by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, April 18.
- CIA Director Pompeo made top-secret visit to North Korean leader weeks ago
- Explainer: North Korea peace deal – Neither a new nor a simple idea
- Sean Hannity’s Ties to Two More Trump-Connected Lawyers (“The Fox News host denies that Michael Cohen was ever his lawyer—but Hannity was represented by a pair of legal advisers who also have close links to the president.”)
- Sanctions Flap Erupts Into Open Conflict Between Haley and White House
- Matriarch of a political dynasty who was wife to one president and mother to another dies at 92 (RIP Barbara Bush.)
- McConnell gives Trump the green light, says he won’t allow vote on bill to protect Mueller
- Neil Gorsuch voted with the liberal justices, but his opinion should chill you to the bone (“If you are surprised by Gorsuch’s vote to protect immigrants, you haven’t been paying attention to Gorsuch’s record.”)
- Trump pick Gorsuch casts deciding Supreme Court vote against deporting immigrant
- Haley fires back at White House: ‘I don’t get confused’ (“Haley’s pointed statement came hours after top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that Haley ‘got ahead of the curve’ when she announced Sunday that the administration would roll out the sanctions the next day.”)
- GOP chairmen extend deadline for DOJ to provide Comey memos (Of course, BADlatte is part of this.)
- Freedom Caucus seeks to make McCarthy pay (“The conservative group is likely to need some concessions if the California Republican is to succeed Paul Ryan as speaker.”)
- The Humbling of Mike Pompeo (“President Trump’s pick to replace Rex Tillerson could become the first secretary of state to win confirmation over the objections of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”)
- Scott Pruitt Has Become Ridiculous (“The E.P.A. administrator’s appalling environmental policies aside, his unethical and bullying behavior has sullied his agency and demoralized its employees.”)
- New filing shows Dennis Kucinich took $20,000 from pro-Syrian government group (“The ties between Damascus and the candidate for Ohio governor grow even stranger.” Kucinich is such a freak.)
- Fox News has finally weighed in on Hannity’s undisclosed conflict of interest. It’s cool with them. (“Fair and balanced.”)
- Mattis Wanted Congressional Approval Before Striking Syria. He Was Overruled.
- I.R.S. Website Glitch on Tax Day Sent Millions Scrambling
- Fox News on Hannity’s Cohen conflict: We don’t care (The network of sociopaths.)
- America Continues to Ignore the Risks of Election Hacking
- The Trump Tax Cuts Are Still Unpopular. That’s a Crisis for Conservatives.
- Woman dies after being nearly sucked out of Southwest Airlines plane (“Plane makes emergency landing in Philadelphia after debris from exploded engine smashes window at 32,000 feet”)
- Paul Ryan Would Back Vlad the Impaler as President If He Cut ‘Welfare’ (“Trump’s callous cuts to the safety net are Republicanism, not Trumpism.”)
- How Jerry Falwell Jr. Transformed Liberty University Into a Wildly Profitable Online Empire (Amazing that anyone would hire a Liberty “University” graduate.)
- Diante Yarber: Police kill black father with barrage of bullets in Walmart parking lot (“The killing of the 26-year-old, who is believed to have been unarmed, is being called a brutal case of excessive police force”)
- James Comey Failed to Explain His Most Catastrophic Decisionmaking in 2016
- Va. assembly to decide on Metro taxes, veto overrides (“As Virginia’s General Assembly meets for its annual reconvened session Wednesday, the proposal for new dedicated funding for Metro ranks among the key issues…Gov. Ralph Northam sent amendments on the bill, along with 52 others, back to the General Assembly for consideration.”)
- Cuccinelli: Paul Ryan ‘Stabbed Conservatives in the Back’ (Hahahaha – oh Cooch, don’t ever change!)
- Sen. Mark Warner: Trump ‘Obsessed’ With Mueller Probe, Attacking ‘Basic Institutions of Justice’
- Barbara Comstock Napalms Shak Hill With Cold Hard Facts (Popcorn!)
- Climate change adversely affecting Virginians’ health, study says
- Deja vu: Virginia House again approves Medicaid expansion, but Senate yet to act (“Legislature in special session because of failure to agree earlier on state budget” The vote wasn’t even close in the House, yet Senate Republicans are STILL being recalcitrant morons? Definitely need to vote them out next year.)
- New Virginia Senate panel to study need to modernize school buildings (Use this as an opportunity to do massive upgrades in energy efficiency.)
- 1 candidate drops out in Democratic race to challenge Rep. Tom Garrett
- Schapiro: Kaine’s just-say-no-campaign – against Trump (“Trump is so dispiriting for Republicans that pollsters are predicting another blue wave here, with Kaine coasting to re-election and Democrats possibly flipping three U.S. House seats, taking control of the state’s congressional delegation.”)
- Williams: For two decades, Virginia textbooks fed baby boomers a bogus history of slavery. Why that matters today.
- In wake of utility overhaul, regulators issue orders to begin customer refund proces
- ‘Mantle,’ a monument to Virginia’s Indian tribes, dedicated at state Capitol
- What happened to all those governance changes for Metro? (“Despite two years of calls for a structural overhaul, the new funding deal includes only modest revisions.”)
- Ministers call for firing of Virginia Beach’s top leader over text messages (“A group of African American ministers on Tuesday called for City Manager Dave Hansen to be fired after learning of text messages his deputy sent that called them and other peaceful demonstrators ‘5 percenters.'” What are “5 percenters?”)
- Franklin County to consider proposed 7-cent increase in real estate tax rate
- Milder this afternoon, but it’s just a tease; cooler again tomorrow with gusty winds.
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