Saturday News: Priebus Out, Kelly In, Trump Still a Demented Goon; Shields and Brooks Discuss Insane Week in Washington

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, July 29.

• Trump ousts Priebus as chief of staff (“With his agenda stalled, President Trump became convinced that Reince Priebus was a “weak” leader and had been lobbied intensely by rival advisers to remove the establishment-aligned Republican, who has long had friction with Trump loyalists, according to White House officials. Trump tapped Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly as the new chief of staff.” Trump has nobody to blame but his crazy self.)
• An Embattled White House Gets a General (“Persuading the president to govern could be John Kelly’s mission impossible.”)
• John Kelly Is No-Nonsense. Can He Run an All-Nonsense White House? (“In some respects hiring Kelly to run—if that is not too strong a word—this White House is like bringing in a button-down corporate CEO to head up a motorcycle gang…The place resembles a battle-ready military formation about as much as Anthony Scaramucci resembles a communications director.”)
• The Party Establishment Wing Of Trumpworld Collapses (“Trumpworld still has a lot of of competing power centers, and it’s still not clear exactly which one dominates.”)
• What do we do if Trump really is crazy? (No “if” about it. I’d say this top-rated comment nails it: “He was above average intelligence at one time (nothing extraordinary but not a dummy) but isn’t any longer…He exhibits classic signs consistent with any or all of the following: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder (Sociopathy), Malignant Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and dementia with an impact on executive function, impulse control, language skills and paranoia.” Also see this top-rated comment: “He may have frontotemporal lobe dementia which causes word-finding deficits, disinhibition and bizarre personality changes.” By the way, anyone who voted for this guy, let alone pushed his candidacy on the internet, radio, etc., can go f*** themselves for destroying our country.)
• The White House is imploding (“This president appears incapable of allowing his presidency to be saved.” See previous story.)
• Trump praises police violence to audience of laughing cops (“Leader of the free world endorses ‘rough rides’ like the one that killed Freddie Gray.” Let’s just hope it was uncomfortable, awkward laughter by the cops. As for Trump, he’s a violence-loving thug, as are his sons “Uday” and “Qusay.”)
• Trump’s iceberg looms (“A few Trump loyalists may wait for the last lifeboat, but it’s only a matter of time before this administration capsizes.”)
• McCain is getting the credit, but these women are the ones who really saved Obamacare (I’d give them a lot of credit, plus Democrats like Mazie Hirono and many others – Tim Kaine, Chuck Schumer, Chris Murphy, Don Beyer, etc, etc.)
• McConnell Overreached On Health Care And Paid The Price
• A Week of Reckoning (“Consider the violence Trump has done to American democracy in just seven days.”)
• Inside the end of the Priebus era (“Trump’s chief of staff struggled to assert his authority starting on his first day in the West Wing.” I definitely don’t feel sorry for this piece of pond scum, but still…what a mess!)
• Trump’s retreat to a rancid past (“Trump embraced the rancid prejudice that once barred African Americans and gays and lesbians from military service.”)
• Republicans complain about White House infighting (If Republicans were smart, they’d impeach Trump and get Pence in there chop-chop. Of course, they’re not smart, so…the insane Trump Show continues!)
• The Memo: GOP in shock over White House drama
• Trump to sign Russia sanctions bill
• Frustrated House GOP to begin five-week recess (Bye bye, you will NOT be missed!)
• 3 winners and 2 losers from the failure of the latest Senate health bill (“Winner: 16 million Americans who’ll keep or gain health care”)
• Why Obamacare Is Still in Peril (“After this failure, Republicans must figure out whose example they will follow. They can adopt Mr. Trump’s call for yet another scorched-earth campaign. Or they can listen to the likes of Mr. McCain about the benefits of bipartisanship and cooperation.”)
• New research on football and brain trauma sounds an alarm (Football’s days are numbered, because at some point the potential liability – over brain damage due to playing the sport – for schools will become so high that they will shut it down.)
• Sally Yates: Protect the Justice Department From President Trump
• Behind Legislative Collapse: An Angry Vow Fizzles for Lack of a Viable Plan
• North Korea tests another ICBM, claims all of U.S. in strike range (Fortunately, we have an experienced, battle-tested, competent, sane leader in the White House! Uh oh, we’re screwed…)
• Trump’s Vision of Lawless Order (“The president suggests he sees the rule of law as an impediment to getting tough on crime.” Trump himself needs to be subject to the rule of law, and quickly.)
• The 10 Challenges Republicans Now Face (“With efforts to repeal Obamacare collapsing, the GOP faces a difficult landscape as it looks ahead to 2018.”)
• Tesla’s Model 3 Arrives With a Surprise 310-Mile Range (“That’s the electric range of a $44,000 version of Tesla’s Model 3, unveiled in its final form Friday night. It’s a jaw-dropping new benchmark for cheap range in an electric car, and it’s just one of several surprises Tesla had in store as it handed over the keys to its first 30 customers.” How long until all cars are electric – and autonomous? The faster the better!)
• Sen. Tim Kaine On Health Care: It’s Time To ‘Listen To The Public, Listen To The Experts’
• Tim Kaine pushes public option in next round of health care talks (Badly needed.)
• We need better than “A Better Deal”: Democrats’ real problem isn’t their messaging — it’s their politics (“Give Chuck Schumer credit for his chameleon-like rebranding — but Democrats must do more to confront capitalism”)
• Trump Loves Surrounding Himself With Generals and Not Listening to Them
• They Never Really Hated Obamacare (“Republicans didn’t fail because of procedural hurdles or party infighting. They failed because they didn’t actually mind the law. ”
  Which they shouldn’t, because other than Obama’s name on it, it’s basically Republican/conservative health care reform, starting with the individual mandate.)
• Democrats move to revoke Jared Kushner’s security clearance
• Goodlatte ‘extremely disappointed’ by Senate health care vote (Typo; should be BADlatte! LOL)
• The pitched battle for governor comes to doorsteps across Virginia (“Both sides will make their first big push this weekend, launching a ground game that will play out through Nov. 7.”)
• Editorial: Dave Brat says the media made Trump do it (“File this one under B, for BWAAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA!” It’s not just Trump who’s nuts; how about crazy Dave Brat???)
• Ed Gillespie comes comes out for industrial hemp at gubernatorial forum (So there’s ONE thing I agree with Gillespie about…)
• General Assembly is no millionaire’s club, but some are quite comfortable
• Virginia governor’s new Redskins stadium tactic: insulting D.C. and Maryland (I’ve said this a million times and will keep saying it: do not give Dan Snyder or his team a PENNY in Virginia taxpayer money, either directly or indirectly. End of story.)
• Health-care vote receives mixed reaction in the Fredericksburg region
• Annual Highlands Festival shines in the rain
• Fake news or First Amendment? Defamation trial begins in case of Hanover Supervisor Sean Davis against Style Weekly (“County Supervisor Sean Davis sued the publication after Style Weekly published articles in 2015 by Peter Galuszka suggesting Davis improperly used his position on the Board of Supervisors to influence Hanover schools.”)
• D.C. area deluge congests sewers, closes roads
• More rain and flooding concerns today as this storm slowly gets out of here