by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, March 16.
- Trump decides to remove national security adviser, and others may follow (This administration is a complete joke. A really bad one.)
- House Democrats say they have proof State Dept. staff was pushed out over disloyalty to Trump
- Trump gives Putin a slap on the wrist. He needs to do much more. (“New sanctions on Russia are better than nothing. But U.S. elections remain vulnerable.”)
- McMaster Ouster Denied by White House Amid Reports He’s Next
- Mueller Subpoenas Trump Organization, Demanding Documents About Russia (“The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has subpoenaed records from President Trump’s business, including some related to Russia, people briefed on the matter said.”)
- Robert Mueller Trains His Sights on the Trump Organization
- Republicans fear they botched Russia report rollout (“GOP lawmakers are on the defensive after challenging the intelligence community’s findings on election meddling.” Treasonous.)
- Cabinet shakeups give Democrats a chance to block Trump picks (Do it.)
- WH Spokesperson: FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Is A “Bad Actor” (Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the absolute dregs.)
- Krugman: Voters May Be Wising Up (“Yet I have to admit that while the wising-up of American voters is deeply encouraging, it also makes me nervous. History says that Republicans won’t change course, because they never do. They’ll just look for bigger distractions. And with everyone who showed even an occasional sense of responsibility leaving the Trump administration, you have to wonder what comes next. In particular, regimes in trouble — like, say, the Argentine junta in the 1980s — often try to rally the public with dangerous foreign policy adventurism. Are you sure that Trump won’t go that route? Really sure?”)
- Florida bridge collapse: four dead after new walkway falls on busy road
- John Bolton, Trump’s rumored pick for national security adviser, has a record of warmongering, bigotry, and pushing conspiracy theories (“John Bolton, a Fox News contributor, is reportedly under consideration to replace National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, likely because President Donald Trump enjoys his television commentary. Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations whose tenure was marred by ‘his inability to make friends and build alliances,’ is a Trump sycophant with a history of warmongering and conspiracy theorizing. He also chairs a think tank that’s been called “anti-Muslim,” and he has connections to anti-Muslim bigots.”)
- Sarah Sanders defends Trump’s blatant lies about trade and bowling balls (“The White House war on reality continues.”)
- Minutes after blockbuster report on Russia investigation, the knives are out for Rod Rosenstein (“Fox News is on the attack.” Fox has been and continues to be a menace to our democracy.)
- In the New Heart of America’s Steel Country—the South—Trump’s Tariffs Barely Register (“In politics, the steel industry has come to stand in for a certain twentieth-century economic model, in which skilled industrial jobs could last a career and sustain a middle-class life. But that model did not survive the transition to the South—the work has grown less dangerous but also more automated.”)
- The Words Trump Refuses to Speak (“For the most verbally belligerent president in history, Trump’s comments about Russia’s nerve-agent attack have been conspicuously weak.”)
- EPA Environmental Justice Adviser Slams Pruitt’s Plan to Weaken Coal Ash Rules (“With groundwater tests showing toxins, the newly appointed adviser calls for better protection of low-income and minority communities near coal ash ponds.” The Trump administration continues its wars on the environment and on people of color.)
- Seth Meyers: ‘I lie because I’m stupid is the truest thing Trump has ever said’
- The trouble with Nancy: How big a problem is Pelosi for Democrats? (“Democrats’ House leader is widely disliked, as rookie candidate Conor Lamb figured out. But Paul Ryan is worse off” We should run against Ryan, McConnell and Trump.)
- Trump is packing the federal bench with NRA-endorsed pro-gun judges (“The NRA usually can’t shoot down gun reforms in court. But with the help of Trump’s judges, that may change”)
- Trump White House Worked with Newt Gingrich on Political Purge at State Department, Lawmakers Say (“Trump officials called civil servants ‘turncoat’ and ‘Obama/Clinton loyalists.'” Or as we call them, “professionals.”)
- Robert Mueller Has Likely Crossed Trump’s ‘Red Line.’ Now What? (“President* Trump’s business is firmly in the crosshairs.”)
- Federal court tosses out Obama-era rule requiring financial advisers to act in customers’ best interests (WTF?)
- Vanessa Trump files for divorce from Donald Trump Jr. (Trump Jr. is even worse than his deplorable father, if that’s possible.)
- GOP asks voters for Pa. voting irregularities ahead of potential challenge
- The Koch Brothers Vs. God (“The fossil fuel lobby preached its gospel in Virginia. Now, black churches are fighting back.”)
- Scarborough: Trump ‘doomed to fail’
- Shepard Smith: Fox News opinion hosts ‘don’t really have rules’
- Americans Are Partisan About Everything — Even Sex Scandals
- Republican war over Medicaid in Virginia a fight over Trump (“… at a deeper level, the battle is over whether Republicans should embrace more liberal policies as a way of blunting voter unhappiness with the president in an increasingly Democratic-leaning state. Similar fights could be coming to statehouses around the country, just as Virginia’s dramatic off-year election last year could be a preview of this year’s contests.”)
- Allegations of bias leveled by 5 of 8 candidates in 6th District GOP race (“The statement, signed by the campaigns of Ben Cline, Chaz Haywood, Ed Justo, Kathryn Lewis and Douglas Wright, claims the 6th District Republican Committee ‘attempted to rig the process back in January to benefit one candidate at the May 19th Convention with a single-ballot plurality vote.'” What a complete cluster@#$!)
- 6th District Congressional Candidates Outraged at Lack of Transparency
- Company behind Florida bridge that collapsed was fined by Virginia after 2012 incident
- Farm Fresh selling 21 stores to Kroger, Food Lion and Harris Teeter
- Northam endorses Wexton in primary to challenge Comstock
- Editorial: The ABC shouldn’t stick its nose where it doesn’t belong
- Portsmouth police charge man with trying to run over Sen. Louise Lucas (Crazy!)
- Topic of gun violence sets Roanoke city council candidates apart
- Why I’m Walking Out: A Freeman High School senior shares his reasoning for walking out of class Wednesday
- Portsmouth is mostly black, but a city survey drew largely white respondents
- Richmond City Council panel delays action on plan to increase cigarette tax
- Virginia Tech falls to Alabama in NCAA tournament first-round game
- Windy and quite sunny today; some light mixed precipitation possible Saturday
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