Thursday News: Good Riddance “Fanatic, Fraud, Factotum” Paul Ryan, Who “Personifies the Devil’s Bargain the GOP Struck With Trump”; Medicaid Expansion, But On What Terms?

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, April 12.

• Trump chooses impulse over strategy as crises mount (Very, very dangerous.)
• West weighs Syria attack that could lead to confrontation with Russia
• Loss of Ryan hits hard for House Republicans
• Saving Paul Ryan (“How the departing House speaker handles Mr. Trump will define his legacy.”)
• With Ryan’s Retirement, G.O.P. Hopes Are Scattered (“It sent an undeniably pessimistic message to Republicans: that stable, steady leadership is lacking in their party as they head into a campaign season defined by the whims of President Trump.”)
• Ryan Found Himself on the Margins as the G.O.P. Moved Right (It’s not even so much that the GOP “move right,” as that it went insane.)
• Paul Ryan’s GOP swept away by a Trumpian revolution he could neither contain nor control
• The bottom drops out for Republicans (“Paul Ryan can’t stop holding onto Trump even as he destroys the party.” And the country.)
• Paul Ryan implodes his party — ahead of schedule (“Ryan’s decision to retire will no doubt spur others to do the same, rather than be part of a November wipeout.”)
• Trump is making less sense than ever (“The president’s foreign policy in particular defies any kind of sense, common or otherwise.”)
• The Ship Is Sinking. The Rats Are Scrambling. (“The president is losing whatever grip he had.”)
• Republican Congresscritters Have Started Melting Down (“We are well and truly f*cked in November.” And deservedly!)
• Paul Ryan Will Retire as the Biggest Fake in American Politics (“If he hadn’t done so much damage, we could laugh him off the national stage—like Joe Biden did.”)
• Paul Ryan is the personification of conservatism’s decline (“He leaves the House full of curdled idealism as his brand of politics hits a dead end.”)
• Paul Ryan’s Republican Party no longer exists
• Trump is spoiling to fire Mueller. Congress must act now. (“Will Republicans have the courage to protect the special counsel?”)
• Trump Allies and House Republicans to Paul Ryan: Get Out Now (“The White House is concerned about how many House Republicans may be following the speaker out. Others are worried about what he might do during his remaining days in office.”)
• Paul Ryan’s Long Fight to Destroy the Welfare State Ends in Defeat
• Fanatic, Fraud, Factotum: The Rise and Fall of Paul Ryan
• The crisis in journalism has become a crisis of democracy (“The threat to local news means residents don’t have the information to make decisions for their families or hold institutions accountable.”)
• Blow: Signs of a Political Armageddon (“At this point, nothing is beyond the possible, no matter how ill advised and how ultimately destructive. In Trump’s mind, I can only imagine, he has settled on a strategy in the case of his own administration’s Armageddon: If he’s going down, the whole system is going down with him.”)
• Here’s How Washington Could Really Unfriend Facebook
• After Ryan’s Exit, Big-Money Donors Turn to War for Senate
• The Tragedy of Paul Ryan (“He began as a Jack Kemp conservative. He ended as Donald Trump’s man on Capitol Hill.” There’s no room for any Jack Kemps in today’s batshit crazy Republican Party.)
• How Paul Ryan Got It Wrong (“Ryan is not yet fifty; he might be imagining a Presidential run in two years’ time, or six. But politics is changing quickly right now. He may not have a recognizable party to return to.”)
• In major shift, GOP-controlled panel moves to protect Mueller (“The Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to move forward with legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, a significant shift that comes amid growing pressure from Democrats.”)
• Senate Republicans fret over Ryan retirement decision
• What Ryan Wrought (“Paul Ryan’s legacy will be defined by his support for Donald Trump.”)
• Paul Ryan’s Retirement Announcement Was As Pious and Empty As His Career
• Paul Ryan paved the way for Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party (“He wasn’t the only factor. But he was a significant one.”)
• Paul Ryan Personifies the Devil’s Bargain the GOP Struck With Trump (“The outgoing House speaker, more than any other lawmaker, paved the path for congressional Republicans’ subjugation to the president.”)
• Trump admits to obstruction of justice on Twitter, says he only did it to ‘fight back’ (“Tweets a good lawyer would advise against.”)
• Mark Zuckerberg Just Went from Tech Visionary to Coal-Baron-Whose-Mine-Blew-Up (“The Senate hearing exposed him as just another reckless billionaire capitalist.”)
• Sarah Sanders’ incoherent explanation for Trump’s bizarre warning to Russia
• As Pompeo signals hard Russia line, lawmakers want him to stand on his own
• Mueller protests: 300,000 vow to march if Trump fires special counsel (Should be 300 million.)
• Cynthia Dunbar Paid Friends & Endorsers Nearly Half of District GOP Budget
• Besides Democrats, Rep. Dave Brat faces Libertarian challenger in November (“Joe Walton, 42, a Richmond native who has lived in Powhatan County since 2003, is an auditor at Virginia Commonwealth University and a former chair of the Powhatan Board of Supervisors. He says he is close to the 1,000 signatures he’ll need to collect by June 12 in order to make it onto the November ballot.”)
• Group of endangered right whales spotted off Virginia coast; officials warn to keep clear (“The group of five right whales makes up a little more than 1 percent of the species’ entire population, according to experts.”)
• Wexton defends vote on guns deal criticized by Democratic opponent
• Before Leaving Congress, Goodlatte Will Again Attempt to Pass Balanced Budget Legislation (What a joke! First he and his GOP colleagues completely blow up the budget deficit and the debt, then they want to pass a balanced budget amendment? Utter hypocrisy.)
• Va. budget standoff to last at least 1 more week, possibly longer
• Virginia legislature returns to work; Medicaid expansion the focus of special session
• Northam presses advantage as General Assembly convenes to settle budget dispute (“For Northam, the outcome has to include expansion of Virginia’s Medicaid program with billions of dollars in enhanced federal aid. The only questions are how long will it take and the risks of delay to local government and Virginia’s triple-A bond rating, he said in an interview after the genial meeting with legislators.”)
• MVP plans to extend its natural gas pipeline into N.C. (Gack!)
• Police make arrests as protests of the Mountain Valley Pipeline intensify
• Editorial: More “outside group” influence in Virginia (More efforts by the right-wing Richmond Times-Dispatch/Republican Times-Disgrace editorial page to distract attention from the Koch brothers.)
• Editorial: What communities can learn from Amazon (“The requirements that Amazon has for its second headquarters city are instructive for Southwest Virginia, even though we don’t come close to meeting the online retailer’s specifications… A skilled workforce matters…Colleges matter…Quality of life matters.”)
• Freeway slowpokes, speeders in Virginia, unite! Both can now face fines
• Northam signs bill aimed at easing access to health care for small business owners
• State secretary of education hears from parents, teachers during Hampton listening tour (Go Atif!)
• Tim Kaine grapples with Suboxone clinics in visit to Abingdon
• Stafford woman who died trying to rescue her pug impacted a lot of lives, father says
• What, Nats worry? A 6-6 start has reasons for optimism — and some cause for concern.
• Warm weather arrives today, lasts through the weekend; downpour risk Sunday night