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Former President Barack Obama is described as a parasite on the Democratic Party in a new tell-all book about the 2020 election saying the former president used the party as a host for his re-election campaign.

Writing in Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats Campaign to Defeat Trump, author Edward-Isaac Dovere said aides to the former president believe he abandoned Democrats after winning the White House in 2008, according to an excerpt obtained by Fox News.

Negligence might be more accurate, Dovere, a writer for The Atlantic, reveals in a chapter of the book titled Benign Neglect.

The numbers are hard to ignore: during his eight years in office, Obama oversaw a net loss of 947 state legislative seats, 63 House seats, 11 senators, and 13 governors,Dovere writes in the book, scheduled to be released Tuesday.

In 2008, when Obama was elected, Democrats boosted their majorities in the House and Senate gaining eight seats in the Senate and 21 in the House.

But Republicans roared back in the 2010 midterms thanks to the Tea Party wave of candidates and regained control of the House.

By 2014, Republicans controlled both the House and Senate.

Dovere said Obama carried himself with a self-assured self-regard and failed to look out for Democrats.

Obama never built a Democratic bench and never cared to, aside from a few scattered candidates who interested him, the book says.

Defenders of Obama, according to the book, claim he didnt want to taint his presidency by mucking around in fundraising and wanted to reflect that when faced with the choice to campaign or govern, he would pick govern.

Obamas abandonment of the Democratic Party structure is among the eyebrow-raising revelations in Doveres book that include how Jill Biden told supporters that Kamala Harris could go fk herself after attacking then-presidential candidate Joe Biden during a 2019 debate.

Another excerpt disclosed how the former president referred to his successor, Donald Trump, as a corrupt motherfker, a madman and a racist.

In his first term, Dovere writes, Obama used the Democratic Party as a host for his re-election campaign.

Obama selected Tim Kaine in 2009 to head the Democratic National Committee even though Kaine wasservingas governor of Virginia.

Kaine was commuting two days a week to oversee the pilfering of talent, money, resources, and purpose for the Obama reelection effort that was already under way, Dovere writes.

In his second term, he cared about what happened to the husk as much as any parasite does, Dovere writes about Obama.

The campaign then struck a deal with the DNC that exchanged $2.4 million in leftover debt from the 2012 election for the email list from Obama for America and guarantees that Obama would headline fundraisers, the book says.

Obamas pride hit its zenith in 2015 when the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act commonly referred to as ObamaCare and ruled that the 14th Amendment requires all states to allow same-sex marriages.

In hindsight its hard not to see delusion in the self-assurance and the celebration and the sense of moving forward of those two weeks in America, Dovere says.

He also writes that Obama believed he could have defeated Trump in 2016 if he had been allowed to seek a third term.

Ultimately Obamas math comes down to a simple calculation: he has suggested in conversations with people close to him that he thinks he would have won had he been able to be a candidate in 2016. The economy, the Democratic debris, Russia if he could have run for a third term, even confronted with all these issues, he believes, he would have figured out how to pull a victory off anyway, the book says.

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Obama called 'parasite' on Democratic Party in new 2020 election book - New York Post

Construction of the Obama Presidential Center is expected to begin this fall in Chicago after years of debate over whether the complex will benefit low-income residents of the surrounding neighborhoods.

It will be located in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago one of the most historically significant parks in the city, and originally designed for the 27 million visitors to the 1893 Worlds Fair. The roughly $500m Obama Presidential Center (OPC) will feature a museum, playground, public library and an open plaza.

Such presidential complexes are considered the physical embodiment of a presidents legacy, and though the OPC will not house the archives of a traditional presidential library, the center is noteworthy for its nod to the Obamas roots. Barack started his political career in the area and Michelle grew up in the nearby South Shore neighborhood.

But the development, expected to break ground this fall, has not arrived without controversy. Over the last six years, the Obama Foundation, which will fund the OPC, and the city of Chicago have courted scrutiny from two groups: park preservationists upset at a private development being built on public land, and community organizers who fear that low-income Black neighbors will be displaced by rising rents and land speculation.

Since 2018, Protect Our Parks has waged legal battles to prevent the parks construction in Jackson Park, the second largest park on the South Side and home to more than 250 species of birds. The non-profit maintains that the development could be built at an alternative site about two miles from Jackson Park with minimal damage to the environment.

This is a world-class park put together by Frederick Law Olmsted and now somebody wants to gut it when, in fact, they can put it in a perfectly serviceable [location somewhere else], said Richard Epstein, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago who represents Protect Our Parks.

A Protect Our Parks lawsuit against the city was struck down in 2020 by Amy Coney Barrett, then a US circuit court judge, and the organizations petition for a supreme court review was recently denied. In April, the non-profit alleged in a second lawsuit that the OPCs construction would permanently destroy Jackson Parks roadways, trees and overall integrity and that the four federal regulatory reviews the site went through did not sufficiently consider alternative sites.

In response, the Obama Foundation said it was prepared to defend against this lawsuit from Protect Our Parks and that it plans to plant more trees on-site than exist now. The spokesperson told the Guardian that a thorough selection process was conducted and completed regarding the location of the museum campus.

Alderwoman Leslie Hairston, who represents some of the affected neighborhoods, is critical of park preservationists attempt to quash the development. [The Protect Our Parks case] has been determined by a court of law to be uncredible, Hairston said.

Neighbors response to the Obama Presidential Center has been cautious. Woodlawn, Washington Park and South Shore are predominantly Black low-income neighborhoods that have experienced the brunt of housing demolitions, discriminatory lending practices, and disinvestment since the 20th century. For residents used to empty promises, this new development could propel the community forward or leave it behind.

A major flashpoint has been affordable housing. A University of Illinois at Chicago study found that housing prices in the area rose between 2010 and 2017. While rents vary, there is clear evidence of rising rents in newly renovated and new construction units, which the majority of current renters cannot afford, researchers wrote.

Some residents and community organizers have spent years saying the city, the Obama Foundation and others should reach an agreement that sets jobs aside for locals, protects affordable housing and supports Black businesses.

Dixon Romeo, an organizer in South Shore, said some ardent OPC supporters have mischaracterized such calls as opposed to the development itself. Most folks you talk to understand that the issue isnt [with] Barack Obama, said Romeo. Were for the Center but not for displacement, echoed Paru Brown, a coalition organizer with the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization.

Obama himself came out against these proposals in 2017. Im not an outsider here, he said during a video conference at the time. I know the neighborhood. I know that the minute you start saying, Well, were thinking about signing something that will determine whos getting jobs and contracts and this and that. Next thing I know, Ive got 20 organizations coming out of the woodwork, some Ive never heard of before.

Even so, the Obama Foundation will require 50% of subcontracted vendors to be diverse and will fund $850,000 in workplace development training for 400 apprentices from the South and West Sides, according to a spokesperson.

And in September last year, the Chicago city council passed an ordinance committing millions to redeveloping vacant buildings and lots, funding home improvements and refinancing for homeowners, and assisting low- and middle-income renters in home ownership. Under this agreement, renters also get the right of first refusal if their landlord sells the building.

To Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor, who was elected in part because of her advocacy around the OPC, these policy shifts are personal. Before she was elected in 2019, she was an organizer and mother priced out of Bronzeville, another South Side neighborhood. When the OPC was first announced, she feared being displaced from Woodlawn. I [couldnt] afford to live anywhere else in the city, she said.

Taylor was essential in the passage of the housing ordinance. Since then, she says her offices interactions with the Obama Foundation and the University of Chicago, a major presence in the area, have been productive. We dont move without talking to each other. Its a relationship where were learning to trust each other.

But getting to that level of transparency was a years-long battle. I dont care if its the first Black president or Queen Elizabeth or Beyonc. We got to hold people accountable.

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The Obama library is coming to Chicago. Will local residents be displaced? - The Guardian

Four months into his White House tenure, President Biden is outperforming some of his predecessors and trailing others when it comes to his poll ratings.

According to the latest national polling from Gallup, Biden stands at 54% approval and 40% disapproval. The presidents approval rating is down three points from April, with his disapproval unchanged. Bidens approval rating in Gallup surveys has remained steady in the mid-50s since taking over in the White House on Jan. 20.

WHERE BIDEN STANDS IN THE LAST FOX NEWS POLLING

The poll points to a massive partisan divide, with 92% of Democrats and 54% of independents, but just 8% of Republicans, giving the president a thumbs up.

Biden is outpacing his most immediate predecessor in the White House. Donald Trump had a 39% approval rating in May 2017 in Gallup polling and Bill Clinton stood at 45% approval in May 1993.

President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP)

But Biden trails his former boss.

Barack Obama enjoyed a 65% approval rating in Gallup in May 2009.

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The current president's also slightly behind George H.W. Bush, who stood at 58% in May 1989, and his son George W. Bush, who had a 55% presidential approval rating in Gallup's May 2001 survey.

The Gallup poll was conducted May 3-18, with 1,016 adults nationwide questioned. The surveys overall sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Biden tops Trump, Clinton, but outpaced by Obama and both Bushes, in polling comparison - Fox News

The Biden administrationon Monday said it will return to Obama-era practices for granting waivers of offshore drilling safety regulations after environmental groups alleged the Trump administration relied on criteria that were not available to the public.

The Interior Departments Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said in a letter that it remained committed to the Obama-era practice of approving waivers on a case-by-case basis. In a 2019 lawsuit, conservation group Healthy Gulf accused the Trump administration of unlawfully switching to a waiver approval process that relied on unpublished standards that were not made available to the public.

Upon receiving a waiver request, BSEE adjudicates the request on a case-by-case basis based on the existing regulatory criteria and its experience evaluating similar requests, acting BSEE Director Scott Mabry said in the letter.

In a statement, Healthy Gulf Executive Director Cynthia Sarthou said proper enforcement of the regulations was necessary to avert incidents such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Well Control Rule was one of the few safety measures implemented after the BP Drilling Disaster that would prevent another catastrophic blowout. The Trump administration was frequently waiving this important rule, Sarthou said in the statement. Were glad that the Biden administration has agreed that the rule should be enforced to protect our workers and communities.

Healthy Gulf has voluntarily withdrawn its lawsuit in response to the letter.

Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the rule revisionin May 2019, saying it would remove "unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining safety and environmental protection offshore." Chris Eaton, an attorney for Earthjustice,referred to the rollbacks a handout to the oil and gas industries at the time, saying they came at the cost of endangering the lives of their workers and heightening the risk for another environmental catastrophe off Americas coastlines.

Originally posted here:
Interior Department says it has returned to Obama-era enforcement of offshore drilling waiver rules | TheHill - The Hill

Obama and Reggie Watts. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by The Late Late Show with James Corden/YouTube

This week on late night, it was all about apologies who made them, and whom was owed them. The Late Late Show had to walk back its aggressive courting of swag, because CBS senior VP of late-night West Coast Nick Bernstein got a talking-to from sales. Ziwe apologized to everyone in her audience with fat mommy milkers. John Oliver called out Israels social media for trying to make bombing into a meme. And the WLW audience of The Late Show is owed an apology from Stephen Colbert for not knowing that were known for comfortable footwear. Hellooooo, Tevas?

Movies are back, according to Arnold Schwarzenegger, and so is movie promotion on late night. Eric Bana made the rounds in support of his Australian thriller, proudly proclaiming on The Tonight Show that he did fuck-all during quar. Bana did The Tonight Show and The Late Late Show in the same week, something that was verboten during the late-night wars. But now that every late-night show is friends with every other late-night show, guests can spread across platforms with wild abandon. Here are the moments that stuck out this week, between apologies and cross-network promotional efforts.

Fallons Tonight Show, which has been picked up for another five years, relies heavily on stars playing party games. True Confessions is the shows version of Two Truths and a Lie. Guests read a statement from an envelope, which is either a true or false factoid about them. Jimmy and the other star then have to interrogate them about the statement, trying to catch them in a lie. Unless youre 21 Savage, in which case you just kinda go, Yeah, that sounds right. No follow up, not playing along, not knowing who Gisele Bndchen is, Savage was a hoot. Also, hes getting his pilots license, which is neat. 21 Savage will soon be a pilot, yet Twenty One Pilots remain on the ground. Makes you think.

Lilly Singh said shes going to use what time she has left on NBC to cram our airwaves with Canadian celebs. In service of this goal, Singh had dirtbag chef extraordinaire Matty Matheson on to play some air hockey. Between own goals, Mattheson explained the joys of home birth to Singh. His wife has had two, and Mattheson has caught the baby at both. I get close. And then shes like Get away, and I get away. And then shes like Come close, and I come close. And then shes like Frozen grapes! Im like Frozen grapes! he said. Shes like The BROW! The sweat is overcometh, and Im like pat pat pat. Vice should give Matty his own show explaining the health issues of today.

Patti Harrison and Jimmy Kimmel are a weirdly perfect comedic duo. Its like Steve Martin and Selena Gomez or Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg before that got annoying: two tastes you didnt think would go together but do. Kimmel just sets up Harrison to go off, and she does. Harrison went on Jimmy Kimmel Live May 19 to ostensibly promote her movie. Instead, she gave a gripping play-by-play of the time she got kicked off Twitter for impersonating a bi-phobic Sia, doing a social-media takeover of Nilla Wafers. Harrison makes a profound argument for why comedy needs context, an argument that is borne out by how bonkers the previous sentence reads for someone who isnt extremely online.

Action Bronson was supposed to appear on Late Night With Seth Meyers Wednesday night. But he didnt. Instead, Seth wound up interviewing his cue-card guy, Wally Feresten. Wally is the cue-card guy on Late Night as well as Saturday Night Live. While chatting with Meyers, he went into his cue-card gift business, as well as the time Charles Barkley pranked the SNL cast by pretending to blow up at him. It was a cute and informative use of time that would have otherwise been wasted by the negative space where Action Bronson should have been. Good save, Wally!

Obamas May 17 appearance on The Late Late Show was an excuse for people to break character. The former president read Ian Karmel to filth for asking a softball question, not his usual style. And Reggie Watts, who usually asks a surreal non-question at the end of every show, used that time to ask Obama a real question: Are aliens real? Obama confirmed that theres weird shit in the sky, but refused to confirm or deny whether any of that weird shit was aliens. Obama said he suspected Watts was deflecting from his own extraterrestrial nature with his line of questioning. But referring toMen in Blackis itself deflection! Obama could spin spaying to a cat, hes that good.

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Obamas UFO Talk Won Late Night This Week - Vulture