Virginia Primary Day News: Trump Might Fire Mueller?; Senate GOP Hides Trumpcare Bill; Sessions Testifies; Virginia Votes

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, June 13 (Virginia primary day 2017). Make sure you vote today for Governor, Lt. Governor and House of Delegates (if there’s a House of Delegates primary in your neck of the woods).

• With lawsuit, Democratic state attorneys general escalate campaign against Trump (“In the first lawsuit of its kind brought by government entities, D.C. and Maryland allege payments by foreign governments to President Trump’s businesses violate anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution. The case showcases the increasingly influential role in Washington of Democratic state attorneys general at a time when their party is largely shut out of power.”)
• In Trump’s first full Cabinet meeting, it’s all praise for the chief (Yes, this really is North Korea-like. Disgusting, unAmerican, etc. Again, who the f*** voted for this lunatic???)
• Friend Says Trump Is Considering Firing Mueller as Special Counsel (If Trump does that, impeachment should commence. Of course, given the spinelessness and evil of Mitch McConnell, Paul Lyin’ Ryan, etc., I’m pretty sure it won’t — unless they decide that President Pence would be more amenable to passing their far-right agenda.)
• The Senate Hides Its Trumpcare Bill Behind Closed Doors (Totally unacceptable; the same thing Republicans would be going nuts about if Democrats did anything of the sort. For instance,
  remember their howls of anger during the debate over “Obamacare” that they hadn’t had enough time to read the bill, etc?)
• How to Watch Sessions’s Testimony, and What to Expect (“Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify publicly before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. Here are areas that are likely to be the subjects of questions.”)
• Trump will never be presidential — and the GOP knows it (“Republicans’ excuses for the president are laughable and their behavior inexcusable.”)
• Trickle-down economics is a nightmare. Kansas proved it. (“What was once hailed as a shot for the economy ended up being more like a shot of poison.” Basically, every other state – and the nation – needs to do the polar OPPOSITE of what Kansas did the past few years.)
• Of course Trump called Comey a liar: That’s always been his strategy (“His verbal jujitsu uses opponents’ strengths against them.”)
• The Man Behind Trump’s Voter Fraud Obsession (Kobach is evil incarnate.)
• J.P. Morgan Removes NBC News Ads Over Megyn Kelly Interview With Alex Jones (“So far, advertisers—with one notable exception—have remained quiet as Sandy Hook families criticize the NBC host for her sit-down with the Infowars founder” Any company that advertises on a show with Alex Jones needs to be boycotted.)
• Poll: 47 percent back impeachment for Trump (Should be 100%!)
• McCain strikes back as Trump’s chief critic
• Sessions steps into Russia crossfire
• Trump’s Tweets Must Now Be Taken Seriously (“The 9th Circuit’s travel ban ruling declares the president’s Twitter feed is a legally binding stream of consciousness.” Agreed, no reason NOT to take the President of the United States’ tweets – or oral comments, or Facebook posts or whatever – seriously.)
• Donald Trump in Wonderland: Literally everything our president says and does reflects the opposite of reality (“Monday’s fawning Cabinet meeting was just the latest example of a doomed presidency driven by dangerous fictions”)
• Trump’s social media director is using Twitter to smear Trump’s political and media opponents
• Right-wing talk radio is still popular — but as a business model, it’s melting down (It really needs to die.)
• Trump and the Religious Right: A Match Made in Heaven (“This is the story of Donald Trump, the perpetually insecure 45th president whose conquest of the White House was fueled by the contempt of a political class that never took him seriously. But it is equally the story of American evangelicalism, whose adherents feel marginalized in a culture that they believe no longer reflects its core values or tolerates its most polarizing principles.”)
• Democratic Populism That Can Win (“In Virginia, Tom Perriello’s focus on black voters could make him succeed where Bernie Sanders failed.”)
• Virginia governor’s primary: 5 things to watch (“Allies of Bernie Sanders worry that a Tom Perriello loss might be viewed as a repudiation of the senator’s brand of politics.” Repeat after me: Tom Perriello is his own person, essentially an Obama Democrat with a somewhat more “populist” economic message — he is NOT Bernie Sanders or anyone else but himself.)
• A Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party in Virginia (“For his part, Northam admitted to voting for George W. Bush, not once but twice for president. And in a 2013 article titled ‘Northam runs low-key campaign as conservative-tinted Democrat,’ Northam is quoted in The Roanoke Times saying: “I don’t consider myself a liberal. I consider myself as a moderate person. I think the less government, the better.'”)
• 2 Virginia Democrats Vying to Be Face of Trump Resistance
• Virginia is no longer a purple state (Jennifer Rubin of all people nails it: “In short, Perriello has about as good a chance as Northam of beating Gillespie. If it’s a base election, Perriello might even have the edge. When the national GOP gets badly out of step with the biggest population centers in Northern Virginia, most any competent Democratic candidate should be able to win.”)
• McAuliffe looks past the Clintons, toward 2020
  (“The Virginia governor is revving up his fundraising machine to boost Democrats—and his own prospects.”)
• Editorial: Primary gives voters a chance to set up fall camapigns (Yes, the Republican Times-Disgrace really spelled it “camapigns” in their headline – LOL!)
• 8 Reasons to Vote Against Corey Stewart (Only 8? LOL)
• And now, Virginia primary voters choose their man (“Man?” Uh, last I checked, both Dems and Republicans have women running up and down the ballot.)
• An energy group is fronting a pro-pipeline campaign in Virginia (“Peaceful homeowners are ‘radicals’ and ‘outsiders’ who need to have ‘their energy IQ’ score raised.” Wow, craaaazy!)
• Editorial: How the 2017 Democratic primary is an echo of 1977 (Bottom line: Virginia today is nothing like it was in 1977,
  so any lessons from 40 years ago are sketchy at best.)
• Virginia honors pair who challenged interracial marriage ban
• Editorial: Health care for inmates must be improved
• Likely the hottest day of the year so far, plus higher humidity