Brexit.  This is part of what I call The Great Unravelling.  Brexit is also very likely the beginning of what Thom Hartmann wrote about years ago in his book The Crash of 2016.  This will not be pretty or without cost but that ghastly European Union and its neo-liberal bankster managers must be put out of power.  And yes, a lot of xenophobia went into this vote in the United Kingdom but this is the reaping of the whirlwind of the US and European adventurism in the Middle East and Libya.  In the US people are beginning to get the message from Bernie and from the Democrats in the House who staged their sit-in last week.  Trump is the insane but sure manifestation of the rot in the system. The house of cards is about to collapse.  Glen Greenwald provides an excellent summary of the blindness of the elites in his Intercept column today entitled Brexit is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western Establishment Institutions.

"The decision of the UK voters to leave the EU is such a glaring repudiation of the wisdom and relevance of elite political and media institutions that – for once – their failures have become a prominent part of the storyline. Media reaction to the Brexit vote falls into two general categories: (1) earnest, candid attempts to understand what motivated voters to make this choice, even if that means indicting one’s own establishment circles, and (2) petulant, self-serving, simple-minded attacks on disobedient pro-leave voters for being primitive, xenophobic bigots (and stupid to boot), all to evade any reckoning with their own responsibility. Virtually every reaction that falls into the former category emphasizes the profound failures of western establishment factions; these institutions have spawned pervasive misery and inequality, only to spew condescending scorn at their victims when they object."

Chris Hedges quotes economist Michael Hudson in his piece today on Truthdig, 2008 All Over Again:

“If there is anyone who is responsible for the Brexit, it is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama,” he [Hudson] said. “They destroyed Libya. They turned over Libyan weapons to [Islamic State], al-Qaida and [Nusra Front]. It was their war in Syria, where many of these weapons ended up, which created the massive exodus of refugees into Europe. This exodus exacerbated nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment. Clinton and Obama are also responsible for a huge exodus of Ukrainians. This is all a response to American war policy in the Middle East and the Ukraine. In central Europe, with the expansion of NATO, Washington is meanwhile demanding that governments spend billions on weapons rather than on recovering the economy.”

The European left has been given a shot in the arm with Brexit even though at the same time the European right is still using its anti-immigrant stance to gain power.   Nadia Pupris at Common Dreams [After Brexit, European Left Calls for 'Massive Political Opposition] reports, "In the tumultuous aftermath of the UK's vote to leave the EU, the European left is responding with a mix of reason, measured reassurances, and righteous defiance."

Some very interesting days ahead.