Obama 'to make last-ditch attempt to PARDON Hillary Clinton' before Trump presidency

BARACK Obama could dish out a controversial last-minute pardon to Hillary Clinton before Donald Trump is sworn in as US President in January.

By CHARLIE PEAT

PUBLISHED: 00:01, Thu, Nov 10, 2016 | UPDATED: 12:39, Thu, Nov 10, 2016

Clinton – who has been embroiled in a lengthy FBI investigation into the use of her private email account while working as Secretary of State – has not been charged with any crime as of yet.

But the White House refused to rule out a dramatic pardon as part of Obama’s final act as US President.

GETTY

Clinton has not been charged with any crime by the FBI

Obama's press secretary, Josh Earnest, remained coy on the matter when asked whether the outgoing President had considered using his executive power to enforce a pardon.

He said: “The President has offered clemency to a substantial number of Americans who were previously serving time in federal prisons.

“And we didn’t talk in advance about the president’s plans to offer clemency to any of those individuals and that’s because we don’t talk about the President’s thinking, particularly with respect to any specific cases that may apply to pardons or commutations.”

Trump’s campaign has been fraught with accusations against “crooked Hillary” and chants by his adoring fans to “lock her up”.

The billionaire’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, has not ruled out a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton’s email server.

She said Trump and new Vice President Mike Pence are “looking to unify the country, but we haven’t discussed that in recent days, and I think that it’s all in due time.”

The President-elect said during the second presidential debate in October: “If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception.”

He also pledged an “expedited investigation by a special prosecutor” in August.

The move would evoke memories of president Gerald Ford using his power to pardon his predecessor Richard Nixon in 1974 for crimes allegedly committed against the US while president.

Ford made the move to avoid a “long, drawn-out trial” which could have further polarised the nation.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/730709/Donald-Trump-Barack-Obama-pardon-Hillary-Clinton-emails-before-presidency-US-media

The impostor who stole democracy

A charlatan incapable of winning, Donald Trump has severely injured America

The Nation August 12, 2016 1:00 am

EDITORIAL

In his freakish rhetoric and through the sheer popularity of his campaign to become president of the United States - inarguably still the world's most powerful political office - Donald Trump has managed to drain American democracy of its last dregs of inspiration. The Republican Party candidate has turned the election into a primetime TV soap opera, but his years spent hosting a uniquely mean-spirited television reality show bring to the proceedings a harrowing reality all their own. Steeped in show business and the cult of celebrity, Trump is adept at churning emotions in front of millions of viewers. If TV reality shows aren't actually real, though - more a matter of behind-the-scenes manipulation - is it possible that Trump's campaign is also a fake? Judging by the outrageous statements he continues to make, the profanity, insults and ridiculous promises that are steadily eroding his chances in the November polls, he doesn't appear to harbour hopes of actually winning the presidency. 

For the property developer turned Hollywood hustler, this might well be just another show. If he loses, as he almost certainly will in tallying the projected electoral vote, he will walk away grumbling about a rigged election but still be wealthy and even more famous - in perfect position to become a full-time pundit on politics or any other topic, or host another TV series. 

Seen as a charlatan, albeit one who is wasting billions of dollars and causing severe injury to the American political process, Trump can be perhaps viewed as being less dangerous to the world than is generally perceived. His views on foreign relations are patently simplistic and one-dimensional, regarding other nations as friends in service of American interests. 

His campaign trick of choice is instilling fear, categorising all Mexican immigrants as rapists and all Muslims as terrorists and assailing China for stealing American jobs when he knows full well that the US economy would be in far worse shape if not for Chinese support. He wants the US out of Nato, a move that would undermine the entire European security architecture in place since World War II. He wants to jettison the Trans Pacific Partnership championed by incumbent Barrack Obama (as does his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, it must be noted), despite its clear benefits to the American economy and workers. 

Regardless of the outcome in November, the people of the United States will have to search their collective soul about the flawed electoral system they have in place. It has allowed a billionaire curmudgeon and bigot to come within sight of the presidency by lashing out hatefully at contrived enemies on primetime TV, day in and day out. Surely a form of madness is at work when perhaps half the citizens of a country admired around the world as the utmost bastion of democracy fall prey to foul trickery. 

If there is a lesson in all this for Thailand, it is that 50 prominent national-security officials, all members of the Republican Party, signed a letter condemning the nominee. They judged from his campaign pronouncements that Trump would be the most reckless president in US history and were unafraid to say so loudly. Clearly they placed the nation's interests above those of the party or any individual, and it was a courageous stance that Thailand's politicians should emulate. The national interest must always come first, even if it entails personal sacrifice . 

American democracy has reached a critical moment. The impostor Donald Trump has stripped it of inspiration and credibility, relegating "America first" to America last. Once this dark cloud has passed, the damage done might yet prove reparable.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/The-impostor-who-stole-democracy-30292717.html

What if Trump really wins the election?

Donald Trump’s decision to join the US presidential race did not surprise many at first. The American businessman is known for his ambitions, driven by his success story as a real-estate magnate, as well as the popularity of the TV show “The Apprentice”.

Achara Deboonme
The Nation August 9, 2016 1:00 am

From neutrality, within months he has divided the nation, because of his strategy to sow the seeds of despair just to bolster his claims to become the US president. Globally he has also stirred curiosity, in a negative way. Leaders of several countries are closely observing the election campaigns, just to know what they have to do if Trump does win the race.

Global interest in this election is growing. Last week, at a special luncheon talk by Thomas Jordan, chairman of Swiss National Bank, a member of the Swiss-Thai Chamber of Commerce asked what would happen if Trump becomes the US president?

Jordan choked slightly in his reply. He politely said that as a central banker, he could not say much. He just reckoned that the winner’s responsibility is to make sure that "the openness remains intact".

Also last week, I received researches on this issue from two houses - United Overseas Bank and Maybank.

UOB's research was entitled "US Presidential Election 2016: What if US Gets Trump?" That's a very eye-catching title and the content is even more interesting, with this opening: "The upcoming US presidential election could have potential impact on Asia and Asian financial markets, particularly in the areas of trade, currency, and geopolitics".

The content offers a gloomy outlook for Asian economies, including Thailand.

While Hillary Clinton's win assures the world of the continuation of the Obama administration's policies, Trump's emergence would change that.

Chief among Trump’s campaign pledges are: Build a wall on the border with Mexico and make Mexico pay for it; renegotiate the trade agreement with Mexico, China and withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); and deploy US military appropriately in the East and South China seas with allies like Japan and South Korea meeting the full cost of security guarantees.

Trump may not be able to deliver on all his election promises due to the "checks and balances" in the US system, but he could deliver on, among others, trade reform to address deficits (by using executive orders) and on US military deployment (as the commander-in-chief), the bank said.

Countries with trade surpluses with the US could face risks, chiefly China, 20 per cent of whose exports go to the US market with a trade surplus exceeding US$300 billion in the past two years. In this regard, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand will also be particularly vulnerable, as more than 10 per cent of exports are headed to the US. Stronger domestic currencies, and/or tariff/non-tariff barriers could emerge.

If anything puts pressure on the Chinese yuan to rise against the US dollar, it is possible that Asian currencies would move in tandem with the yuan, UOB said.

The bank noted that though Thailand's trade diversification would shield it from a possible drop in exports to the US, the country would not be spared from the impacts of trade restrictions and protectionist agendas. As global trade contracts, export-oriented firms would postpone their investment owing to low capacity utilisation. "Consequently, it will be difficult to unleash a new investment cycle in Thailand and the economy would grow below its potential in the medium term."

The Thai economy could also face greater volatility in the financial markets, as the baht could strengthen against the greenback. In this case, the baht may not weaken to Bt36.5 at the end of this year as expected by UOB.

Maybank's research was more focused on the foreign-exchange market in the run-up to the November 8 election. The house expects the US Federal Reserve to factor in the political economy risk from the election, especially in view of Trump's campaign, and decide to raise interest rates by 0.25 basis points in December.

Maybank noted that disruption to trade flow would have an impact on growth prospects for the EU region, which is scheduling elections from now until 2017 in several countries like Austria, the Netherlands, France and Germany.

Maybank noted that aside from domestic political risks, external challenges, particularly the US presidential election, could also impact the baht/dollar exchange rate. Uncertainty would spark capital outflows from emerging markets, including Thailand, while Brexit concerns could spark another round of risk-haven flows. This would only weaken the baht, and Maybank expects the currency to end the year at Bt37 per dollar before creeping slightly higher to 37.20 in the second quarter of 2017.

Whatever happens, it is clear that the Thai economy could face strong headwinds and one of that is Trump.

Noting that Trump now has a 50 per cent chance, UOB economist Jimmy Koh said in the research note: "While we hesitate to place a Trump presidency as the base-case scenario, we should also highlight this outcome should not be treated as an unlikely event."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/What-if-Trump-really-wins-the-election-30292507.html

GRAPHIC NEWS: World female leaders

14 jULY 2016

Graphic shows selected female leaders around the world and shows share of the global $73.4 trillion GDP.

July 14, 2016 -- Two of the world’s five biggest economies now have a female leader. Women-led nations currently produce 15% of global GDP -- but this will rise to almost 40% if Hillary Clinton becomes U.S. president.

There are currently 20 female world leaders, (excluding monarchs), according to United Nations data. These women account for about one-in-ten of today’s leaders of UN member states.

Female leadership is more common in some regions of the world than others, with the Nordic countries standing out. Mexico, like the U.S., has never had a woman as chief executive, and Canada’s first female prime minister, Kim Campbell, served for just four months in 1993.

http://www.graphicnews.com/en/go/pages/34499/POLITICS-World-female-leaders