Monday News: Comey Says Trump “morally unfit to be president,” “will stain everyone around him”; “Dislike Comey, Despise Trump”; “Unfit to Command”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, April 16.

• ‘Morally unfit’: The moments that mattered in James Comey’s explosive interview (Unfit in every way.)
• Transcript: James Comey’s interview with ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos (“A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person’s not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds. And that’s not a policy statement. Again, I don’t care what your views are on guns or immigration or taxes. There’s something more important than that that should unite all of us, and that is our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country. The most important being truth. This president is not able to do that. He is morally unfit to be president.”)
• James Comey’s Interview on ABC’s ‘20/20’: Annotated Excerpts (“The challenge of this president is that he will stain everyone around him.”)
• Five takeaways from the Comey interview
• 7 eye-opening comments related to Russia from James Comey’s ABC News interview (“Kompromat, Papadopoulos, and golden showers all came up during the five-hour interview.”)
• James Comey’s Shocking—Yet Unsurprising—Interview (“The news isn’t that the former FBI director called Donald Trump a chronic liar who is ‘morally unfit’ to serve—it’s that so many people have already long ago decided the same.” Many of us figured that out when Trump first opened his mouth during his presidential campaign.)
• The Most Newsworthy Part of ABC’s Comey Interview Was an Unaired Detail About His Infamous Hillary Email Letter (“In other words, the Abedin cache wasn’t just a random sampling of Clinton emails that weren’t expected to differ in any relevant way from the thousands that had already been reviewed, but were rather from the exact period most likely to contain explicit, actionable content that could have convinced the FBI to reverse its recommendation that she should not be prosecuted.”)
• Former first lady Barbara Bush in failing health, won’t seek additional treatment
• Speakership drama pits McCarthy vs. Ryan
• Trump, a reluctant hawk, has battled his top aides on Russia and lost
• Trump Bowed to Pentagon Restraint on Syria Strikes
• Trump lawyer presses for access to seized Cohen files
• Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Used the Same Delaware Company for Payment Deals to Two Women (“Federal probe looks closely at money flowing in and out of Essential Consultants”)
• Joe Biden Is the Front-runner. Uh-oh. (“The former vice president may be beloved, but he is also out of step with the post-Trump Democratic Party.”)
• Dems see Mueller firing as a red line on impeachment (I’d say Rosenstein as well.)
• The collapse of the U.S.-led world order has done more harm than we realize
• Ryan: Trillion-dollar deficits were inevitable (Paul Ryan is a pathological liar AND an imbecile. Plus, he takes no responsibility for his OWN ACTIONS.)
• The Real Next War in Syria: Iran vs. Israel (“Israel and Iran are now a hair-trigger away from going to the next level — and if that happens, the U.S. and Russia may find it difficult to stay out.”)
• Dislike Comey, Despise Trump (“I see no need to pick sides between Comey and Trump. I dislike the former, but I despise the latter.” Agreed; they both suck, but Trump is evil incarnate.)
• The Democrats Are the Party of Fiscal Responsibility (This isn’t even debatable if you look at the numbers. Here in Virginia, too, Republican Jim Gilmore drove the state’s finances into the ditch, while Democrats – Mark Warner, Tim Kaine – pulled us out of said ditch.)
• Unfit to Command (“With the president in an agitated state, preoccupied with his legal troubles, this is no time for war.”)
• Neither Precise Nor Proportionate (“Trump’s attack on Syria was unserious but intended to relieve emotional pressure—and in many ways, worse than doing nothing at all.”)
• Syrian refugees don’t ‘want to go to US’, envoy says in defense of Trump ban (OK, yeah, Nikki Haley is bonkers.)
• Tomahawk strikes and smouldering ruins – but no real change in Syria (“Trump can claim that he acted decisively while Putin and Assad carry on with their brutal war”)
• Syria Strikes Lock U.S. and Russia Into New Era of Animosity
• After Trump drama, new Pence national security aide steps down
• Paul Ryan-backed group targets Clinton districts with new tax ad (“Ahead of Tax Day tomorrow, the American Action Network — a conservative non-profit aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan — is rolling out a new $1 million television and digital ad campaign in 30 competitive congressional districts to highlight how the GOP tax cuts benefit middle-class families.” Big lie.)
• Sen. Tim Kaine to vote “no” on Mike Pompeo’s nomination as secretary of state
• John Oliver: ‘Trump has descended so far into parody he’s gone through the Earth’s crust and come out the other side’
• If Justice Kennedy Retires, His Replacement Could Undermine His Legacy
• As tree-cutting continues for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, so do the protests
• Hanger ready to broker budget, Medicaid agreement
• Editorial: Reading the tea leaves in the Seventh District (Yes, the right wingnut RTD editorial page actually uses the phrase “leftist fever swamp.” But they’re right that Dave Brat could be in serious trouble this November, as “the coming blue wave could wash over a district to which Republicans once thought they held permanent title.”)
• Editorial: Why don’t we celebrate Virginia’s 1868 constitutional convention? (“For a state that loves history, it’s odd that Virginia today isn’t celebrating the 150th anniversary of an event that marked a radical step forward for democracy.”)
• HRT isn’t building light rail on west side of Norfolk, but looking at Military Highway (“This fall, HRT officials will turn their eye toward the east side of the city for a two-year study on a route that would roughly follow Military Highway up to the naval base.”)
• Editorial: Stay to the right, or pay up
• Storm knocks down trees, flips over cars in Lynchburg and Danville
• Severe storms wreak havoc in Southwestern Virginia
• Blue Jackets-Capitals Game 2: Capitals blow two-goal lead again. Lose in OT again. (Anyone surprised?)
• Cloudy and cool with showers today; warmer by midweek (“After getting walloped by heavy rain and gusty winds early this morning, we’ll take a more benign outlook for the week ahead.”)