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The most popular Democratic leader by far is still former President Barack Obama. Despite this popularity, many of the signature accomplishments of his modest legacy are being brutishly unraveled being repealed , suspended or slated for extinction by the Trumpsters. Donald Trump seems to revel in the destruction of consumer, investor, environmental, work and public land protections and standards. Whether at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration or the Securities and Exchange Commission, Trumps big-business friends are running the very agencies tasked with regulating them.

Trump vehemently supports breaking the Iran nuclear accord one of Obamas highpoints that cooled off what could have been a rush to military conflict in that turbulent region. Abysmally ignorant about its contents, Trump is nonetheless impulsively determined to do just that in last years presidential campaign, alarming leading military experts.

What should Barack Obama be doing about the unfolding Trumpian nightmares dangerously enveloping so many defenseless and anxious Americans? Tradition has it that outgoing presidents go quietly, do not assail their successor in office, if only because the latter is in a position to strike back. Already, Trump has been actively waging war against his predecessors legacy.

But there are many other ways in which Obama can respond without getting into a messy Twitter war with the unstable Tweeter-in-Chief. Granted, Obama is spending time laying the groundwork for his presidential library to preserve his past. It is the future of this country that needs his high profile attention. Word has it that he is working with his former Attorney General, Eric Holder, to get candidates and voters ready for next years crucial Congressional elections. If so, he needs to be more media-visible to get the attention of millions of people.

Here are some ways Obama can strengthen the peoples resistance to many of Trumps destructive efforts which harm his own voters as well as those citizens who opposed his candidacy.

There needs to be additional civic groups to propose good directions and to oppose Trumps forthcoming reduction of taxes for the rich, and, very importantly, to organize prominent retired military, national security and diplomatic officials who are against aggressive wars and seek dynamic diplomacy to wage peace, and to move toward full Medicare for all with free choice of doctor and hospital with more efficient and better outcomes.

The reality is that Barack Obama is a big draw. No one comes close to playing such a role. He can get big media, attract large audiences and raise large sums of money for the civic groups. The civil society has built and protected our democracy throughout history. Moreover, he can surely elevate public morale in an era of Trumpian gloom, flakery and attract new leadership to invigorate a leaderless Democratic Party down to the local levels.

If you agree, start petitions with your own ideas for Obama getting with Americas future and not just chronicling his eight year presidencys past. His silent withdrawal has been astonishing and disturbing. He doesnt yet realize what a historically crucial role he can play in the next few years.

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What's Obama Waiting For? - HuffPost

The meme was shared by YouTube personality Jerry Travone, who had previously shared an extremely anti-Semitic tweet on Sunday. This is not the first time that Trump has retweeted content from users known for making anti-Semitic statements.

On Monday, some parts of the United States experienced a total eclipse where the moon completely blocked the sun for a short time.

Trump watched the celestial event from the White House with first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron.

Amid the excitement, eclipse jokes flooded social media -- and some Trump critics shared a different version of the presidential eclipse.

The meme of Obama eclipsing Trump below was shared by radio host Charlamagne Tha God on Monday along with a string of laughing emojis.

Pictures of Trump appearing to look directly into the sun during the eclipse also generated a slew of jokes.

"'But president, you need special glasses to look at the eclipse' Trump: FAKE NEWS," one user tweeted.

According to a White House pool report filed by the Guardian's Ben Jacobs, "At approximately 2:39, the President initially gesticulated to the crowd below and pointed at the sky. As he did so, one of the White House aides standing beneath the Blue Room Balcony shouted 'don't look.'"

Eventually, the first family stood together, wearing protective eyewear, to watch the eclipse.

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Trump retweets meme of his Obama 'eclipse' - CNN

A White House official said on Thursday that Mr. Trump was specifically referring to a bill to extend emergency funding to the multibillion-dollar Veterans Choice program, which pays for veterans to receive care from private doctors if they face long wait times or travel distances.

Congressional aides said on Thursday that there had indeed been a short-lived effort late last month to tie the debt ceiling language to the Choice bill. But with the veterans program set to run out of money by mid-August, apparent opposition from conservative budget hard-liners and a congressional recesses looming, the idea was never given serious consideration.

The Choice legislation ultimately passed both the House and the Senate unanimously, shortly before each chamber began its summer recess. Mr. Trump signed it into law on August 12.

Mr. McConnell said on Monday that there was no chance Congress would fail to raise the debt ceiling by the end of September. The relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell has been disintegrating over the summer and could jeopardize urgent legislation when Congress returns from its August recess. Mr. Trump has been publicly critical of Mr. McConnell for not being able to repeal and replace President Barack Obamas signature health care legislation. He repeated his criticism in another tweet on Thursday: The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened!

Mr. Trump shifted his focus on Twitter briefly to the Obama administration on Thursday. The president shared a post from one of his supporters that was critical of Mr. Obama.

And Mr. Trump called out Mr. Obamas director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., who has publicly questioned whether Mr. Trump is fit to be president.

I really question his ability to his fitness to be in this office, Mr. Clapper said on CNN this week.

Mr. Trump also lashed out at Fake News on Thursday for reports on the different styles of his recent public speeches.

Several news outlets, including The New York Times, wrote articles comparing his speaking style at recent appearances, including in Arizona at a campaign-style rally on Tuesday and at an American Legion convention on Wednesday night.

Kitty Bennett contributed research.

A version of this article appears in print on August 25, 2017, on Page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: Taking Aim At Obama, Republicans And Others.

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Trump's Morning Targets: McConnell, Ryan, Obama and the Media - New York Times

I recognize and respect your deliberate approach to navigating these fraught times, but this relentless subtlety has become wearisome. Mr. Obama, now is not the time to follow the keep-quiet rules while the new administration plays moral equivocator to a much aghast nation.

Its time for you to come back.

I love that, after you posted on Twitter about the violence in Charlottesville, Va., you set a record for the most-liked tweet. But my joy at the news of your weighing in was complicated by your using a quotation, even one from Nelson Mandela. I looked to you for your good words. Ill keep waiting because I know they will be worth it. But where are they?

In April, you spoke to students at the University of Chicago and identified your post-presidential calling to help prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton as the single most important thing I can do. I entirely agree. But your distance remains a weight on my mind.

At first, and despite the seismic tonal shifts of early 2017, it was a joy to watch you on a deserved, extended holiday. Gelato. Kitesurfing. Taking pictures of natural-haired Michelle on a yacht. You were being carefree, and it was wonderful. Then came a deeper quiet. You came back, wore your collar open, signed a book deal. I was still happy for you, but there was an ache to it.

Dont get me wrong Ive enjoyed your few public engagements so far this year. You spoke meaningfully on climate change in Milan. You eloquently repudiated the continuing attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It was heartening to see the people of Berlin receive you so warmly, and to watch you speak with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. Obama, you were, as ever, subtle, insightful and measured. But I know that you know that we cant be hiding behind walls.

As a rule, I do not speak back to the television when I am alone. Or I didnt used to. And then, around the time of James Comeys firing, I listened to Alan Dershowitz basically announce that the apocalypse weve been dreading is upon us. I started to feel actual panic. I found myself yelling at the screen, and into the universe: Barack! Where are you?

By early August, this same phrase had turned into a bewildered mutter, as I listened to Representative Maxine Waters tell Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that she thinks were nearing a constitutional crisis. The fallout from Charlottesville has rendered my call to you a tired and heartbroken whisper.

As a black Southern woman, I have grown accustomed to navigating a many-voiced universe. In the past months, however, I have felt keenly the absence of two voices: the collective sound of my sane Republican friends calling for inquiry and, more important, the voice of my president. Lately, the former crowd has begun to stir. Somehow, this has made the hope for your voice more urgent.

Are Mr. Dershowitz and Ms. Waters right about the jeopardy of our Constitution? Will hate groups continue to claim more space on the national stage? Regarding the former, I refuse to believe that television testimony to Robert Muellers integrity is my only respite in all of this. And regarding the latter, it beggars belief that we must address this at all, but here we are. Some of us never trusted politics until you found your way to the top job. Coming to grips with any new administration would have been hard, let alone this Kremlin-addled, Klan-endorsed turmoil we are being forced to watch.

Weeks ago, I was moved to tears (of relief) watching Senator John McCain give a thumbs-down on the Republicans health care bill. In no world could I have imagined this. But then, I could not have imagined this world.

I made phone calls for you in 2008. I worked in Nashvilles Democratic headquarters for much of the summer. I registered people to vote. I felt heard. In the intervening years, your voice has been one of gravity, good sense and honesty. By 2009, my president was black, and the House majority was blue.

My generation graduated from college, got our first jobs and became adults all under the auspices of that truth. We learned to experience politics through the lens of your eloquent presence in the White House. In this respect, you raised us. So we are unaccustomed to all of this wildness. Just because were grown doesnt mean we dont need to hear from the man who brought us up.

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President Obama, Where Are You? - New York Times

Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security met this week to review the status of a deferred-action program for illegal immigrants that could face a legal challenge from Texas next month, raising fears among advocates that President Trump could choose to eliminate it.

Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke and Thomas Homan, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, were among those who gathered Monday to deliberate over the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), according to an agency official with knowledge of the meeting.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to end DACA, which began in 2012 under the Obama administration, on his first day in office, calling it an unconstitutional abuse of executive authority.But Trump has not followed through on his threats. The program has provided renewable, two-year work permits to nearly 800,000 immigrants who came to the country illegally as children.

Chad Wolf, DHS's acting chief of staff; deputy general counsel Dimple Shah; and James D. Nealon, a former U.S. ambassador to Honduras working on policy at the agency, also attended the meeting this week, according to the official familiar with the meeting.

It is not clear what conclusions the group reached. But rumors swept through the immigrant rights community Thursday that a decision from Trump is imminent.

Any decision would provoke strong reaction from both sides of the debate.

DACAis immensely popular among Latino and Asian American communities. Thepresident has wavered on his threats, and in April suggested that the DACA recipients, known as "dreamers," could rest easy.

Immigration hard-liners, including some Republicans in Congress, have pressed Trump to act. The threat of a lawsuit from the states has led to speculation that the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who opposed DACA as a Republican senator from Alabama, would not defend the program. Texas set a deadline of Sept. 5 for the administration to end the program.

Last year, a federal appeals court upheld an injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Brownsville, Tex., who halted an Obama-era program that offered three-year work permits to the illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens a day before it was scheduled to begin enrolling applicants.

Last week, Hanen agreed to halt further proceedings on the deferred-action programs in his courtroom until after the Sept. 5 deadline on DACA.

In the wake of the legal activity, the DHS officials gathered to review the status of DACA and [determine] next steps for the program, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

If Trump decides to end the successful DACA program, it would signal that he has decided to appeal to the white supremacists in his base rather than to courageously lead in this moment, Marilena Hincapi, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said Thursday. He would be betraying the young immigrants he reassured did not have anything to worry about and claimed to have a 'heart' for.

On the other side, some immigration hard-liners have suggested that Trump could try to push through a package of legislation that would offer the dreamers more permanent legal status, along with new border security measures, including a reduction in the level of legal migration. Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and David Perdue (Ga.) have introduced a bill, with Trump's backing, to slash legal immigration levels in half over a decade.

Trump said this week that he would be willing to shut down the government over a spending bill in September if Congress does not allocate money for the border wall he has promised to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.

If the supporters of the [dreamers] are scared enough, they might be willing to deal, Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower immigration levels, wrote this month in the National Review.

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DHS reviewing status of Obama's deferred-action program for illegal immigrants - Washington Post