Leid Stories—Recalling Milestones and Urging Increased Civic Involvement, President Obama Bids Farewell; On the Same Day, Hillary Clinton Dedicates A Monument to Herself—01.11.17

From his home city of Chicago, and 10 days before he officially leaves office, President Barack Obama last night delivered his farewell speech to the nation as its 44th president. Astutely avoiding the stunning losses the Democratic Party and his administration sustained in the 2016 elections, Obama instead focused on the many accomplishments of his two terms in office—made possible in large measure, he said, by popular support. He warned that such support will be needed again to put the brakes on some of the Trump administration’s policies.

Rebecca Gordon – Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, The Best Defense

At the height of the George W. Bush years, a bit of a TomDispatch piece would sometimes be reposted at a right-wing website with a disparaging comment, and I’d suddenly be deluged with abusive emails (many homophobic) that regularly advised me to take my whatever and get out of Dodge. Though I was born in New York City, as was …

MELVIN GOODMAN – Trump’s Campaign of Militarization

President-elect Donald Trump’s authoritarian style and personality, which attracted an overwhelmingly authoritarian following, is manifesting itself in the selection of his national security team.  The appointment of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as the national security adviser is particularly worrisome because of the general’s lack of experience in strategic policy and his controversial stewardship as the director of the Defense Intelligence …

Lauren McCauley – Meet the Islamophobic Black-Ops Master Likely to Head Trump’s National Security Team

Amid the many rumored reports of President-elect Donald Trump’s likely cabinet picks, one name that has risen to the surface is seriously concerning observers of the foreign policy arena. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is the “leading contender” to become Trump’s national security advisor, one of the top posts in the White House, MSNBC reported Thursday. “A source familiar …

When The Shouting Stops

I’ve been trying for some time now to understand the reaction of Hillary Clinton’s supporters to her defeat in last week’s election. At first, I simply dismissed it as another round of the amateur theatrics both parties indulge in whenever they lose the White House. Back in 2008, as most of my readers will doubtless recall, Barack Obama’s victory was …

Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman – Distrust of 2016’s Hackable Election Is a Media Landslide With Just One Solution: Hand-counted Paper Ballots

Finally, the major for-profit media is approaching consensus that it’s easy to hack U.S. political elections. Even candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are raising unprecedented doubts – from very different directions – about the reliability of the upcoming vote count.

CJ HOPKINS – How America Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the War on Terror

The “War on Terror,” which former President George W. Bush officially launched in late-September 2001, and which President Obama officially rebranded as “The Series of Persistent Targeted Efforts to Dismantle Specific Networks of Violent Extremists That Threaten America” in May 2013, has, at this point (i.e. fifteen years into it), become our official consensus reality … or in other words, …