Monday News: Hillary Clinton Brings “Fire and Fury” to Grammys; “This is now an indictment of the entire Republican Party”; “Why Trump Can’t Quit Steve Wynn”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, January 29.

• Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein
• Republicans Show Little Urgency on Legislation to Protect Mueller
• Putin opposition leader Alexei Navalny arrested after organizing fair election protests (“He called for protests to continue despite his arrest.”)
• Without immigration, America will stagnate (“Look at immigration-averse Japan, which is aging and shrinking.”)
• President Trump Tells Piers Morgan That Polar Ice Caps Are Doing Great (Just this alone proves that Trump is a drooling imbecile who has no business being “president.”)
• Blow: Trump Repeats Nixon’s Fateful Panic (“This is no longer about Trump alone. This is now an indictment of the entire Republican Party — the elected officials and the still strident Trump voters — as well as the Trump propaganda machine at Fox News (‘news’ clearly being a misnomer).”)
• An Article of Impeachment Against Donald J. Trump (“But let’s set aside realpolitik for a few minutes and ask a different question: Is serious consideration of impeachment fair? I think the answer is yes. The evidence is now quite strong that Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice. Many legal scholars believe a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime. So the proper remedy for a president credibly accused of obstructing justice is impeachment.”)
• Jeff Sessions Is Betraying His Own DOJ (“He’s playing a dangerous rhetorical game—and giving life to baseless Republican attacks on the department’s credibility.”)
• Fallout continues over Steve Wynn sexual misconduct allegations
• Steve Wynn Fallout Ripples as Republicans Seek Distance (“Casino mogul steps down as RNC finance chairman and some GOP officials redirect donations”)
• Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Hits Early Roadblock Over Funding (“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democrats have called for $1 trillion in federal investment. The American Society of Civil Engineers has said more than $2 trillion in additional funding is needed by 2025 to upgrade conditions of everything from roads, bridges and airports to mass transit and drinking water.”)
• Hillary Clinton Roasts Trump at the Grammys by Narrating ‘Fire and Fury’
• Mark Warner: ‘We’ve Had New Information That Raises More Questions’ (“Warner calls out Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, in arguably more explicit terms than any Democrat has yet, saying he has read the underlying classified material used in the memo and that Nunes misrepresented it as part of a McCarthyite ‘secret Star Chamber’ effort to discredit the FBI probe of the president.”)
• Trump’s five goals for State of the Union address (I’m most worried about the media’s coverage of this.)
• Can Joe Kennedy Beat the State of the Union Curse? (“Responding to the president’s annual address is often a no-win situation. Here’s how the Democrats’ rising star could come out on top.”)
• Trump security team sees building U.S. 5G network as option (“President Donald Trump’s national security team is looking at options to counter the threat of China spying on U.S. phone calls that include the government building a super-fast 5G wireless network, a senior administration official said on Sunday.”)
• (If he feels that way, then none of us should shop at Home Depot.)
• Lindsey Graham: GOP should avoid ‘double standard’ over Wynn allegations (“But the double standards already appear to be at play.”)
• Far-right pundits are now calling for the death of Trump’s opponents (“Some of Trump’s critics feared he might become a dictator. On the radical right, his fans are now hoping he will”)
• Trump interview: ‘I’m very popular in Britain. I get a lot of fan mail’ (Uhhhh…try something like 20% approval in the UK)
• The Plot Against America (“Decades before he ran the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort’s pursuit of foreign cash and shady deals laid the groundwork for the corruption of Washington.” How did I not know he was from New Britain, CT, a corrupt, “working class white” city right next to where I grew up?)
• Why Trump Can’t Quit Steve Wynn (“The casino magnate faces allegations of sexual assault and harassment, but the president revels in his flattery and attention.”)
• Hillary Clinton Brings The Heat In ‘Fire And Fury’ Reading During Grammys
• “You are not shitholes”: at the Grammys, musicians offer words of support to immigrants (“Logic, Camila Cabello, and Bono all made powerful statements about immigration and diversity.”)
• Grammy winners 2018: the complete list (“Bruno Mars was the night’s biggest winner, taking home six awards including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.”)
• We’ve Never Seen Congressional Resignations Like This Before
• Rep. Griffith opines on all things Washington (Griffith is a climate science denying loon, don’t care what he has to say on anything.)
• Virginia ‘dreamer’ Nicolle Uria to attend Trump’s State of the Union address
• Democrats choose primary to nominate a challenger to Rep. Dave Brat
• Editorial: Ax the tampon tax
• Editorial: Virginia’s system of holding driver’s licenses hostage
• 15 flipped House seats cost half of all money spent in Virginia’s most expensive races in 20 years
• Editorial: Does the rest of Virginia care how unequal rural schools are?
• Senators suggest charging tolls on trucks on I-81
• A winter resurgence with some snow early Tuesday and maybe Friday