President Barack Obama Weekly Address August 27, 2016 (Video/Transcript)

President Barack Obama 

 Weekly Address
The White House
August 27, 2016 

Earlier this year, I got a letter from a South Carolina woman named Ashley, who was expecting her third child.  She was, in her words, “extremely concerned” about the Zika virus, and what it might mean for other pregnant women like her.

I understand that concern.  As a father, Ashley’s letter has stuck with me, and it’s why we’ve been so focused on the threat of the Zika virus.  So today, I just want to take a few minutes to let you know what we’ve been doing in response, and to talk about what more we can all do.

Since late last year, when the most recent outbreak of Zika started popping up in other countries, federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been preparing for it to arrive in the U.S.  In February – more than six months ago – I asked Congress for the emergency resources that public health experts say we need to combat Zika.  That includes things like mosquito control, tracking the spread of the virus, accelerating new diagnostic tests and vaccines, and monitoring women and babies with the virus.

Republicans in Congress did not share Ashley’s “extreme concern,” nor that of other Americans expecting children.  They said no.  Instead, we were forced to use resources we need to keep fighting Ebola, cancer, and other diseases.  We took that step because we have a responsibility to protect the American people.  But that’s not a sustainable solution.  And Congress has been on a seven-week recess without doing anything to protect Americans from the Zika virus.

So my Administration has done what we can on our own.  Our primary focus has been protecting pregnant women and families planning to have children.  For months now, the CDC has been working closely with officials in Florida and other states.  NIH and other agencies have moved aggressively to develop a vaccine.  And we’re working with the private sector to develop more options to test for and prevent infection.  For weeks, a CDC emergency response team has been on the ground in South Florida, working alongside the excellent public health officials there – folks who have a strong track record of responding aggressively to the mosquitoes that carry viruses like Zika.  They know what they’re doing.

Still, there’s a lot more everybody can and should do.  And that begins with some basic facts.
Zika spreads mainly through the bite of a certain mosquito.  Most infected people don’t show any symptoms.  But the disease can cause brain defects and other serious problems when pregnant women become infected.  Even if you’re not pregnant, you can play a role in protecting future generations.  Because Zika can be spread through unprotected sex, it’s not just women who need to be careful – men do too.  That includes using condoms properly.

If you live in or travel to an area where Zika has been found, protect yourself against the mosquitoes that carry this disease.  Use insect repellant – and keep using it for a few weeks, even after you come home.  Wear long sleeves and long pants to make bites less likely.  Stay in places with air conditioning and window screens.  If you can, get rid of standing water where mosquitoes breed.  And to learn more about how to keep your family safe, just visit CDC.gov.

But every day that Republican leaders in Congress wait to do their job, every day our experts have to wait to get the resources they need – that has real-life consequences.  Weaker mosquito-control efforts.  Longer wait times to get accurate diagnostic results.  Delayed vaccines.  It puts more Americans at risk.

One Republican Senator has said that “There is no such thing as a Republican position on Zika or Democrat position on Zika because these mosquitoes bite everyone.”

I agree.  We need more Republicans to act that way because this is more important than politics.  It’s about young mothers like Ashley.  Today, her new baby Savannah is healthy and happy.  That’s priority number one.  And that’s why Republicans in Congress should treat Zika like the threat that it is and make this their first order of business when they come back to Washington after Labor Day.  That means working in a bipartisan way to fully fund our Zika response.  A fraction of the funding won’t get the job done.  You can’t solve a fraction of a disease.  Our experts know what they’re doing.  They just need the resources to do it.

So make your voices heard.  And as long as I’m President, we’ll keep doing everything we can to slow the spread of this virus, and put our children’s futures first.

 Thanks everybody.

Donald Trump’s new loose cannon

By Dana Milbank

In choosing Stephen Bannon to be the CEO of his campaign, Donald Trump has accomplished the extraordinary: He has found somebody as outrageous as he is.

Bannon, who had been publisher of the far-right website Breitbart, has called the pope a “commie” and said Catholics are trying to boost Hispanic immigration because their “church is dying.” He called Gabby Giffords, a former congresswoman who was shot in the head, a “human shield” and the mayor of London a “radical Muslim.” Hillary Clinton, in Bannon’s telling, is a “grifter” who would take the country to the “last days of Sodom.”

The new Trump adviser calls himself a “populist nationalist” — his hiring has been cheered by white supremacists — and calls his fellow believers a “small, crazy wing” of the conservative movement. He has referred to the Civil War as the “war of Southern Independence” fought over “economic development.” He found “zero evidence” of racial motives in the Trayvon Martin shooting and warned that “cities could be washed away in an orgy of de-gentrification.”

The Trump campaign’s chief executive believes the Obama administration is “importing more hating Muslims” and asks whether Clinton is “complicit in a fifth column.” He doesn’t think Huma Abedin, a Muslim aide to Clinton, should have a security clearance, and he has alleged that Clinton’s vice-presidential nominee, Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.), has an “affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.” He argued that Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment case, which forced the ouster of Roger Ailes at Fox News Channel, was a “total dud,” and he alleged the existence of a “militant-feminist legal wrecking crew.”

Fox News, in Bannon’s view, is a “centrist” outlet — and compared to Breitbart, it most certainly is. The site, which was closer to the mainstream under its late founder, Andrew Breitbart, has run these headlines under Bannon’s leadership:

“Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy.”

“Political Correctness Protects Muslim Rape Culture.”

“Suck It Up Buttercups: Dangerous Faggot Tour Returns to Colleges in September.”

“The Solution to Online ‘Harassment’ Is Simple: Women Should Log Off.”

“Two Months Left Until Obama Gives Dictators Control of Internet.”

“There’s No Hiring Bias Against Women in Tech, They Just Suck at Interviews.”

“Trannies Whine About Hilarious Bruce Jenner Billboard.”

“Khizr Khan Believes the Constitution ‘Must Always Be Subordinated to the Sharia.’ ”
Bannon’s Breitbart said the gay-pride flag is viewed as a “symbol of anti-Christian hate” and said birth control makes a woman into a “slut” and a “hideous monster,” arguing: “Your birth control injection will add on pounds that will prevent the injection you really want — of man meat.”

Trump echoes conspiracy theories proposed by Breitbart, and Breitbart has relentlessly promoted Trump. In short, Trump found in Bannon a character like himself: a bully who targets racial and religious minorities, immigrants and women. After Trump’s campaign manager was caught on tape roughing up Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields at an event, Fields and other staffers quit, complaining that Bannon’s management team sided with Trump.

In his writings and broadcast commentary, Bannon, a veteran and former banker, has argued that immigrants — legal as well as illegal — are to blame for crime, terrorism and disease. He disparages “anchor babies” and says FBI Director James Comey’s recommendation not to prosecute Clinton is “inextricably linked” to anti-police violence. He speaks of Megyn Kelly’s “blonde ambition” and alleges that the military is trying to “eradicate Christianity.” To counter “the Islamization of the United States,” he believes authorities should be going into mosques to find bad guys and “rounding them up.”

Breitbart has a tag for “black crime” and stokes fear of race wars with headlines such as “Race Murder in Virginia,” “Black Suspects Stalk Robbery Victim in Philadelphia,” “Career Criminal Accused of Assaulting Victim, Calling Her ‘White Bitch,’ ” “Black Rape Gangs Violate Two Detroit Women” and “Black Mob Swarms Georgia Walmart to See ‘How Much Damage’ They Could Do.”


The Southern Poverty Law Center protests that Breitbart “has been openly promoting the core issues of the Alt-Right, introducing these racist ideas to its readership.” Breitbart had a “lengthy defense” of white nationalists that ignored their openly racist views, the SPLC said.


Breitbart likened Pamela Geller’s “Muhammad Cartoon Contest” to the Selma-to-Montgomery march. The outlet has gone after the “big gay hate machine” and suggested that “the next step for marriage equality” is “likely polygamy.”

Breitbart ran a doctored photo showing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in a bikini on all fours with her tongue out. It reported that Planned Parenthood was “comfortably surpassing Hitler” in its “body count.” It said Trump’s bogus claim that thousands of New Jersey Muslims celebrated the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had been “100 percent vindicated,” and it alleged a “smoking gun” connecting the 9/11 hijackers to a “Bush family friend.”

There is more, but you don’t need to read it here. Just wait for Trump to say it.

Is Donald Trump a Racist?

Written by Nicholas Kristof

HAS the party of Lincoln just nominated a racist to be president? We shouldn’t toss around such accusations lightly, so I’ve looked back over more than 40 years of Donald Trump’s career to see what the record says.

One early red flag arose in 1973, when President Richard Nixon’s Justice Department — not exactly the radicals of the day — sued Trump and his father, Fred Trump, for systematically discriminating against blacks in housing rentals.

I’ve waded through 1,021 pages of documents from that legal battle, and they are devastating. Donald Trump was then president of the family real estate firm, and the government amassed overwhelming evidence that the company had a policy of discriminating against blacks, including those serving in the military.

To prove the discrimination, blacks were repeatedly dispatched as testers to Trump apartment buildings to inquire about vacancies, and white testers were sent soon after. Repeatedly, the black person was told that nothing was available, while the white tester was shown apartments for immediate rental.

A former building superintendent working for the Trumps explained that he was told to code any application by a black person with the letter C, for colored, apparently so the office would know to reject it. A Trump rental agent said the Trumps wanted to rent only to “Jews and executives,” and discouraged renting to blacks.

Donald Trump furiously fought the civil rights suit in the courts and the media, but the Trumps eventually settled on terms that were widely regarded as a victory for the government. Three years later, the government sued the Trumps again, for continuing to discriminate.

In fairness, those suits date from long ago, and the discriminatory policies were probably put in place not by Donald Trump but by his father. Fred Trump appears to have been arrested at a Ku Klux Klan rally in 1927; Woody Guthrie, who lived in a Trump property in the 1950s, lambasted Fred Trump in recently discovered papers for stirring racial hatred.

Yet even if Donald Trump inherited his firm’s discriminatory policies, he allied himself decisively in the 1970s housing battle against the civil rights movement.

Another revealing moment came in 1989, when New York City was convulsed by the “Central Park jogger” case, a rape and beating of a young white woman. Five black and Latino teenagers were arrested.

Trump stepped in, denounced Mayor Ed Koch’s call for peace and bought full-page newspaper ads calling for the death penalty. The five teenagers spent years in prison before being exonerated. In retrospect, they suffered a modern version of a lynching, and Trump played a part in whipping up the crowds.

As Trump moved into casinos, discrimination followed. In the 1980s, according to a former Trump casino worker, Kip Brown, who was quoted by The New Yorker: “When Donald and Ivana came to the casino, the bosses would order all the black people off the floor. … They put us all in the back.”

In 1991, a book by John O’Donnell, who had been president of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, quoted Trump as criticizing a black accountant and saying: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. … I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.” O’Donnell wrote that for months afterward, Trump pressed him to fire the black accountant, until the man resigned of his own accord.

Trump eventually denied making those comments. But in 1997 in a Playboy interview, he conceded “the stuff O’Donnell wrote about me is probably true.”

The recent record may be more familiar: Trump’s suggestions that President Obama was born in Kenya; his insinuations that Obama was admitted to Ivy League schools only because of affirmative action; his denunciations of Mexican immigrants as, “in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists”; his calls for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States; his dismissal of an American-born judge of Mexican ancestry as a Mexican who cannot fairly hear his case; his reluctance to distance himself from the Ku Klux Klan in a television interview; his retweet of a graphic suggesting that 81 percent of white murder victims are killed by blacks (the actual figure is about 15 percent); and so on.

Trump has also retweeted messages from white supremacists or Nazi sympathizers, including two from an account called @WhiteGenocideTM with a photo of the American Nazi Party’s founder.

Trump repeatedly and vehemently denies any racism, and he has deleted some offensive tweets. The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi racist website that has endorsed Trump, sees that as going “full-wink-wink-wink.”

(Update: After this column was published, the Trump campaign emailed me the following statement: “Donald Trump has a lifetime record of inclusion and has publicly rebuked groups who seek to discriminate against others on numerous occasions. To suggest otherwise is a complete fabrication of the truth.”)

My view is that “racist” can be a loaded word, a conversation stopper more than a clarifier, and that we should be careful not to use it simply as an epithet. Moreover, Muslims and Latinos can be of any race, so some of those statements technically reflect not so much racism as bigotry. It’s also true that with any single statement, it is possible that Trump misspoke or was misconstrued.

And yet.

Here we have a man who for more than four decades has been repeatedly associated with racial discrimination or bigoted comments about minorities, some of them made on television for all to see. While any one episode may be ambiguous, what emerges over more than four decades is a narrative arc, a consistent pattern — and I don’t see what else to call it but racism.

President Barack Obama Weekly Address August 16, 2016 (Video/Transcript)

Barack Obama 

 Weekly Address
The White House
August 20, 2016 

Hi everybody. Earlier this summer, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I headed west—to the national parks at Carlsbad Caverns and Yosemite. And I’ve got to say, it was a breath of fresh air. We explored hundreds of feet underground, standing beneath dripping stalactites in New Mexico. We hiked up a misty trail next to a waterfall in California. And I even took a few pictures of my own – not bad, right?

But the truth is, no camera – especially one with me behind it – can fully capture the beauty and majesty of America’s national parks. From Glacier and Denali to Gettysburg and Seneca Falls, our more than 400 parks and other sites capture our history and our sense of wonder. As FDR once said: “There is nothing so American as our national parks… the fundamental idea behind the parks… is that the country belongs to the people.”

This month, we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. And I want to encourage all of you to “Find Your Park” so that you and your family can experience these sacred places, too. If you’re a military family, you can even get in free through Michelle and Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative. And if you’ve got a fourth grader in your family, you can get a free pass, too, by going to EveryKidInAPark.org.

I hope you do. Because all across the country, the National Park Service is preparing for a big year. We’re revitalizing a grove of giant Sequoias in Yosemite; repairing the Lincoln Memorial; and enhancing the iconic entrance to our first national park at Yellowstone.

As President, I’m proud to have built upon America’s tradition of conservation. We’ve protected more than 265 million acres of public lands and waters – more than any administration in history.

We’ve recovered endangered wildlife species and restored vulnerable ecosystems. We’ve designated new monuments to Cesar Chavez in California, the Pullman porters in Chicago, and the folks who stood up for equality at Stonewall in New York – to better reflect the full history of our nation. And we’ve got more work to do to preserve our lands, culture, and history. So we’re not done yet.

As we look ahead, the threat of climate change means that protecting our public lands and waters is more important than ever. Rising temperatures could mean no more glaciers in Glacier National Park. No more Joshua Trees in Joshua Tree National Park. Rising seas could destroy vital ecosystems in the Everglades, even threaten Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

So in the coming years and decades, we have to have the foresight, and the faith in our future, to do what it takes to protect our parks and protect our planet for generations to come. Because these parks belong to all of us. And they’re worth celebrating – not just this year, but every year.

Thanks everybody. Have a great weekend. And see you in the parks!

'Paradise Lost': How To Help Our Oceans Before It's Too Late

Interview Conducted By Philip Bethge

In the past 50 years, Earth's oceans have been depleted and acidified to alarming degrees. Sylvia Earle, a longtime marine scientist, explains her plan to save at least a small part of them -- along with our planet.  

 The swarm of carangidae looks like a silver wall in front of the divers. Bright sunlight breaks through the water surface and makes the fishes' scales shimmer like an artfully forged mirror. As if following an invisible sign, the animals abruptly turn and fly up before quickly returning, as one undulating mass.

Sylvia Earle, 80, glides slowly past the bodies, an underwater camera in her hand. The photo yield has been plentiful today, on the reef at Cabo Pulmo, a small coastal town on the southern end of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. The tiny village on the Sea of Cortez had once been a normal fishing village. The reef provided a decent income for a handful of families, but then the wealth of fish spread by word of mouth.

First came the recreational fishermen, then the trawlers with their longlines and nets. By 1980, the reef had been fished bare. After pressure from locals, Cabo Pulmo was declared a national park. Since then, fishing has been banned here. In the last three decades, the biomass of fish has more than quadrupled. And the people are earning good money from ecotourism.

That's why Earle has selected Cabo Pulmo as a "Hope Spot." She has identified about 200 of these kinds of locations through her foundation, Mission Blue. Together with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), she is working on a global action plan for marine reserves. In an interview, she explains why the ocean is so important for life on earth.

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SPIEGEL: What is it that's so special about Cabo Pulmo?

Earle: Cabo Pulmo is a small place, but it is making a big difference in terms of inspiring hope. This village shows that if you make an investment, care for a place, it can recover. The fish had been depleted, the coral reefs were in trouble, but by taking the pressure off, by creating a safe place in the ocean for the wildlife that is here, recovery has taken place. The people took their ocean back, replaced the fishing with ecotourism, and the community is thriving. What I love about this place is the idea that you can use the ocean without using it up. People here show us that the best way to ensure continued prosperity is through sustainable use. The living ocean is their bank, their treasure, their hope.

SPIEGEL: What is the current situation in the Earth's oceans? What kind of crisis are we facing?

Earle: Since I began exploring the ocean in the 1950s, 90 percent of the big fish have been stripped away. Tuna, sharks, swordfish, cod, halibut, you name it, the numbers have just collapsed. Also, about half of the coral reefs are gone, globally, from where they were just a few decades ago. We have found ways to capture, kill and market ocean wildlife on an unprecedented scale. It's an absolute catastrophe. The ocean seemed like a sea of Eden. But now we are facing paradise lost.

SPIEGEL: Aren't you exaggerating? After all, the ocean seems to be endless.

Earle: We humans have this idea that the ocean is so big, so vast, so resilient that it doesn't matter what we do to it. That may have been true 1,000 years ago. But in the last 100, especially the last 50 years, we have destroyed the assets that make our lives possible. I am haunted by tomorrow's children asking why we didn't do something on our watch to save sharks, bluefin tuna, squids and coral reefs -- while there was still time. We are depleting this immense diversity and abundance of life, and it matters tremendously for the future of the planet.

SPIEGEL: Why is that?

Earle: Life in the ocean makes Earth hospitable. We are sailing along in the universe and we have a blue engine that is making everything alright. The ocean governs the climate and the weather, it is taking care of the temperature and it is shaping the chemistry of our planet. The oxygen cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, the water cycle -- all of these are linked to the existence of life in the sea. The Earth is a tiny blue speck in a universe of unfriendly options. And the ocean is our life support system. No blue, no green. It's really a miracle that we have got a place that works in our favor. And if you think the ocean isn't important, imagine Earth without it.

SPIEGEL: Mars comes to mind….

Earle: Indeed. There was a movie recently, "The Martian," that says it all. You can survive, but what kind of life is that? We are blessed with a place that is open to the universe and, despite this, supports this very thin envelope of air we call atmosphere, which holds just the right amount of oxygen for us to breathe. Our job is to keep what is working intact and not destroy what we have got. In the past few decades, Earth's natural systems have endured more pressure than in all preceding human history. What we put into the atmosphere in terms of burning fuel is unprecedented. We are not only warming the ocean and the planet as a whole, but we are also acidifying the ocean and changing its chemistry. The ocean is dying, and we have no place to escape to if this experiment doesn't go in our favor.

SPIEGEL: You spend 300 days a year traveling as kind of an ambassador for the ocean. What drives you?

Earle: If I seem like a radical it's because I have seen things that others have not. I am driven by what I know; that the world I love is in trouble. I've spent thousands of hours under water. And even in the deepest dive I have ever made, 2.5 miles (about 4 kilometers) down, I saw trash and other tangible evidence of our presence. When I was 12, we moved from New Jersey to Florida. The Gulf of Mexico was literally my backyard. Every day, I could see the ocean. At low tide I went out and played in seagrass meadows that used to come right up to the shore, filled with tiny seahorses, pipefish and soft corals. There was so much life! But then I witnessed the change, the loss of the shoreline, the loss of the mangrove trees, the loss of the seagrass meadows. Shallow bay areas were turned into parking lots. People call that reclamation, but it is the transformation of a healthy living system into something that is barren and dead.

SPIEGEL: What do you suggest doing to help the ocean?

Earle: When you are a child you learn your alphabet, your numbers, but increasingly, we must learn from the earliest stages that the highest priority has to be to maintain the world as a safe place for humankind. Fortunately, we know more about the problems that we have than in all preceding history. We know now the consequences of the things that we put into the air, into the water -- of the way we treat life on Earth. We understand that we must make peace with nature -- that our lives depend on it. With knowing comes caring. The next 10 years could be the most important in the next 10,000. It is not too late to turn things around. We still have 10 percent of the sharks. We still have half of the coral reefs. However, if we wait another 50 years, opportunities might well be gone.
SPIEGEL: Your foundation supports the designation and protection of so called "Hope Spots" around the world. What are you aiming for?

Earle: There are now more than 4,000 places in the sea around the world that have some kind of protection. The bad news: You have to look hard to find them. What you find instead is destructive fishing, mining, gas and oil exploration. Only two percent of the ocean is fully protected right now. We believe that this area has to increase at least tenfold by 2020. That's why we look globally for places that are in great shape, pristine areas that, if protected, can serve as a source of renewal. We have about 200 places already nominated as Hope Spots. Hope Spots encourage people to take the initiative, to take action on a community level.

SPIEGEL: Most people, however, feel powerless. What can each one of us do individually?

Earle: Everybody can make choices that will make peace with the natural world. You can choose not to eat tuna, not to eat swordfish, not even to eat the little herring. Eating wildlife is probably not the smartest thing that we can do in terms of maintaining the integrity of natural systems. Fish from all over the world, from deep in the sea, wind up in countries from Germany to Japan. That is just crazy. We are taking way more out of the ocean than the ocean can replenish. You should ask where your food is coming from. You should know what is taken out of the ecosystem in order to give you a moment's sustenance. Give the ocean a break. Give yourself a break. If you make the choice to just go with the flow, that is a choice to make a difference in a negative way.

SPIEGEL: What gives you hope?

Earle: Places like Cabo Pulmo do. Imagine taking the miracle that happened here and spreading hope around the world so people change the way they think about respecting nature, treating all creatures, including one another, with dignity and understanding. You can do that too, in your own life, in your community, in your country and internationally. With care and protection, with safe havens in the ocean, there is still a good chance that we can turn things around. We don't have to be that greedy generation that just continued to take down the underpinnings of what makes the planet work in our favor. Use your power to do whatever it takes to secure for humankind an enduring place on this little blue speck in the universe -- our only hope.

Sylvia Earle, born in 1935, took part in one of the very first marine research expeditions in the Indian Ocean in 1964. In 1979, she set foot on the ocean floor near Hawaii, encased in a steel diving suit, the legendary Jim Suit. Soon after, she descended to a depth of 1,000 meters on board the Deep Rover, one of the world's first deep-sea submarines. Earle later became a scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Today, she travels around the world 300 days a year as an ambassador for the ocean.

President Barack Obama Weekly Address August 13, 2016 (Video/Transcript)

President Barack Obama 

 Weekly Address
The White House
August 13, 2016 

Hi, everybody.  One of the most urgent challenges of our time is climate change.  We know that 2015 surpassed 2014 as the warmest year on record – and 2016 is on pace to be even hotter.

When I took office, I said this was something we couldn’t kick down the road any longer – that our children’s future depended on our action.  So we got to work, and over the past seven-and-a-half years, we’ve made ambitious investments in clean energy, and ambitious reductions in our carbon emissions.  We’ve multiplied wind power threefold.  We’ve multiplied solar power more than thirtyfold.  In parts of America, these clean power sources are finally cheaper than dirtier, conventional power.  And carbon pollution from our energy sector is at its lowest level in 25 years, even as we’re continuing to grow our economy.

We’ve invested in energy efficiency, and we’re slashing carbon emissions from appliances, homes, and businesses – saving families money on their energy bills.  We’re reforming how we manage federal coal resources, which supply roughly 40% of America’s coal.  We’ve set the first-ever national standards limiting the amount of carbon pollution power plants can release into the sky.

We also set standards to increase the distance our cars and light trucks can go on a gallon of gas every year through 2025.  And they’re working.  At a time when we’ve seen auto sales surge, manufacturers are innovating and bringing new technology to market faster than expected.  Over 100 cars, SUVs, and pick-up trucks on the market today already meet our vehicles standards ahead of schedule.  And we’ve seen a boom in the plug-in electric vehicle market – with more models, lower battery costs, and more than 16,000 charging stations.

But we’re not done yet. In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll release a second round of fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles. We’ll take steps to meet the goal we set with Canada and Mexico to achieve 50 percent clean power across North America by 2025.  And we’ll continue to protect our lands and waters so that our kids and grandkids can enjoy our most beautiful spaces for generations.

There’s still much more to do.  But there’s no doubt that America has become a global leader in the fight against climate change.  Last year, that leadership helped us bring nearly 200 nations together in Paris around the most ambitious agreement in history to save the one planet we’ve got.  That’s not something to tear up – it’s something to build upon.  And if we keep pushing, and leading the world in the right direction, there’s no doubt that, together, we can leave a better, cleaner, safer future for our children.

Thanks, everybody.  Have a great weekend.

President Barack Obama Weekly Address August 6, 2016 (Video/Transcript)

President Barack Obama 

 Weekly Address
The White House
August 6, 2016 

Every four years, our nation’s attention turns to a competition that’s as heated as it is historic.  People pack arenas and wave flags.  Journalists judge every move and overanalyze every misstep.
Sometimes we’re let down, but more often we’re lifted up.  And just when we think we’ve seen it all, we see something happen in a race that we’ve never seen before.

I’m talking, of course, about the Summer Olympics.

This month, Rio is hosting the first-ever Games held in South America – and we’re ready to root on Team USA.  We’re excited to see who will inspire us this time; whose speed will remind us of Jesse Owens; whose feats will remind us of Bob Beamon’s amazing jump?  Which young American will leave us awestruck, the way a teenager named Kerri Strug did when she stuck that landing, and when another kid named Cassius Clay gave the world its first glimpse of greatness?  Who will match Mary Lou Retton’s perfection; or pull off an upset like Rulon Gardner’s; or dominate like the Dream Team?

That’s why we watch.  And we have a lot to look forward to this year.  Team USA reminds the world why America always sets the gold standard: We’re a nation of immigrants that finds strength in our diversity and unity in our national pride.
Our athletes hail from 46 states, D.C., and the Virgin Islands.  Our team boasts the most women who have ever competed for any nation at any Olympic Games.  It includes active-duty members of our military and our veterans.  We’ve got basketball players who stand nearly seven feet tall and a gymnast who’s 4-foot-8.  And Team USA spans generations: a few athletes who are almost as old as I am, and one born just a year before my younger daughter.

Our roster includes a gymnast from Texas who’s so trailblazing, they named a flip after her.  A young woman who persevered through a tough childhood in Flint, Michigan, to become the first American woman to win gold in the boxing ring.  And a fencing champion from suburban Jersey who’ll become the first American Olympian to wear a hijab while competing.  And on our Paralympic team, we’re honored to be represented by a Navy veteran who lost his sight while serving in Afghanistan and continues to show us what courage looks like every time he jumps in the pool.

When you watch these Games, remember that it’s about so much more than the moments going by in a flash.  Think about the countless hours these athletes put in, knowing it could mean the difference in a split-second victory that earns them a lifetime of pride, and gives us enduring memories.  It’s about the character it takes to train your heart out, even when no one’s watching.  Just hard work, focus, and a dream.  That’s the Olympic spirit – and it’s the American spirit, too.

In our Olympians, we recognize that no one accomplishes greatness alone.  Even solo athletes have a coach beside them and a country behind them.  In a season of intense politics, let’s cherish this opportunity to come together around one flag.  In a time of challenge around the world, let’s appreciate the peaceful competition and sportsmanship we’ll see, the hugs and high-fives and the empathy and understanding between rivals who know we share a common humanity.  Let’s honor the courage it takes, not only to cross the finish line first, but merely to stand in the starting blocks.  And let’s see in ourselves the example they set – proving that no matter where you’re from, with determination and discipline, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.

That idea – that you can succeed no matter where you’re from – is especially true this year.  We’ll cheer on athletes on the first-ever Olympic Refugee Team: Ten competitors from the Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Syria who personify endurance.

To all of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes wearing the red, white, and blue – know that your country couldn’t be prouder of you.  We admire all the work you’ve done to get to Rio and everything you’ll do there.  Thank you for showing the world the best of America.  And know that when you get up on that podium, we’ll be singing the National Anthem – and maybe even shedding a tear – right alongside you.

Now go bring home the gold!

Vice President Joe Biden and Retired Federal Judge Timothy Lewis Weekly Address July 30, 2016 (Video/Transcript)

 Weekly Address
The White House
July 30, 2016 

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hi, folks. Joe Biden here and I’m sitting with Tim Lewis, a retired federal judge who was nominated to the bench by a Republican President and confirmed by a Democratic Senate—within four weeks of a presidential election. 

JUDGE LEWIS: Hello, everyone. That’s right. And I’m living proof that President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court—Chief Judge Merrick Garland—deserves similar consideration by today’s Senate.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Not only because Merrick Garland is recognized—without exception—by the right and the left as one of America’s sharpest legal minds and a model of integrity.

JUDGE LEWIS: But also because that’s what the Constitution requires. The sitting President shall—not may—but shall nominate someone to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate.  That includes consulting and voting. 

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Here’s how it works. For 17 years, I was chairman or ranking member of Senate Judiciary Committee, which overseas nominations to the Court. I presided over nine total nominations—more than anyone alive. Some I supported. Others I didn’t. But every nominee was greeted by committee members.  Every nominee got a committee hearing.  Every nominee got out of the committee to the Senate floor, even when a nominee did not receive majority support in my committee.  And every nominee, including Justice Kennedy—in an election year—got an up or down vote by the Senate. Not much of the time. Not most of the time. Every single time. That’s the Constitution’s clear rule of Advice and Consent. And that’s the rule being violated today by Senate Republicans.

Nobody is suggesting that Senators have to vote “yes” on a nominee. Voting “no” is always an option. But saying nothing, seeing nothing, reading nothing, hearing nothing, and deciding in advance simply to turn your backs—is not an option the Constitution leaves open.

JUDGE LEWIS: And it has real consequences for all of us. In the four months since Merrick Garland’s nomination, we’ve already seen how the Senate’s refusal to act is preventing the Court from fulfilling its duty of interpreting what the law is and resolving conflicts in lower courts. Historic obstruction is leading to greater litigation costs and delays—the burden falling mostly on average Americans rather than corporations with endless resources. Unresolved decisions by the Supreme Court are leading to federal laws that should apply to the whole country being constitutional in some parts but unconstitutional in others. If this continues, our freedom of speech, our freedom to practice our faith, our right to vote, our right to privacy—all could depend on where we happen to live. 

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And the longer the vacancy remains unfilled, the more serious the problem—with greater confusion and uncertainty about our safety and security. If you have eight Justices on a case, Justice Scalia himself wrote, that it raises the, “possibility that, by reason of a tie vote, the Court will find itself unable to resolve the significant legal issue presented by the case.”  And if Republican Senators fail to act, it could be an entire year before a fully staffed Supreme Court can resolve any significant issue before it.

Folks, there’s enough dysfunction in Washington, D.C. Now is not the time for it to spread to the Supreme Court.

JUDGE LEWIS: And we’re better than what we’re seeing. As a country, we’re only as strong as the traditions we value—that we sustain by dedicating ourselves to something bigger than ourselves. 

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Folks, the defining difference of our great democracy has always been that we can reason our way through to what ails us and then act as citizens, voters, and public servants to fix it. But we have to act in good faith.  For unless we find common ground, we cannot govern. For the sake of the country we love—we all have to do our job. The President has done his. Senate Republicans must do theirs.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.

President Obama's Democratic National Convention speech (Video/Transcript)

Twelve years ago tonight, I addressed this convention for the very first time.

You met my two little girls, Malia and Sasha – now two amazing young women who just fill me with pride.  You fell for my brilliant wife and partner Michelle, who’s made me a better father and a better man; who’s gone on to inspire our nation as First Lady; and who somehow hasn’t aged a day.
 
I know the same can’t be said for me.  My girls remind me all the time.  Wow, you’ve changed so much, daddy.

And it’s true – I was so young that first time in Boston.  Maybe a little nervous addressing such a big crowd.  But I was filled with faith; faith in America – the generous, bighearted, hopeful country that made my story – indeed, all of our stories – possible.

A lot’s happened over the years.  And while this nation has been tested by war and recession and all manner of challenge – I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your President, to tell you I am even more optimistic about the future of America.

How could I not be – after all we’ve achieved together?


After the worst recession in 80 years, we’ve fought our way back.  We’ve seen deficits come down, 401(k)s recover, an auto industry set new records, unemployment reach eight-year lows, and our businesses create 15 million new jobs.
 
After a century of trying, we declared that health care in America is not a privilege for a few, but a right for everybody.  After decades of talk, we finally began to wean ourselves off foreign oil, and doubled our production of clean energy.

We brought more of our troops home to their families, and delivered justice to Osama bin Laden.  Through diplomacy, we shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program, opened up a new chapter with the people of Cuba, and brought nearly 200 nations together around a climate agreement that could save this planet for our kids.
 
We put policies in place to help students with loans; protect consumers from fraud; and cut veteran homelessness almost in half.  And through countless acts of quiet courage, America learned that love has no limits, and marriage equality is now a reality across the land.

By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started.
And through every victory and every setback, I’ve insisted that change is never easy, and never quick; that we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime.

So tonight, I’m here to tell you that yes, we still have more work to do.  More work to do for every American still in need of a good job or a raise, paid leave or a decent retirement; for every child who needs a sturdier ladder out of poverty or a world-class education; for everyone who hasn’t yet felt the progress of these past seven and a half years.  We need to keep making our streets safer and our criminal justice system fairer; our homeland more secure, and our world more peaceful and sustainable for the next generation.  We’re not done perfecting our union, or living up to our founding creed – that all of us are created equal and free in the eyes of God.

That work involves a big choice this November.  Fair to say, this is not your typical election.  It’s not just a choice between parties or policies; the usual debates between left and right.  This is a more fundamental choice – about who we are as a people, and whether we stay true to this great American experiment in self-government.

Look, we Democrats have always had plenty of differences with the Republican Party, and there’s nothing wrong with that; it’s precisely this contest of ideas that pushes our country forward.

But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican – and it sure wasn’t conservative.  What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of the world.  There were no serious solutions to pressing problems – just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate.
And that is not the America I know.

The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity.  The America I know is decent and generous.  Sure, we have real anxieties – about paying the bills, protecting our kids, caring for a sick parent.  We get frustrated with political gridlock, worry about racial divisions; are shocked and saddened by the madness of Orlando or Nice.  There are pockets of America that never recovered from factory closures; men who took pride in hard work and providing for their families who now feel forgotten; parents who wonder whether their kids will have the same opportunities we had.

All that is real.  We’re challenged to do better; to be better.  But as I’ve traveled this country, through all fifty states; as I’ve rejoiced with you and mourned with you, what I’ve also seen, more than anything, is what is right with America.  I see people working hard and starting businesses; people teaching kids and serving our country.  I see engineers inventing stuff, and doctors coming up with new cures.  I see a younger generation full of energy and new ideas, not constrained by what is, ready to seize what ought to be.

Most of all, I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together – black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young and old; gay, straight, men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that we love.

That’s the America I know.  And there is only one candidate in this race who believes in that future, and has devoted her life to it; a mother and grandmother who’d do anything to help our children thrive; a leader with real plans to break down barriers, blast through glass ceilings, and widen the circle of opportunity to every single American – the next President of the United States, Hillary Clinton.
Now, eight years ago, Hillary and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination.  We battled for a year and a half.  Let me tell you, it was tough, because Hillary’s tough.  Every time I thought I might have that race won, Hillary just came back stronger.

But after it was all over, I asked Hillary to join my team.  She was a little surprised, but ultimately said yes – because she knew that what was at stake was bigger than either of us.  And for four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment, and her discipline.  I came to realize that her unbelievable work ethic wasn’t for praise or attention – that she was in this for everyone who needs a champion.  I understood that after all these years, she has never forgotten just who she’s fighting for.

Hillary’s still got the tenacity she had as a young woman working at the Children’s Defense Fund, going door to door to ultimately make sure kids with disabilities could get a quality education.

She’s still got the heart she showed as our First Lady, working with Congress to help push through a Children’s Health Insurance Program that to this day protects millions of kids.

She’s still seared with the memory of every American she met who lost loved ones on 9/11, which is why, as a Senator from New York, she fought so hard for funding to help first responders; why, as Secretary of State, she sat with me in the Situation Room and forcefully argued in favor of the mission that took out bin Laden.

You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office.  Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis, or send young people to war.  But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions.  She knows what’s at stake in the decisions our government makes for the working family, the senior citizen, the small business owner, the soldier, and the veteran.  Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and keeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect.  And no matter how daunting the odds; no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits.

That’s the Hillary I know.  That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire.  And that’s why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.

And, by the way, in case you were wondering about her judgment, look at her choice of running mate.  Tim Kaine is as good a man, as humble and committed a public servant, as anyone I know.  He will be a great Vice President, and he’ll make Hillary a better President.  Just like my dear friend and brother Joe Biden has made me a better President.

Now, Hillary has real plans to address the concerns she’s heard from you on the campaign trail. She’s got specific ideas to invest in new jobs, to help workers share in their company’s profits, to help put kids in preschool, and put students through college without taking on a ton of debt.  That’s what leaders do.

And then there’s Donald Trump.  He’s not really a plans guy.  Not really a facts guy, either.  He calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved success without leaving a trail of lawsuits, and unpaid workers, and people feeling like they got cheated.

Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?  Your voice?  If so, you should vote for him.  But if you’re someone who’s truly concerned about paying your bills, and seeing the economy grow, and creating more opportunity for everybody, then the choice isn’t even close.  If you want someone with a lifelong track record of fighting for higher wages, better benefits, a fairer tax code, a bigger voice for workers, and stronger regulations on Wall Street, then you should vote for Hillary Clinton.

And if you’re concerned about who’s going to keep you and your family safe in a dangerous world – well, the choice is even clearer.  Hillary Clinton is respected around the world not just by leaders, but by the people they serve.  She’s worked closely with our intelligence teams, our diplomats, our military. And she has the judgment, the experience, and the temperament to meet the threat from terrorism.  It’s not new to her.  Our troops have pounded ISIL without mercy, taking out leaders, taking back territory.  I know Hillary won’t relent until ISIL is destroyed.  She’ll finish the job – and she’ll do it without resorting to torture, or banning entire religions from entering our country.  She is fit to be the next Commander-in-Chief.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls our military a disaster.  Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known.  He suggests America is weak.  He must not hear the billions of men, women, and children, from the Baltics to Burma, who still look to America to be the light of freedom, dignity, and human rights.  He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, and tells the NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection.  Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag.  We meet our commitments.  And that’s one reason why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago.
 
America is already great.  America is already strong.  And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump.

In fact, it doesn’t depend on any one person.  And that, in the end, may be the biggest difference in this election – the meaning of our democracy.

Ronald Reagan called America “a shining city on a hill.”  Donald Trump calls it “a divided crime scene” that only he can fix.  It doesn’t matter to him that illegal immigration and the crime rate are as low as they’ve been in decades, because he’s not offering any real solutions to those issues.  He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear.  He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election.

That is another bet that Donald Trump will lose.  Because he’s selling the American people short.  We are not a fragile or frightful people.  Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order.  We don’t look to be ruled.  Our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago; We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that together, We, the People, can form a more perfect union.

That’s who we are.  That’s our birthright – the capacity to shape our own destiny.  That’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny and our GIs to liberate a continent.  It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot, and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma, and workers to organize and fight for better wages.

America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us.  It’s always been about what can be achieved by us, together, through the hard, slow, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enduring work of self-government.

And that’s what Hillary Clinton understands.  She knows that this is a big, diverse country, and that most issues are rarely black and white.  That even when you’re 100 percent right, getting things done requires compromise.  That democracy doesn’t work if we constantly demonize each other.  She knows that for progress to happen, we have to listen to each other, see ourselves in each other, fight for our principles but also fight to find common ground, no matter how elusive that may seem.

Hillary knows we can work through racial divides in this country when we realize the worry black parents feel when their son leaves the house isn’t so different than what a brave cop’s family feels when he puts on the blue and goes to work; that we can honor police and treat every community fairly.  She knows that acknowledging problems that have festered for decades isn’t making race relations worse – it’s creating the possibility for people of good will to join and make things better.

Hillary knows we can insist on a lawful and orderly immigration system while still seeing striving students and their toiling parents as loving families, not criminals or rapists; families that came here for the same reasons our forebears came – to work, and study, and make a better life, in a place where we can talk and worship and love as we please.  She knows their dream is quintessentially American, and the American Dream is something no wall will ever contain.

It can be frustrating, this business of democracy.  Trust me, I know.  Hillary knows, too.  When the other side refuses to compromise, progress can stall.  Supporters can grow impatient, and worry that you’re not trying hard enough; that you’ve maybe sold out.
 
But I promise you, when we keep at it; when we change enough minds; when we deliver enough votes, then progress does happen.  Just ask the twenty million more people who have health care today.  Just ask the Marine who proudly serves his country without hiding the husband he loves.  Democracy works, but we gotta want it – not just during an election year, but all the days in between.

So if you agree that there’s too much inequality in our economy, and too much money in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been.  We all need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountable until they get the job done.

If you want more justice in the justice system, then we’ve all got to vote – not just for a President, but for mayors, and sheriffs, and state’s attorneys, and state legislators.  And we’ve got to work with police and protesters until laws and practices are changed.

If you want to fight climate change, we’ve got to engage not only young people on college campuses, but reach out to the coal miner who’s worried about taking care of his family, the single mom worried about gas prices.

If you want to protect our kids and our cops from gun violence, we’ve got to get the vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, who agree on background checks to be just as vocal and determined as the gun lobby that blocks change through every funeral we hold.  That’s how change will happen.

Look, Hillary’s got her share of critics.  She’s been caricatured by the right and by some folks on the left; accused of everything you can imagine – and some things you can’t.  But she knows that’s what happens when you’re under a microscope for 40 years.  She knows she’s made mistakes, just like I have; just like we all do.  That’s what happens when we try.  That’s what happens when you’re the kind of citizen Teddy Roosevelt once described – not the timid souls who criticize from the sidelines, but someone “who is actually in the arena…who strives valiantly; who errs…[but] who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.”

Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena.  She’s been there for us – even if we haven’t always noticed.  And if you’re serious about our democracy, you can’t afford to stay home just because she might not align with you on every issue.  You’ve got to get in the arena with her, because democracy isn’t a spectator sport.  America isn’t about “yes he will.”  It’s about “yes we can.”  And we’re going to carry Hillary to victory this fall, because that’s what the moment demands.

You know, there’s been a lot of talk in this campaign about what America’s lost – people who tell us that our way of life is being undermined by pernicious changes and dark forces beyond our control.  They tell voters there’s a “real America” out there that must be restored.  This isn’t an idea that started with Donald Trump.  It’s been peddled by politicians for a long time – probably from the start of our Republic.

And it’s got me thinking about the story I told you twelve years ago tonight, about my Kansas grandparents and the things they taught me when I was growing up.  They came from the heartland; their ancestors began settling there about 200 years ago.  They were Scotch-Irish mostly, farmers, teachers, ranch hands, pharmacists, oil rig workers.  Hardy, small town folks.  Some were Democrats, but a lot of them were Republicans.  My grandparents explained that they didn’t like show-offs.

They didn’t admire braggarts or bullies.  They didn’t respect mean-spiritedness, or folks who were always looking for shortcuts in life.  Instead, they valued traits like honesty and hard work.  Kindness and courtesy.  Humility; responsibility; helping each other out.

That’s what they believed in.  True things.  Things that last.  The things we try to teach our kids.
And what my grandparents understood was that these values weren’t limited to Kansas.  They weren’t limited to small towns.  These values could travel to Hawaii; even the other side of the world, where my mother would end up working to help poor women get a better life.  They knew these values weren’t reserved for one race; they could be passed down to a half-Kenyan grandson, or a half-Asian granddaughter; in fact, they were the same values Michelle’s parents, the descendants of slaves, taught their own kids living in a bungalow on the South Side of Chicago.  They knew these values were exactly what drew immigrants here, and they believed that the children of those immigrants were just as American as their own, whether they wore a cowboy hat or a yarmulke; a baseball cap or a hijab.

America has changed over the years.  But these values my grandparents taught me – they haven’t gone anywhere.  They’re as strong as ever; still cherished by people of every party, every race, and every faith.  They live on in each of us.  What makes us American, what makes us patriots, is what’s in here.  That’s what matters.  That’s why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles of other countries, and blend it into something uniquely our own.  That’s why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe to build new factories and create new industries here.  That’s why our military can look the way it does, every shade of humanity, forged into common service.  That’s why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.

That’s America.  Those bonds of affection; that common creed.  We don’t fear the future; we shape it, embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own.  That’s what Hillary Clinton understands – this fighter, this stateswoman, this mother and grandmother, this public servant, this patriot – that’s the America she’s fighting for.

And that’s why I have confidence, as I leave this stage tonight, that the Democratic Party is in good hands.  My time in this office hasn’t fixed everything; as much as we’ve done, there’s still so much I want to do.  But for all the tough lessons I’ve had to learn; for all the places I’ve fallen short; I’ve told Hillary, and I’ll tell you what’s picked me back up, every single time
It’s been you.  The American people.

It’s the letter I keep on my wall from a survivor in Ohio who twice almost lost everything to cancer, but urged me to keep fighting for health care reform, even when the battle seemed lost.  Do not quit.
It’s the painting I keep in my private office, a big-eyed, green owl, made by a seven year-old girl who was taken from us in Newtown, given to me by her parents so I wouldn’t forget – a reminder of all the parents who have turned their grief into action.

It’s the small business owner in Colorado who cut most of his own salary so he wouldn’t have to lay off any of his workers in the recession – because, he said, “that wouldn’t have been in the spirit of America.”

It’s the conservative in Texas who said he disagreed with me on everything, but appreciated that, like him, I try to be a good dad.

It’s the courage of the young soldier from Arizona who nearly died on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but who’s learned to speak and walk again – and earlier this year, stepped through the door of the Oval Office on his own power, to salute and shake my hand.

It’s every American who believed we could change this country for the better, so many of you who’d never been involved in politics, who picked up phones, and hit the streets, and used the internet in amazing new ways to make change happen.  You are the best organizers on the planet, and I’m so proud of all the change you’ve made possible.

Time and again, you’ve picked me up.  I hope, sometimes, I picked you up, too.  Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me.  I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me.  Because you’re who I was talking about twelve years ago, when I talked about hope – it’s been you who’ve fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds are great; even when the road is long.  Hope in the face of difficulty; hope in the face of uncertainty; the audacity of hope!

America, you have vindicated that hope these past eight years.  And now I’m ready to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen.  This year, in this election, I’m asking you to join me – to reject cynicism, reject fear, to summon what’s best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation.

Thank you for this incredible journey.  Let’s keep it going.  God bless the United States of America.

President Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren Weekly Address July 23, 2016 (Video/Transcript)

President Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren 
 Weekly Address
The White House
July 23, 2016

POTUS: Hi, everybody. I’m here with Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of our strongest advocates for families and consumers like you. Today, we want to talk about some of the actions we’ve taken to protect everything you’ve worked so hard to build.

Eight years ago, after some big banks made irresponsible and risky bets with your money, we almost slipped into another Great Depression. While the recklessness started on Wall Street, it didn’t take long before it led to real pain for folks on Main Street. It would cost millions of our fellow Americans their jobs, homes, and savings.

WARREN: The financial crisis wasn’t an unstoppable act of nature. The whole thing could have been avoided, but we didn’t have the rules in place to stop Wall Street from taking enormous risks that threatened the economy. We didn’t have strong protections to keep consumers from being cheated by tricks and traps on financial contracts.


POTUS: So when I took office in the darkest days of the crisis, I promised you we wouldn’t just recover from crisis – we’d rebuild our economy on a new foundation to make sure a crisis like that never happens again.


WARREN: President Obama delivered. He signed into law the toughest Wall Street reforms and strongest consumer protections in generations. Trust me – I’m a pretty tough grader. These new rules are making our financial system more transparent, getting rid of a lot of fine print, and making sure that if a bank screws up, you have someone to call so you don’t get stuck with the bill.


POTUS: These reforms have already made our financial system safer and more resilient. And part of passing those strong consumer protections meant establishing the first-ever Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, based on an idea that Senator Warren came up with before the crisis even began.


WARREN: Every day, the good people at that independent agency crack down on dishonest and deceptive practices like the ones that helped cause the crash. The proof is in the more than 27 million consumers who in just five years have gotten refunds and other relief from credit card companies, payday lenders, debt collectors, and others that tried to rip them off.


POTUS: Before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, you didn’t have a strong ally to turn to if your bank took advantage of you, or you were being harassed or charged inappropriate fees. Now you do.


WARREN: The Bureau is also there to help you make better-informed decisions. Before you take out a mortgage, or a loan for college or a new car, check out the agency’s website – CFPB.gov. It can help you sift through the confusing but important details.


POTUS: Republicans and big banks who opposed these commonsense rules claimed they’d hurt the economy. But we’ve seen what happened to the economy when we didn’t have these rules. And despite their claims, our economy is stronger today than it was before the crisis. Since we dug out from the worst of it, our businesses have added almost 15 million new jobs. Corporate profits are up, lending to businesses is up, and the stock market has hit an all-time high. So the idea this was bad for business just doesn’t hold water. Now our task should be making sure we build on those gains, and make sure they’re felt by everybody.


WARREN: But every year, like clockwork, big banks and their Republican allies in Congress try to roll back these protections and undermine the consumer watchdog, whose only job is to look out for you. Their nominee for President promises to dismantle all of it. They may have forgotten about the crisis, but working families sure haven’t. We haven’t either. And that’s why we’re not going to let them give Wall Street the ability to threaten our economy all over again.


POTUS: Whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent, if you’re a hardworking American who plays by the rules, you should expect Wall Street to play by the rules, too. That’s what we’re fighting for.


WARREN: It’s about basic fairness for everyone.

POTUS: And it’s about responsibility from everyone. Thanks to leaders like Senator Warren, our country, our economy, and our families are better off. Let’s keep it that way. Thanks for being here, Senator Warren.

WARREN: Thanks for having me, Mr. President.

POTUS: Have a great weekend, everybody.

America's Agitator: Donald Trump Is the World's Most Dangerous Man

By Markus Feldenkirchen, Veit Medick and Holger Stark

Donald Trump is the leader of a new, hate-filled authoritarian movement. Nothing would be more harmful to the idea of the West and world peace than if he were to be elected president. George W. Bush's America would seem like a place of logic and reason in comparison.

Donald Trump recently spoke about American football. No other game more fully embodies his country's character. The sport is about capturing territory, and players need to be tough and fearless to win. A player who is afraid of being tackled by someone from the opposing team while running has already lost the game. "I don't even watch it as much anymore," Trump told a crowd of his supporters in Reno, Nevada. "The whole game is all screwed up." 

A growing number of studies point to the devastating consequences of the many tackles in the game, in which players try to stop their opponents by throwing themselves at them head-first: brain trauma, depression, suicide. New rules have been created, and there are now stiffer penalties for the most glaring fouls.

On the stage in Reno, Trump said he missed "what used to be considered a great tackle, a violent head-on tackle." He slammed his fists together and repeated himself, vulgarly pursing his lips as he said the word "violent." "You used to see these tackles and it was incredible to watch, right?"
And today? "Bing! Flag!" Trump shouted. "The referees, they want to all throw flags so their wives see them at home."

"Football has become soft," he said, repeating the sentence as if it were a key hypothesis on the state of the nation. "Football has become soft like our country has become soft!" As he held up his index finger, the crowd cheered and people held signs up in the air that read: "The silent majority stands with Trump."

Trump Wants A Ruthless America
 
"Believe me, I'll change things. And again, we're going to be so respected. I don't want to use the word 'feared,'" he told the audience. But that is precisely what Trump wants: to be feared. His bid for the White House, long ridiculed, is a fight for a ruthless, brutal America. Behind his campaign slogan "Make America great again!" is the vision of a country that no longer cares about international treaties, ethnic minorities or established standards of decency.

Trump wants to attack head-first again. The 69-year-old embodies a new harshness and brutality, and both a physical and emotional crudeness. Trump has launched an uprising of the indecent, one that is now much bigger than he himself, a popular movement of white, conservative America that after eight years under Democratic President Barack Obama, yearns for a leader who will usher in the counter-revolution.

Former Obama campaign manager David Axelrod wrote recently that Trump's success is based on the same principle as the campaign victories of his former boss. In fact, he added, he had explained this recipe for success to Obama himself when he first ran for president: When a president leaves office after eight years, voters tend to prefer a candidate who is as different as possible from the incumbent, in terms of politics, character and habits.

By that logic, Obama the integrator, who fought against discrimination against blacks and gays, would be followed by a President Trump who stirs up hatred against minorities and claims that "political correctness" is the greatest threat to the United States. While Obama sought to explain complex problems, often sounding like an intellectual in the process, studies have shown that Trump speaks at a fourth-grade reading level. Problems, according to Trump, are "totally easy" to solve. And while Obama appealed to the common "we" in his campaign slogan "Yes, we can!" Trump's version reads "Yes, I can!" -- the solution of a strong leader.

Currently, America is running the risk of falling for a self-proclaimed leader with a low opinion of fundamental democratic values. Shortly before the Iowa Caucuses on Monday, all national polls showed Trump as the leading Republican candidate by a wide margin. He is also polling at the top of the Republican field in almost every state in the country. In Iowa itself, with its large religious population, the race could end up being a close contest between Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Christian hardliner.

Desire for a Strong Man at the Top
 
Trump takes every opportunity in this campaign to portray his country as a down-and-out weakling. According to his strategy, when a nation's feeling of self-worth has hit rock bottom, it experiences a growing desire to overcome the "status quo" -- and for a strong man at the top.

Trump is a unique figure. He is so wealthy that his campaign is almost entirely self-financed. Thanks to his colorful life as a New York real estate mogul and star of the reality TV show "The Apprentice," he enters the presidential race with a celebrity factor like no other candidate before him.

But his most unique characteristic is his lack of scruples. When speaking about his amiable rival Jeb Bush, he has often said that Bush is such a "low-energy person" that no one can even look at him anymore without seeking signs of his lack of energy. Trump has repeatedly said that Marco Rubio, another Republican contender, "sweats a lot," which, according to Trump, would be a little embarrassing for a president who has to negotiate with "strong leaders like Vladimir Putin." He recently began claiming that his strongest rival at the moment, Ted Cruz, lacks the legal qualification to become president because he was born on Canadian soil. And last year he tweeted: "If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?" All of this profanity and unscrupulousness would have forced anyone else to resign. But for his millions of supporters, they are further evidence of Trump's boldness and strength.

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay?," Trump said at a rally in Iowa a week ago Saturday. He mimicked shooting a pistol with his finger and added: "It's like, incredible!"

No Longer the Laughing Stock
 
Salon.com wrote: "(Trump) embodies that well-worn if still stinging observation about the country he hails from: that 'America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without passing through civilization.'"

Trump announced his candidacy just over seven months ago. Since then, much has been written and said about his hairstyle. His plain and sometimes embarrassing statements, his muddled speeches and his incomprehensible narcissism have been a source of amusement. There are lists of the most outrageous statements Trump has made in the past, such as this one about women: "You know, it doesn't really matter what (the media) write as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of ass."

But his candidacy ceased to be amusing long ago. Trump's demands are too extreme for that, and his view of the world and humanity too dangerous. And the chances are too great that he will be named as the Republican presidential candidate. Some polls show that Trump even stands a realistic chance of winning the White House in a possible face-off with Hillary Clinton. The combination of his views and the possibility that he could soon hold the planet's most powerful office make him the most dangerous man in the world at the moment.

For a long time, neither Republican Party officials nor the media recognized the true dimensions of the movement that Trump was forming. They continued to poke fun at him, even as he was creating a revolutionary mood on the right margin of society. Now it could be too late, and Trump could be the one getting the last laugh.

Like it or not, it is time to take Donald John Trump seriously. So what can be said about the character of this man who is determined to capture the White House? And what could America and the rest of the world expect if he truly became the 45th president of the United States?

Fascist Characteristics
 
New Yorker writer George Packer's book "The Unwinding" describes the gradual economic and, more importantly, moral decline of the United States. It is perhaps the most astute book about the country's condition today. Sitting at Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, Packer says that Trump now exhibits several of the characteristics of a fascist.

In the past, as a reality TV star, Trump had to come across as somewhat likeable, says Packer. But now that he is playing the fascist, he suddenly resembles one, with his grim face, his pursed lips and the threatening and intimidating look in his eyes.

It's no accident that Trump expresses great admiration for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who seems to impress him far more than politicians seeking to champion the values of democracy with their painstaking and often vain search for compromises.

"He is a nicer person than I am," Trump said of the Russian president. "In terms of leadership, he's getting an A." The reason, according to Trump, is that Putin is "making mincemeat out of our president."

Putin returned the compliment in December, when he said: "He's a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt. He is the absolute front-runner in the presidential race." Trump, who judges people purely by whether or not they praise him, promptly shot back: "When people call you brilliant, it's always good, especially when the person heads up Russia."

Inflaming Tensions
 
Packer says many Europeans are currently looking at Trump's success and thinking: "Those Americans are crazy!" But Trump isn't some strange US mutation, says Packer, who instead sees him as being evocative of European right-wing populists, à la Marine Le Pen in France and Viktor Orbán in Hungary.

While politicians like Le Pen and Orbán inveigh against "Brussels," Trump rails against "Washington" as the symbol of a degenerate political system "that doesn't get things done anymore." Just like his European counterparts, Trump is calling for isolation in the form of protective tariffs, entry bans and border walls. He inflames tensions against ethnic minorities and offers anxious citizens the authoritarian vision of a strongman who will solve all problems on his own -- while ignoring democratic conventions. Trump is presumably only the shrillest and most prominent embodiment of a trend that is becoming pervasive throughout the Western world.

Packer sees the 2008 financial crisis, which caused parts of the US economy to unravel and deprived millions of Americans of their economic foundation, as the main reason many Americans are receptive to a man like Trump. The economy has been growing again since then, but in absurdly unfair ways, says Packer, as inequality becomes more and more glaring. According to Packer, many Americans feel they have been left alone with their concerns, and they feel disconnected and betrayed.

The current primary race underscores how much this frustration has already changed the country. It has enabled Bernie Sanders, an extreme leftist by American standards, to become a serious threat to Hillary Clinton. And it is preparing the ground for Trump's campaign against all the elites, even though Trump himself has spent his entire life as a member of the country's economic elite.

Many Americans, especially whites and those with relatively little education, are now more receptive than ever to audacious promises and simplistic solutions. But they are also receptive to a form of politics that blames immigrants and minorities for their own fate, and for the race-baiting that has been part of every authoritarian movement to date. Trump offers all of these things, and he offers them more skillfully, professionally and self-confidently than all other candidates.

'It's a Miracle Trump Didn't Invent the Selfie'
 
Michael D'Antonio is sitting in an Applebee's fast-food restaurant on Long Island, speaking quietly. He's a cheerful, thoughtful man with a white beard, the polar opposite of Trump. D'Antonio has delved a lot deeper than most others into Donald Trump's world.

D'Antonio recently wrote a biography of Trump, who was enthusiastic about the project and gave his cooperation -- at least initially. Trump granted the author several interviews, which were usually held in his penthouse inside the Trump Tower, behind the kinds of double doors that would normally be used in castles. D'Antonio was granted free access to Trump's family and associates, and spoke with his grown children and all three of his wives. But when Trump realized that D'Antonio was also one of his critics, he immediately canceled the project.

"What I noticed immediately in my first visit was that there were no books," says D'Antonio. "A huge palace and not a single book." He asked Trump whether there was a book that had influenced him. "I would love to read," Trump replied. "I've had many best sellers, as you know, and 'The Art of the Deal' was one of the biggest-selling books of all time." Soon Trump was talking about "The Apprentice." Trump called it "the No. 1 show on television," a reality TV show in which, in 14 seasons, he played himself and humiliated candidates vying for the privilege of a job within his company. In the interview, Trump spent what seemed like an eternity talking about how fabulous and successful he is, but he didn't name a single book that he hadn't written.

"Trump doesn't read," D'Antonio says in the restaurant. "He hasn't absorbed anything serious and profound about American society since his college days. And to be honest, I don't even think he read in college." When Trump was asked who his foreign policy advisers were, he replied: "Well, I watch the shows." He was referring to political talk shows on TV.

In all of the conversations about his life, Trump seemed like a little boy, says D'Antonio. "Like a six-year-old boy who comes home from the playground and can hardly wait to announce that he shot the decisive goal."

According to D'Antonio, American society revolves around two things: ambition and self-promotion. This is why Trump is one of the most appropriate heroes he can imagine for the country, he adds, noting that no one is more ambitious and narcissistic. "It's a miracle Trump didn't invent the selfie."

The Dark Side of Trump's Narcissism
 
During an appearance two weeks at a Toyota dealership in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a young woman in the crowd said she had two questions for Trump. The first one was about the college financing system. Trump's reply contained the word "college," at any rate. This was her second question: "Can I take a selfie with you?" The owner of the dealership felt that the question was inappropriate and quickly said that perhaps she could do it later. But Trump was already saying "Of course! Of course!" and waved the woman onto the stage.

His biographer talks about the dark sides of Trump's self-absorption. "Trump lacks any self-irony, any form of critical self-perception." The entire family is like that, he explains. When he tried to joke with Trump's children about their father's penchant for gold and glitter in his buildings, none of them understood what he was getting at. "They don't notice when something is ridiculous," says D'Antonio. "This is the most telling characteristic of the entire Trump clan: the persistent denial of reflection."

But what worried him the most, says D'Antonio, is Trump's belief that he is genetically superior to most people in the world. In all of their conversations, he notes, Trump kept returning to the notion that by virtue of his birth, he is simply better than other people in many areas -- from playing golf to being a businessman. "I'm a big believer in natural ability," Trump said.

His son, Donald Trump Jr., shares his father's conviction. He said he was a firm believer in the concept of breeding, in "race-horse theory." Then he pointed at the ceiling with his finger, in the direction of his father's office. "He's an incredibly accomplished guy, my mother's incredibly accomplished, she's an Olympian, so I'd like to believe genetically I'm predisposed to (be) better than average."

Apparently this sort of belief also helps Trump portray himself to voters as a strong man, as the person who will save the country.

A Core Element of Racism
 
In early January, the stadium at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, was filled with 6,500 Trump supporters. Rose Hamid, a Muslim woman, waited for the right moment to express her opposition to Trump. Hamid and her friends chose a spot in the bleachers, directly behind the lectern. They had planned to stand up when Trump said something hateful. When he began railing against Syrian refugees, Hamid pulled out a yellow Star of David with the word Muslim printed on it and stuck it to her T-shirt. She stood up and folded her hands. Her Jewish friend also rose to her feet, and they both stood there, in silent protest against the stigmatization of religions.

The crowd erupted into indignation within seconds. Trump's fans stuck their fists in the air and drowned out Hamid, as if she were a criminal, shouting "Trump! Trump!" Then Trump signaled to the security guards to remove Hamid from the room. She didn't resist. Since the incident, however, she has known what it feels like to be chased away by Trump and his supporters.

A few days later Hamid, 56, is sitting in a row house in a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, talking about the January evening when Trump had her escorted out. Hamid is a proud Muslim woman who wears a headscarf, even while working as a flight attendant, and she has never been criticized for it.

She was raised Catholic and converted to Islam in her mid-20s. A copy of the Ten Commandments sits on her bookshelf and a verse from the Koran hangs on the wall. She believes in the diversity of religions. That was what she wanted to say to Trump when she heard he was coming to her area.
At first Hamid, like many others, didn't take Trump seriously. But this changed when Trump, after the attacks in Paris, proposed the establishment of a database of all Muslims in the country. He later called for a "complete shutdown of all Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." It seems to trouble neither Trump nor his supporters that the First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion.

Racism has since become a core element of his campaign, but it has only intensified in recent months. At first, Trump was only talking about the need to stop illegal immigrants. Only when he realized that this was what got him the most applause did he become more radical. In June, he said that Mexico is "bringing drugs, crime and rapists" to the United States, and that he would "build a great, great wall on our southern border," and "I will have Mexico pay for that wall!" He also announced that he would deport all 11 million illegal immigrants within two years. For his fans, Trump's "great, great wall," which he compares with the Great Wall of China, has become a symbol of a well-fortified America.

Goading and Ridicule
 
Almost every evening, Trump goads his supporters to shout down protestors or throw them out of his rallies. He often ridicules these individuals from the lectern. If one of them happens to be on the heavy side, he pokes fun at "that fat guy," which fans interpret as a signal -- that Trump won't mind if they get a little physical with the protester.

When a TV host recently asked Trump, who was sitting with his back to his fans, whether he was serious when he said that he would also "take out" the wives and children of terrorists, Trump replied: "We have to be more vigilant, and we have to be much tougher." The crowd behind him cheered. At a rally in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, his supporters attacked a black protester, while others shouted "shoot him," "Sieg Heil" and "light the motherfucker on fire!"

These are the moments when it becomes clear how brutal Trump can be. Trump biographer D'Antonio learned that Trump had always sought out bodyguards who looked like hoodlums and thugs -- to put the fear of God in people.

"I tried to look Trump's supporters in the eye, but it was impossible," says Rose Hamid. "There was a strange emptiness there." Trump is changing the country and its people, she adds, and the other candidates, faced with his poll numbers, are revising their own rhetoric. Indeed, this is what worries Hamid. "Trump emboldens people to do things they normally wouldn't dare to do."

A study by pollster Matthew MacWilliams shows that what Trump's supporters have in common, more than anything else, is the desire for authority. MacWilliams asked people whether they preferred a respectful, obedient and well-behaved child or an independent and curious one. Those who tend to favor the former are seen as being authoritarian. Trump was the only candidate strongly favored by the respondents with authoritarian ideas.

This group offers tremendous potential for Trump, says MacWilliams, noting that not only 49 percent of Republicans but also 39 percent of independent voters showed a penchant for the authoritarian. "Trump's support is firmly rooted in American authoritarianism and, once awakened, it is a force to be reckoned with," MacWilliams recently wrote on the website Politico.

It makes sense that Trump doesn't seem to care much about freedom of religion or other cornerstones of democracy. In his rhetoric, he could hardly be more contemptuous of the Congress in Washington. Freedom of the press also seems to annoy him. And before every event, he has his announcer point out that he respects free speech "almost as much" as the right to bear arms.

On some evenings, Trump even has potential audience members questioned about their views. Before his appearance in Burlington, Vermont, a security official dressed in black stood in the lobby and asked every visitor: "Are you a supporter of Mr. Trump?" Those who said no or were undecided were turned away, even if they had tickets to the event. In a democracy, an election campaign is supposed to be an opinion-forming process. But in Trump's case, people are either for him or they are thrown out.

Trump uses the term "the lying press," now famous in Germany, in many of his appearances. "The journalists are miserable people," he says to his supporters, pointing to the corner where the cameras are. At his events, journalists are herded together into a fenced area, under the watchful eyes of zealous guards. The biggest paradox of this campaign is that Trump, while sharply berating the media, is the one who benefits the most from the coverage it provides him. The major TV networks devote more airtime to him to Trump than to all his rivals combined. He is the only Republican candidate who provides the networks with the ratings they crave, and yet he is also the one who mocks them for that very mechanism.

His last-minute refusal to participate in a televised debate hosted by the right-wing Fox News network last week, because he felt unfairly treated by Megyn Kelly, one of the moderators, is not only a first in the history of American election campaigns. It is also the latest climax in the game Trump is playing with the media.

What To Expect from a President Trump
 
What would America look like with a man like this at the helm? And what could the world expect from a President Trump? He has yet to present a comprehensive platform for his presidency. The constant questions about content annoy Trump, and he would prefer it if people would simply trust him. Trump often complains that it's always the journalists who ask questions about his policies. He claims voters don't care very much about that sort of thing. Where others have strategy papers, Trump has his gut feeling. Nevertheless, something resembling an agenda can be deduced from his interviews and speeches.

If we take him at his word, the United States will soon be surrounded by a high wall. The country will only be able to engage in limited trade, because the tariffs will be so high. Eleven million immigrants will have left the United States in cloak-and-dagger operations. The days of the United States as a country of immigrants would be over, once and for all.

Those who have experienced this man's temperament know just how thin-skinned and aggressive Trump can be when criticized or provoked, and how mercilessly and excessively he pursues revenge. One shudders to think what could happen if a man like that had his finger on the button of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. "An ally, let's say from Europe, who didn't follow him into war would be considered a traitor by Trump and would have to expect massive retribution," D'Antonio believes.

If there's a basic idea behind Trump's campaign, it's his own leadership strength. "We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning," Trump has pledged. "I have so much energy, it's almost ridiculous." He seems to want to govern in the same way that he became a billionaire -- despite a few bankruptcies along the way.

Although he previously held liberal positions on some divisive issues, like weapons possession and abortion, he is now presenting himself as a firm opponent of abortion and a huge fan of guns. He's raised other reasonable ideas in the past as well: He once called for a government-financed healthcare system that would be accessible for everyone. He also advocated for a tax on the super rich to reduce US government debt. Indeed, his Republican opponents have been reminding the public of these statements in the form of video clips aimed at damaging the candidate. They include sentences like, "I probably identify more as Democrat." For his part, though, Trump acts as if this past never even existed. He presents his new, ultraconservative positions in the most populist of ways and with even greater determination.

An Odd Worldview
 
Trump the entrepreneur does business all around the world. Ironically, however, as president he would limit any free trade not conducted according to his own rules. In order to shrink the trade deficit with China, he proposes imposing high punitive tariffs on Chinese exports to the US. He promises to bring back all the American jobs that have been lost to Asia or Mexico as a result of globalization. Voters are expected to trust that Trump will be as effective a diplomatic negotiator as he was a business negotiator. "I will be the greatest jobs president that God has ever created," Trump boasted last summer.

His foreign policy essentially boils down to a bizarre mix of isolationism and a simultaneous show of superiority through a military build-up. "I'm the most militaristic person there is," Trump says.
When it comes to international politics, Trump prefers to rely on his own personal experiences and impulses than on textbooks. For example, he doesn't consider North Korea to be an American problem, but rather one which China must solve. He offers a similar approach for addressing the war in Syria, where he feels the problems should be dealt with locally and that there is no need for intervention.

Trump nevertheless says he wants to "bomb the hell out of" the Islamic State (IS), or as his newly won endorsee Sarah Palin expressed on stage just over a week ago, he would send American "warriors" to "kick ISIS's ass." To accomplish that, Trump claims he wants to give US generals free hand, saying they already know what needs to be done. What Trump hasn't revealed, unfortunately, is how alliances are even supposed to be forged with Muslim countries against the Islamic State by a United States that places Muslims under a state of general suspicions and refuses to allow them to travel into the country as he has proposed doing.

Trump has announced he will take a hardline approach on terrorists, but he also says he doesn't want to be interventionist. His gut feeling is that Americans will reject interventions with uncertain outcomes. During his campaign, he has often repeated the fact that he heavily criticized the Iraq war in 2003. The way things look right now, the world is going to have to brace for a US foreign policy based on gut feelings.

Is There any Stopping Trump?
 
The question now is whether such a political course, and indeed a President Donald J. Trump, can even still be prevented. And who could stop him? The possibilities include the Republicans themselves, a party Trump seems to work with based on his mood or whim. And then, of course, there are the Democrats, whose probable candidate, Hillary Clinton, Trump will likely have to square off against in the main election. But neither side can be fully trusted to defeat Trump.

Never before has the grand, time-honored Republican Party been as helpless and hapless as it is right now. The party's leadership had sought an establishment candidate like Jeb Bush or the younger Marco Rubio. But Trump?

"We are in total chaos," says Peter Wehner, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush. He says the Republicans are already divided and that a Trump candidacy could spell the end of the Grand Old Party. When Wehner talks about Trump, it sounds as if he's referring to the head of some dictatorship. "Trump is erratic. He is emotionally unstable, has authoritarian tendencies and a certain cruelty. He is a toxic figure, a demagogue. Trump would cause a lot of damage to the Republican Party. If he won the nomination it would be a hostile takeover. We must prevent it."

Some already view Trump as the founder of a new political movement -- "Trumpism" -- that has little in common with the traditional conservatism on the right.

The level of frustration among many Republican officials was on display in mid-January during a speech given at an internal meeting of party leaders in South Carolina by Holland Redfield, a member of the Republican National Committee, who said the GOP was being "almost terrorized" by Trump and that "there is a limit to loyalty."

The question being discussed the most right now within the party is what the GOP's response should be if Trump wins the first primaries. Should he be embraced in order to share in the success? Or should the party take a more hostile approach in the hope that a more reliable candidate may ultimately prevail?

Currently, the faction that views Trump as representing the downfall of conservatism is dominating. Strategy papers are being circulated within the party addressing how officials should counter Trump's arguments. The National Review, a respected conservative political magazine, even published a plea to prominent Republicans under the headline, "Against Trump."

Is the Tide Turning in Trump's Favor?
 
Within the party base, however, there are a growing number of voices reminding that America is the country of freedom and that politics is an open competition. "If Trump is able to gather the most votes for himself, then he should also be our candidate," says Congressman Mick Mulvaney.
Mulvaney is a Rand Paul backer, but he considers the will of the party base to be crucial.

Inside the party, there's growing sentiment that Trump might stand a good chance even against Hillary Clinton. "In the same way that Reagan brought renewal to the Republican Party and made it electable for Democrats, I think there are many conservative Democrats who would support Trump," says Jeffrey Lord, a former White House aide to Reagan.

The more influential Republicans are still keeping a low-profile right now, but if you speak to men like Newt Gingrich, it sounds like the Republicans will ultimately fall into line with Trump. During the 1990s, Gingrich led the Republicans in the House of Representatives and launched the "Republican Revolution." In 2012, he also ran as a Republican candidate in the primaries, though his campaign was ultimately a flop. On his way to Iowa, Gingrich took some time to talk to SPIEGEL while he was waiting for his flight.

Gingrich still has a clear recollection of Trump asking to meet with him in January 2015. The two had breakfast together in Des Moines on the sidelines of an event they were attending in the city. Trump spoke for the first time about his idea to run. Gingrich believes people underestimate Trump. He tells a story of the ice skating rink in New York's Central Park in order to illustrate Trump's skills.
In 1980, the city had closed the skating rink for renovations. The work was only supposed to take two years, but by 1986, it still wasn't finished. That's when Trump showed up. He convinced Mayor Ed Koch to let him take over the project, promising that the rink would be up and running within three months. In return, he asked for the concession rights. Exactly three months later, Trump unveiled the new ice skating rink in a nationally televised ceremony. "Donald Trump is a very talented man," says Gingrich.

But does he stand a chance against Hillary Clinton? "Of course," says Gingrich. "America is a huge country. Anything can happen."

Tackling Clinton
 
This is evident on a bitter cold January evening in Burlington, Vermont. A line has formed in front of a local theater. Mary Loyer, 44, and her son Tim, 28, are hoping to catch a glimpse of Trump. Tim works as a waiter, Mary is unemployed. They're supporters of the left-wing democrat Bernie Sanders, a long-time mayor of Burlington. But Mary says something that one hears over and over again on the campaign trail: "If it came down to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, I don't know who I'd vote for. But it wouldn't be Clinton."

"Hillary is corrupt," Tim says. "She does what Big Money wants her to do, and she's a flip-flopper." Sanders and Trump have more in common than it seems, he adds: "Both of them are the only politicians who say what they think and do what they say." His mom nods.

For a long time, the Clinton camp fantasized about taking on Trump. The way they saw it, it would be Clinton, an experienced, middle-of-the-road candidate, versus Trump, the radical leader of the old, white guard. Many democratic strategists viewed such a matchup as a unique opportunity. Vice President Joe Biden said if Trump won the Republican nomination, Hillary Clinton would "win in a walk."

In the meantime, it has become apparent that Clinton can't even rely on the unconditional support of her own people. For many, she represents a political system that is symbiotically entwined with Big Business. Trump, the big capitalist, however, bills himself as someone who is not for sale. He doesn't accept big donations and doesn't owe anyone anything. The fact that he, unlike Clinton, has never held a political office is an advantage in this election campaign.

Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg is one of the few in his party who openly addresses how difficult it could be for Clinton to handle a Trump candidacy. The founder of the progressive think tank "New Democratic Network" believes that the widespread frustration about the status quo within the American electorate and his ability to handle the modern media better than anyone else in the race would make Trump a strong opponent in the general election. "Trump would be a lot harder to defeat than most of us think", he says. "There were more than a dozend Republican candidates and he basically destroyed all of them. It is unbelievable what he did."

But many democrats aren't panicking yet. They're betting on Clinton's campaign coming around and gaining momentum once she secures the nomination. At the same time, they are anxious that this could become the dirtiest duel in the history of American presidential campaigns.

If it does, Roger Stone will be the man to blame. The unscrupulousness that has come to define Trump's campaign is largely Stone's doing. He learned the tricks of the trade from Richard Nixon in the 1970s, and later helped Ronald Reagan get into the White House. By the end of the 1980s, Stone was already trying to convince his friend Trump to run for president. Almost everything Trump knows about politics and power, he learned from Stone -- including the art of manipulation. Stone is considered a master of defamatory rumors.

Stone also helped Trump lay the foundations for his campaign last spring. Then in summer, he was abruptly fired. Trump's people cited a disagreement between the two, but observers now believe the split could have been staged, a trick.

"I remain an unabashed Trump supporter and Trump enthusiast," Stone said when reached on the phone last autumn. "I just finally made a decision that I could have a greater impact on the outside. Trump is still a very close friend." As before, the two talk regularly and Stone obviously gives Trump important advice. And just like old times, Stone spends nearly every evening on TV touting Trump and his "movement."

Since he is no longer an official member of Trump's campaign team, Stone has the freedom to be even more ruthless in his derision of Trump's opponents, without the risk of the mud-slinging coming back to haunt the candidate. Trump biographer D'Antonio describes Stone as "pure evil." He is a "deeply disgusting person," someone who doesn't understand anything but "brute force."

Stone's favorite victim is Hillary Clinton. His recently published book, "The Clintons' War on Women," is a nasty piece of work. But it could also be seen as a blueprint for Trump's campaign against Hillary. Without credible proof, Stone claims that Chelsea Clinton is not Bill's biological daughter and that Bill has fathered at least one son with a black prostitute. Stone calls the former president a serial rapist and Hillary his henchwoman. He also suggests that Hillary has the death of a man who knew about Bill's escapades on her conscience.

In television interviews, Stone claims Hillary is the "point person in the terror campaign to intimidate and bully women into silence." That she once waged a "nuts and sluts campaign to discredit Monica Lewinsky to make it her fault that she was seduced by a man three times her age." He has also stated that "Bill rapes women physically and Hillary rapes them psychologically." He claims Hillary Clinton "has no right to call herself an advocate for women and girls." Trump recently released a campaign video with a similar message.

"The Clintons are money-making opportunists and criminals," Stone says. Their foundation is nothing more than a "luxury travel service to augment the lifestyles of Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton." People with those kinds of friends and advisers don't leave much to the imagination as to their character, he says.

A Threat to World Peace
 
If the most powerful office in the world wasn't at stake, all this wouldn't be nearly as dangerous. Germany has been too busy dealing with the supposed threat posed by refugees in recent months to appreciate what's really been going on across the Atlantic. Despite their differences, the US and Germany share an unshakeable faith in democracy and freedom. But nothing would be more harmful to the idea of the West and world peace than if Donald Trump were to be elected president. Compared to that, the America of George W. Bush would seem like a land of logic and reason in retrospect.

Bush, to his credit, never compared migrants to poisonous snakes -- something Trump did recently at a rally in Pensacola, Florida. Later that night, Trump addressed what has been one of his favorite topics lately: Europe's refugee crisis. "Just talk to the folks over in Germany," he said. "Europe is being destroyed."

When he puts on his reading glasses, the audience goes quiet. "Just listen to this," he says, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket. He printed out the lyrics to "The Snake," an old soul hit from Al Wilson. The song is about a snake, half frozen from the cold, that asks a woman to be let inside. The woman takes pity on the animal and holds it to her bosom, upon which the snake bites and poisons her.

Trump reads the lyrics aloud passionately, as if he were auditioning for a role. "Oh, shut up silly woman," he says, imitating the snake: "You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in." The crowd cheers. They're over the moon. Trump just stares back at them. "We're gonna get bit."