Saturday News: Rouhani Wins Landslide; Comey Plans Senate Testimony; “People Here Think Trump Is a Laughingstock”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, May 20.

• White House adviser close to Trump is a person of interest in Russia probe (“Investigation into Russian meddling reaches highest level of government” Hey Trump voters, don’t say you weren’t warned, because you were over and over again.)
• Iranian President Rouhani wins reelection in landslide victory (“His challenger, the influential cleric Ebrahim Raisi, secured just 15 million votes — a devastating rebuke of Iran’s conservatives who scoff at the soft power of diplomacy.”)
• Trump’s Russia Troubles Deepen as Comey Plans Senate Testimony
• Trump Lands in Saudi Arabia With White House Engulfed in Crisis (Stay there?)
• Trump’s Islam Speech and the Blessings of Low Expectations (“It’s difficult to give remarks about an entire religion. And the messenger will complicate things further.”)
• Trump hit by twin Russia bombshells as he departs for foreign trip (“The president allegedly told the Russians that firing ‘nut job’ Comey relieved ‘great pressure,’ while federal probe appears to get more serious.”)
• ‘People Here Think Trump Is a Laughingstock’ (“On the president’s ill-timed world tour.”)
• Trump Reportedly Wants to Blow Up Obamacare, for Real This Time (Demented.)
• Donald Trump will never change: And after a week of farce and fiasco, even Republicans know impeachment is possible (“Cracks appear in the GOP façade as the news keeps getting more devastating for Trump. How long can he last?”)
• Collins: Watch Out World, Trump’s Coming
• Trump Goes Abroad. Nixon Tried the Same Thing.
• “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah”: Paul Ryan’s reaction to the possibility that the GOP will lose the House (That’s all Lyin’ Ryan ever says, pretty much.)
• Trump attacked the free press, and he got exactly what he deserved (“Trump hasn’t been treated badly. He got a reaction commensurate with his actions.”)
• The Spring of G.O.P. Discontent (“Party members in Congress are about to find out how unpopular their agenda really is.”)
• Israeli intel officials shouted at US counterparts after Trump disclosure: report (And for good reason.)
• Bush: I predicted Trump would be a ‘chaos president’ (Yeah, I mean anyone with an IQ over that of a rotting eggplant figured that out.)
• Russians Bragged That They Could Use Michael Flynn to Influence Trump, CNN Reports
• Trump’s First Presidential Trip Abroad: What Could Go Wrong?
• The dark source of Roger Ailes’s power (“His dark genius was to tap into tribalism.” Evil.)
• President* Trump Is Ready to Try Steak and Ketchup in a Foreign Country
• The “Muslim ban” president is about to give a speech on Islam. In Saudi Arabia. (What a nightmare.)
• Trump’s lawyers are looking up how impeachment works (“Why? Oh, no reason.”)
• Why the special counsel should make Trump’s aides very nervous (“Including Mike Pence.”)
• Meet the candidates for Governor: Tom Perriello
• The Arctic “doomsday” seed vault is supposed to ensure the future of humanity. It just flooded. (“Don’t panic: The seeds are still safe and secure.” Yes,
  but DO panic about global warming. Better yet, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW.)
• The Obamacare Marketplaces Aren’t In A Death Spiral (“But they are in real trouble.” Which means that Congress should be focused on fixing the problem, not making it worse. But of course, these are Republicans, and they specialize in driving cars into ditches.)
• Gun control and the Va. governor’s race: the issue both parties are eyeing (Very simple: two candidates with “F” ratings from the NRA on the Democratic side; three candidates with “A” ratings on the Republican side. Vote Democratic.)
• Facing a tough reelection, Rep. Comstock finds her voice (“The two-term Republican from Northern Virginia starts speaking out on the Russia probe.” Let’s see her start speaking against the entire, vicious Ryan/McConnell/GOP agenda.)
• Frank Wagner’s plan to move Virginia away from Lexus lanes (“Express lanes are nice — for the wealthy.”)
• A once all-powerful corporation is suddenly politically toxic in Virginia
• Amid longshot run for governor, Wagner says he’ll call emergency hearing to fight McAuliffe’s climate change plan (Oh my god, is this a joke? Wagner won’t call an emergency hearing to fight climate change, which is what we desperately need, but an emergency hearing to fight plans to tackle climate change? Yeah, today’s GOP is totally f’ed in the head – as is Frank Wagner.)
• This is the first time in Virginia history both parties have contested gubernatorial primaries
• Ending budget battle, Richmond mayor says he will not veto new fiscal oversight measures he decried as ‘overeach’
• Tim Kaine hosts conversation on gang violence in Alexandria
• A debate over a school named for a Confederate general divides a community (“J.E.B. Stuart High School in Fairfax County, Va., is home to a diverse student body.”)
• Piankatank gets new $2M granite oyster reef, a 25-acre sanctuary
• Three Democrats inspired by Trump’s election vying to challenge Loupassi
• Two Republicans seek nomination to run for retiring Del. Massie’s seat
• Much cooler this weekend as clouds and breezes dominate