Beltway Insider: Obama Stumps for Hillary; Election 2016; Bridgegate; Brexit; SC Serial Killer; Chicago Cubs

President Obama has indicted he is monitoring closely the efforts by the Army Corp of Engineers who agreed to issue a pause on the Dakota Access Pipeline construction until further consultation with the local tribes could be completed.

According to Gallup, President Obama's job approval, over the past week, decreased by two percentage points to 53% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President increased one percentage points to 44%.

Obama Stumps for Hillary

President Obama, in the last days of this historic and heated campaign, has hit the trail evangelizing the need for the American people to see beyond the myth and mystic and vote for the candidate that can continue the strides made over the last eight years.

"The President has delivered a series of impassioned speeches encouraging people to participate in our democracy and to try to mobilize support for the candidate that is vowing to build on the progress that our country has made under President Obama's leadership.  And the President is warning against complacency, and he certainly wants people to understand the stakes in this election.  And he's confident that if people do understand the stakes in this election and take seriously the responsibility that they have as citizens to shape the future of the country, that people will be mobilized and will participate," said White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest.

Election 2016: The Final Hours, Clinton Continues Climbing in Polls; Trump and Putin Bromance

With every major pollster predicting high voter turnout, both candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have spent the final week crossing the country, holding rallies and hammering home their respective messages.

The chief concern, as with any election and repeatedly seen in past election with the inclusion of Green Candidate Ralph Nader, is the protest vote.

For the more than 17 million voters who supported Clinton chief challenger Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the bitter resentment over lost chances have resulted in a resolute determination to oppose the democratic candidate at all costs.

An anyone but Hillary vote is buying into the myth that better government is led best by those with no experience which will result in change.

Government and all its challenges need leadership with experience, Senator Sanders was no novice or neophyte to the political process.

With nearly a decade in office navigating the pitfalls of Washington, Senator Sanders understood the working of government, the challenges of the Oval Office, the need for foreign leadership not necessarily foreign friendship.

Trump and Putin's Bromance Heats Up

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin is concerning on multiple fronts.

Putin's human rights record and national expansion policy have resulted in his nation enduring a unified suspension from the G8 Summit, ousting him from the exclusive world leadership forum and enduring sectorial sanctions, approved by all nations, upon his country.

He was asked to participate in the effort to degrade and destroy ISIS and has become the sole supporter of Syrian President Bashar al Assad assisting the dictatorial leader with military weapons, tanks and has even sailed his air craft carrier to assist in Syria's civil war.

Putin remained committed to a policy that violated the territorial sovereignty of the Ukraine and ended independent democratic rule taking the Crimean Peninsula from its neighbor and forcing citizens into an illegal vote that allowed only one, in his mind, outcome.

His continued build up along the eastern border threatening war, harassing a democratic nation, fueling the opposition forces positioned along Ukraine border guiding and funding a military uprising against a peaceful nation inducing fear, harassment and intimidation.

Putin's strong arm tactics are displayed again in Syria as his influence over Assad was known and Russia has admittedly sold the dictator military weapons.

The former Director of the KGB, Russia's secret service, Putin's strong arm suppression tactics have been played out in full view of the world in the past weeks as the two nations have rained down on Aleppo, Syria with airstrikes, barrel bombs, targeting citizens, schools and children to break the back and spirit of the U.S. backed rebels. Assad has repeatedly used Chemical weapons on his people. Putin has not intervened.

The two, Assad and Putin, are known for bringing the hammer down, harsh suppression tactics and withholding medical and first-responder supplies to those in desperate need. Putin has repeatedly denied foreign governments any use of its ships, that sail through ports in Spain, for expeditious delivery of much needed relief supplies to war torn Syria.

Mr. Trump has a clear record of extending both money, time and friendship to Putin and Russia.

Putin's stand on Human Rights violations goes back even further with the jailing of the all-girl rock group, Pussy Riot, for hooliganism. Three of the members  were charged and convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and each sentenced to two years imprisonment. One member was released after spending three months in prison and the sentences of the other two were upheld. The trial was a mockery and the girls were released after serving 21 months in prison. Performing at the Sochi Olympics they were attacked with whips and pepper spray.

Even further Putin jailed and exiled to Siberia (seriously) the multi-billionaire, Mikhail Khodorkovsky who ranked Number 16 on the Forbes list of billionaires, for daring to support political parties outside of his own. The majority of his fortune, nearly $14.5 billion, was seized and placed under the control of the Russian government and directly under Putin as part of his sentence.

Beltway Insider: Obama/Putin Square off; Italy/Quakes; French/Immigrants; Spain Refuses; Hillary E-blasted; HL Op-Ed

Chris Christie Sails Under Bridge-gate

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, GOP Presidential Nominee Donald Trump's transition team leader, made it out of Bridge-gate, in theory, unscathed.

Bridge-gate, if the world wants to remember was a payback, revenge plan allegedly hatched by two key players, Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, in the Governors administration over the refusal of Fort Lee Mayor, Mark Sokolich to endorse Christie for re-election.

The two-lane shut down, over the September 2013 weekend, caused four hour delays at the George Washington Bridge, one of the heaviest traveled New Jersey – New York commuter bridges.

Construction was the cause and even the New Jersey Port Authority became a part of the plan. When the dust settled, the two lowest on the totem pole, Kelly, now divorced with four children is a convicted felon, Baroni, who cooperated with federal prosecutors is also a convicted felon.

Most believe the one person who should have been charged got away. The governor scandal scarred, got away with his part and never once looked in the rear view to see the lives he destroyed along the way.

"Yes, the system worked, and the rule of law has been vindicated," wrote Tom Moran, a member of the [New Jersey] Star Ledger editorial board. "Both Kelly and Bill Baroni are now felons. But the big guy got away. Gov. Chris Christie was smart enough to hide his tracks, guided no doubt by his years as a federal prosecutor. He is the firefighter who knows the tricks well enough to get away with arson."

Or the former cop able to stage the scene and direct the investigation with the right lingo, playing the aces hidden up his sleeve, gathered pre-crime, one by one until even the seasoned detectives see the justification or at least the money to be made in this one.

Hudson County New Jersey is still the hot bed of corruption. The covers, now bigger extending over a decade of corruption. Hudson County, Hudson River Gold Coast, the new suburb for Manhattan's wealthy and corporations keen to find a safe distance from Wall Street and the potential of terrorism were probably not the last of the hidden scandals in Christie's closet.

Brexit Vote Faces New Hurdles

The historic Brexit Vote that triggered a quickie split by former UK prime Minster David Cameron, has hit a snag with newest predictions indicting the final exit could take up to six years to complete.

Article 50, the escape clause, has yet to be triggered which will begin the negotiation, and the newest hurdles indicate that a full unanimous parliamentary vote would be necessary to complete the exit. To those who have seen parliament in action, the idea that a unanimous vote could happen is a pie in the sky thinking.

Business as usual is more likely to be the rule of the day while an exit remains negotiated like acrimonious and consuming divorce. As the two are living apart the finalization could take some time as neither are forcing the issue.

South Carolina Serial Killer

Todd Christopher Kohlhepp, 45, a successful local Spartanburg, South Carolina, Real Estate broker was arrested this weekend and held in the abduction of Kala Brown, who along with her boyfriend, Charles Carver, had been reported missing since August.  

Brown, who was found alive, had been chained "like a dog" according to Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright. She had been held in a storage container on the 100-acre property and was discovered after hearing someone at the entrance of the container and began banging on the container.

Authorities indicated the last known cell phone transmission lead them to this property.

The two, Brown and Carver, were on the property as they had arranged with Kohlhepp to do some odd jobs when he shot Carver and forced Brown, bound at the neck and ankle in chains, into the storage locker. She is said to have witnessed the murder of her boyfriend.

Appearing before Spartanburg County Magistrate Judge Jimmy Henson, Kohlhepp is representing himself in the initial bond/bail hearings. He was denied bond. The magistrate said the issue could be revisited at another time.  Kohlhepp is said to be cooperating with authorities.

Kohlhepp has also allegedly confessed to the Superbike Motorsports Motorcycle Shop murders thirteen years ago in 2003. Investigators indicated Kohlhepp "confessed that he shot and killed and gave details only the killer would know. He was officially charged with four counts of murder, one for each the owner, service manager, bookkeeper and mechanic. He was also charged with the abduction and kidnapping of the female found alive on his property. Additional Charges against the portly, and by all accounts, neighborly real estate agent are expected.

With the four murders in 2003, the August 2016 murder and two additional graves found Sunday with the assistance of Kohlhepp who provided Spartanburg Sheriff with the details as to where the graves are located it is possible he will eventually be charged with at least seven murders.

Those who knew him from his neighbor to his office staff who worked with him daily are shocked, stunned and left to wonder why they

Of course, the answer may be typical textbook serial killer psychology: the co-workers were emotionally connected, he knew them and their families, they had formed a bond and would be missed and easily traced should they go missing in their hometown.

The killings were all within a 15 mile radius of the 100-acre property owned by Kohlhepp.  

Chicago Cubs Win The World Series

The Chicago Cubs, in a dramatic, ten-inning, nail biting, rain delayed seventh game, after more than a century of heartache, finally wrestled the World Series away from the hometown favorite Cleveland Indians.

The Cubbies had a long road and plenty of baggage to get beyond the 71 years of "not this season" before claiming the National League Pennant, the first since 1945.            

Cleveland Indians brought the boys of October to their city bringing a second World Championship title this close only to see it slip away in the bottom of the tenth. They matched the Cubbies note for note and hit one to close down the third baseline.

Chicago fans remained true to their team and came out in record numbers to celebrate the World Series victory making the gathering the 7th largest in world history.

For more information on President Barack Obama: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia.com, 

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