link to one of my favorite songs of theirs