Thursday News: “Grab ‘Em By Their Liberty”; “Cosmopolitan” Has Nasty History As Insult; Trump’s War on Affirmative Action

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, August 3.

• Blow: Feasting on False and Fake (“Donald Trump continues his savage assault on truth, honesty and candor…The lies are the root of all this evil. It not only impedes normal functioning and normal processes, it has destroyed a common basis on which to operate. The presidency is being used as tool of degradation rather than uplift.”)
• Trump backs GOP senators’ bill to cut immigration by half (So much for Republicans only being against “ILLEGAL” immigration. In fact, they are nativists, just like we saw with the “Know-Nothings” and other dark forces in our nation’s history against the Irish, the Italians, the Poles, the Jews, etc., etc.)
• Why the Justice Department Is Targeting Affirmative Action (“Jeff Sessions follows in the risky footsteps of George W. Bush’s Justice Department.”)
• Trump’s New Top Aide Assures Sessions His Job Is Safe (“New White House chief of staff John Kelly, in one of his first acts in his new post, called Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reassure him that his position was safe despite the recent onslaught of criticism he has taken from President Donald Trump.”)
• Attorney general’s move to take on affirmative action energizes the president’s base (Yes, seriously, they’re NOT going to fight discrimination against African Americans but they ARE going to fight supposed discrimination against white people. “What the hell do you have to lose?” Hmmmm…)
• Trump says the proposed immigration bill will raise wages for Americans. It won’t. (“Slashing legal immigration will severely hurt business and our workforce.”)
• Trump’s war on legal immigration would cripple the economy (“The president endorsed a plan that would slash legal immigration, which would sap the labor pool for U.S. businesses.”)
• Donald Trump signs Russia sanctions bill, blasts Congress for making him do it (LOSER.)
• What’s behind the Dow’s stunning rise to 22,000 (“One of the longest bull markets in history continues, courtesy of robust profits, low interest rates and a rare global alignment of developed economies all in simultaneous good health. And, yes, the most recent run-up does indeed have something to do with Donald Trump’s win in November.” Right, but the vast majority of the stock market runup occurred under President Obama.)
• Stephen Miller vs. Jim Acosta sent the daily briefing totally off the rails (“The White House adviser seemed more determined to expose CNN’s alleged bias than to make the case for Trump’s latest policy proposal.” Miller is a fascist, basically.)
• New poll reveals Donald Trump is losing support from a key part of his base (“Trump’s approval ratings hit a new low again — now, only 33 percent of voters approve of the job he’s doing”)
• John Kelly Is Destined to Fail
• Trump’s Last-Gasp Attack on Obamacare Is Wild Threats (Pathetic.)
• What the Seth Rich conspiracy theory is, why it matters, and why Sean Hannity must be the one to pay the price (“Enough with the bullshit”)
• Trump Says U.S.‘Losing’ Afghan War in Tense Meeting With Generals
• NSC’s Senior Intelligence Director Ezra Cohen-Watnick Fired (McMaster “also reportedly fired Rich Higgins, a staffer who worked in the council’s strategic planning office on July 21, after Higgins authored a memo claiming Trump was under attack by ‘globalists and Islamists’ and ‘cultural Marxists.'” How did extremists like these ever get IN the White House in the first place???)
• The Executive Branch’s Sharp Turn to the Right (“A new lawsuit captures the trench warfare unfolding as opposition groups protest the administration’s rollback of regulations governmentwide.”)
• “That sounds like some national park revisionism”: Watch CNN’s Jim Acosta confront Stephen Miller’s whitewashing of the Statue of Liberty (“Top White House alt-right apostle Steven Miller tries to rewrite historical poem’s promise to immigrants”)
• Trump is about to make America much crueler to unionized workers (“Union busters are going to win so much they get sick of winning.”)
• Trump makes up 2 phone calls in one week (“He claims officials are calling him to offer him praise, but there’s just one problem.”)
• GOP clash looms over raising the debt ceiling (“Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are planning to push for a hike without accompanying spending cuts — a position at odds with GOP orthodoxy.” They’d better do it soon.)
• Kelly cracks down on West Wing back channels to Trump (“The new White House chief of staff is making it his first priority to gain control over the information that gets to the president.”)
• Cruel September looms for GOP (“Congress faces a September 30 deadline to prevent a government shutdown, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, somewhat conveniently, has set a September 29 deadline for raising the nation’s borrowing limit.”)
• Immigration battle brewing in the GOP (“The measure faces a difficult path to 60 votes in the Senate, which would require the support of at least eight Democrats not to mention every GOP senator — a scenario that appears highly unlikely.”)
• Fox anchor on Miller: ‘Don’t put that guy in front of cameras again’ (More importantly, get him out of the White House ASAP!)
• A Breakthrough in Gene Editing in Human Embryos (“Researchers have found a way to reliably remove disease-causing mutations from human embryos, raising the possibility of protecting babies from a variety of conditions.”)
• As Trump takes aim at affirmative action, let’s remember how Jared Kushner got into Harvard (“A lot of money, and two US senators, were involved.” And how did Trump get into Wharton?)
• Trump asked what minority Americans have to lose by voting for him. We now have a clear answer. (“This is turning out exactly as many people feared.”)
• Why A Trump Pivot Might Backfire (“Almost half the country strongly disapproves of the president, making it hard for him to find new supporters.”)
• The Historical Significance of ‘Cosmopolitan’ as an Insult (“The way Miller leaned into the word “cosmopolitan” while answering Acosta has a long and ignoble history in 20th century authoritarianism, especially the anti-Semitic variety. During World War II, for example, the Soviet government under Stalin used to rail regularly at ‘rootless cosmopolitanism,’ especially in the arts. The Nazis were fond of tossing it around, too. There is no context in which Miller’s use of the word against Acosta makes sense except as a historical signaling device.”
• Venezuela Is Collapsing (“Could a civil war be next?”)
• The Clarence Thomas Takeover (“The justice has spent his career pushing a fringy, right-wing ideology. Now, he has an army of acolytes who can make his vision a reality.”)
• Scaramucci’s Now Sad Strategy Memo Is Fine Enough if There Weren’t a Message Godzilla in the Oval Office
• An influential US Senator is worried about the stock market getting hacked (“Senator Mark Warner (D-Va) is worried about cybersecurity threats to the US securities market.”)
• South Carolina nuclear woes could ripple to Virginia (“Two South Carolina energy providers — SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper — decided this week to abandon construction of two unfinished nuclear reactors over delays and their high costs, a move that leaves ratepayers there on the hook for billions of dollars with nothing to show for it. The failure in South Carolina to make new nuclear work could make it harder for Virginia’s largest electric utility, Dominion Energy, to move forward with a new reactor it has been considering for years and already spent millions on.”)
• Virginia replaces disaster recovery computer system after agreement with Northrop Grumman
• Goodlatte, House Judiciary Committee put focus on Hillary Clinton (Goodlatte is deranged.)
• Editorial: How Republicans came to love hemp (“Hemp once was key cash crop in early America. This really is a chance to make America great again.”)
• Tangier Island is sinking and its residents are putting their faith in Trump (This is beyond pathetic.)
• Va. arm of Planned Parenthood to spend $3 million backing Northam for governor (“Abortion advocates say upcoming election is crucial for future of reproductive health rights” Planned Parenthood rocks!)
• Man arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Gov. McAuliffe and his family (Ee gads.)
• Editorial: On hemp and pot, Gillespie and Northam should meet in the middle
• UPDATED: Judge throws out defamation case brought against Style Weekly by Hanover supervisor (Good. Utterly assinine. Now, time to throw out Hanover County Supervisor Sean Davis.)
• Virginia is $660 million short on higher education funding, SCHEV says
• Trial for Doug Wilder’s ethics complaint against Joe Morrissey delayed as State Bar files new charges
• Virginia overdose numbers projected to top previous year
• Loudoun Chamber Plans Delegates Candidates Forum (“The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce is hosting a forum for local candidates running for House of Delegates seats. The forum is planned for 7:30-10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at the Belmont Country Club, 43750 Tournament Parkway in Ashburn.”)
• ‘We’ve lost our best friend:’ ‘First Dog’ Guinness passes away
• Henrico judge reverses himself, says individual lawmakers are subject to FOIA
• Chemical spill on Tinker Creek: ‘This may be one of the biggest fish kills in Virginia history’ (Grrrrrrrrrr.)
• Simonds seeking Democratic nod in 94th House district (I posted about this days ago. As usual, the corporate media is super slow.)
• Woman, 2 Children Held Captive in Virginia Home for 2 Years (Time to hold this scumbag “captive” for, let’s say, the rest of his life?)
• Steamy with isolated storms today, but a much improved weekend awaits