Posted on Categories News & Comment

PBC News & Comment: Obama Breaks His Silence on Trump

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