Happy Halloween Tuesday News: “The Plot Against America”; “To what circle of hell are Republicans about to consign themselves?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday (Halloween), October 31. Also note that Virginia’s crucial elections are in exactly one week from today — if you don’t know where your polling place is, you can click here to find out.

• Three former Trump campaign officials charged in Russia probe (As usual, Trump was psychologically “projecting” when he screeched, “lock her up.” In fact, Trump and his entourage are a bunch of criminals.)
• Robert Mueller Is Just Beginning to Put the Pressure On
• It sure looks like there was collusion between the Trump operation and Russia (“Look at the whole story and tell me this isn’t suspicious.”)
• The Day That The Russia Investigation Got Really Real
• Trump adviser George Papadopoulos and the lies about Russian links
• The Russia scandal has gone from phony war to heavy shelling (“Gone are the days when we need to debate about what constitutes ‘collusion’ and whether that’s any standard to judge the Trump campaign”)
• How the White House responded to Manafort charges: Hillary Clinton! No collusion! Tax reform! (“Things got a little surreal at Monday’s press briefing.”)
• What the Russia-Inquiry Revelations Tell Us About Trump-Campaign Collusion (“…if Manafort and Gates spent years and millions of dollars secretly trying to influence U.S. politics on behalf of Russian interests, it would not be a great leap to believe that they were part of a similar campaign while working for Trump. They allegedly spent a long time practicing.”)
• The Plot Against America (“Robert Mueller hands a gangster administration its first indictments.”)
• The FBI is investigating Whitefish Energy’s contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s grid (People need to go to jail over this outrageous corruption.)
• Trump Is Said to Have Made ‘Safe’ Pick for Fed Chief
• Krugman: Trump Won’t Bring Joy to Moolaville
• Manafort indictment shows why conservatives have an alternative media bubble (“But viewers of Fox News’ morning show, Fox & Friends, saw something very different. Co-hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade spent the last hour of their broadcast alternatively downplaying the news and looking for potential outs for the president.”)
• Is the White House Scared Yet? (“Robert Mueller III makes his move and goes to the heart of Donald Trump’s campaign.”)
• Trump Is Turning the Fed Pick Into a Reality Show
• How Did Any of These Guys Get Hired by Trump? (“Whatever else Monday’s indictments revealed, they confirm that the president exercised extraordinarily poor judgment in staffing his campaign.” Only the slimiest of the slimy and/or the craziest of the crazy ended up on the Trump campaign.)
• G.O.P. Collusion with Trump Continues Despite the Mueller Revelations
• Democrats up calls for Congress to protect Mueller
• Democrats Warn Trump: Leave Mueller Alone
• To what circle of hell are Republicans about to consign themselves? (This is by conservative Michael Gerson, by the way.)
• Did Russia teach Paul Manafort all its dirty tricks? (“He embodies a startling truth: These two countries now share common methods to win elections.”)
• These Republicans used to pretend to care about debt. Not anymore.
• The repeated, incorrect claim that Russia obtained ‘20 percent of our uranium’ (This entire story is a wild series of Big Lies.)
• This tax reform thing won’t be as easy as Republicans think (“The GOP is using gimmicks to get its tax bill through. It’s an enormous challenge.”)
• Kelly wants investigation into allegations surrounding Clinton (Turns out Kelly’s a nut too.)
• The Memo: Mueller charges come at vulnerable time for Trump
• Ex-Trump aide: I ‘probably’ talked Russia with staffer charged in Mueller probe (Hmmmm.)
• McCain: We must fight ‘propaganda and crackpot conspiracy theories’ (That basically describes right-wing media and, to a large extent, today’s Republican Party.)
• The Trump Administration Is Teeming With Climate-Change Deniers (This, in its own way, is as big a disgrace and as dangerous as Manafort, Putin, Trump, etc.)
• UN warns of ‘unacceptable’ greenhouse gas emissions gap (“Report reveals large gap between government pledges and the reductions needed to prevent dangerous global warming” We SHOULD be on a war footing when it comes to slashing greenhouse gas emissions, but we’re not. Massive #FAIL – thanks a LOT fossil fuel interests!)
• Inside White House, a sense of both danger and relief in Mueller’s first moves (“Mueller’s indictments of former Trump aides didn’t directly implicate the president or provide slam-dunk evidence of collusion.” Sure, but that’s just the first move in the chess game.)
• The not-so-hidden message in Mueller’s court filings (“The special prosecutor’s indictments of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates — and the plea deal struck with low-level adviser George Papadopoulos — suggest a road map for additional charges still to come.”)
• Internet loses it after ‘malfunctioning droid’ Carter Page ‘legit foamed at the mouth’ during bonkers interview
• Putin’s Pro-Trump Trolls Just Targeted Hillary Clinton and Robert Mueller (“Russia strikes again as Congress grills Facebook, Twitter, and Google on lax oversight and disappearing data.”)
• ‘The walls are closing in’: Trump spent day ‘fuming’ at indictments as aides walked corridors in fear
• Russia Indictments Leave Trump Allies Rattled — Contrary to the White House Spin
• Mueller Quietly Dropped a Bombshell on Monday — and It Wasn’t About Manafort (“But by every objective measure, Papadopoulos, minor actor though he seems to be, is the biggest bombshell of Monday’s revelations — and Mueller’s first major signal of what he’s been up to since his appointment last May. For one, the acts that gave rise to Papadopoulos’s conviction arose and were investigated by the FBI before Mueller was tapped to lead the probe into links between the Trump campaign and Moscow — which undercuts Trump’s repeated claims that the special counsel is on a witch hunt and that collusion never occurred.”)
• Robert Mueller Is Just Getting Started (“Legal experts said Monday’s revelations show the special counsel is ‘maximizing the clout’ of the Russia investigation.”)
• The Trump factor dominates the final week of Virginia’s governor’s race
• CASEY: Mark Warner thinks ahead on Trump-Russia investigation
• Polar opposites running for attorney general (Not sure I’d go that far, but Mark Herring is the clearly better candidate for this job.)
• Rubio defends Gillespie on the trail in Virginia (“Before the event, protesters from CASA in Action, Indivisible and other liberal groups marched outside the warehouse, chanting anti-Gillespie slogans and carrying a large banner demanding Gillespie “return to K Street” and other signs labeling the GOP ‘the party of racism.’ A protester also interrupted the event as Rubio began speaking, demanding an immediate end to deportations.”)
• Candidates snapshot: 2017 Virginia governor’s race (Wait, this profile claims Gillespie “would support legislation that would address the rights restoration of nonviolent felons, giving them the right to serve on a jury, be a notary public or vote,” yet he has viciously attacked Ralph Northam for…exactly that!)
• Editorial: Vogel and Herring at the state Capitol (Vogel has run a toxic, utterly despicable campaign; for an editorial board to endorse her is just…my god. As for Mark Herring vs. John Adams, this one’s an easy choice, one which even the Virginian-Pilot couldn’t mess up.)
• Mark Herring touts record as attorney general
• John Adams says he will defend state laws, no matter what (Even if they’re blatantly unconstitutional? Alrighty…)
• Gillespie emphasizes common background with Rubio as protesters call him racist
• Northam pushes jobs, inclusion in Charlottesville stop
• Northam engages with campaign volunteers in Blacksburg
• Just how good is Virginia’s economy, really?
• Virginia ad features minority kids chased by truck with Gillespie sticker, Confederate flag (As usual, we had this story first here at Blue Virginia.)
• Rick Gates, indicted Monday with Paul Manafort, lives in Richmond
• Health care a focal point at 94th District debate
• Record number of Democratic women running for Virginia House
• Williams: Next Richmond city treasurer must add value to the office
• Opinion/Editorial: City, state tiff is worse than we
• Jones denies claim that city ignored many state safety recommendations for rally
• Virginia to unveil extension of I-95 Express Lanes (What we need to be focused on is transit-oriented development, aka smart growth.)
• Focus of Stoney summit: how Richmond can overhaul its public housing
• Sunny and seasonal this afternoon, then a chilly Hallow’s Eve