Posted on Categories News & Comment

PBC News & Comment: Trump Defies Courts, Issues New KeystoneXL Permit

Plaintiffs who won injunction—upheld by appeals court—file fresh challenge to Trump’s March 29 “presidential permit” for KeystoneXL construction…–as attorney Steve Volcker predicted, Trump claims to be above the law

–Pennsylvania’s Dem Governor, Tom Wolf, is under fire for overriding state environmental agency in approving Mariner East 2 pipeline

–Julian Assange remains at Ecuadorian embassy in London, as an embassy official is sacked and President Moreno faces major protests over corruption scandal

–Assange friend Craig Murray offers advice at ConsortiumNews

–Trump purges Homeland Security Dept, firing Kirstjen Nielsen, head of Secret Services and 2 department heads as he threatens “tougher” approaches

–Nielsen spent 2 years implementing and defending Trump’s outrageous policies, and Rush Limbaugh says she refused order to close the border

NY Times editorial sizes up Nielsen’s work

–Trump likes interim, acting cabinet officials, so he can push them around

–new documentary, The Brink, offers interesting angles on Steve Bannon’s post-White House actions, but lacks crucial context and few judgments

–in fresh, in-depth interview, Trevor Aronson of The Intercept returns to talk about uneven use of “domestic terrorism” laws, and extremists who are influenced by Trump

–Facebook bans more white nationalist groups, based on fuzzy criteria

–in election-eve gift to Netanyahu, Trump declares Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is 11-million member terrorist organization, Trita Parsi comments

–in desperate effort to win election, “King Bibi” says he will annex West Bank settlements

–showing some political courage, Beto O’Rourke calls Netanyahu “racist”

–embracing anti-Semitic tropes at pro-Israel rally in Las Vegas, Trump and pals taunt Rep. Ilhan Omar hours after Trump supporter threatened to kill her

–at The Intercept, Robert Mackey details Trump’s comments in Las Vegas