Saturday News: “Adult-in-the-Room John Kelly Is Also the Face of Hateful Ignorance”; Trump and the “Power of the Small Lie”; Virginia Medicaid Expansion Coming?

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, May 12. By the way, I’m intentionally using a Spanish-language story on Trump’s ignorant, xenophobic, disgraceful Chief of Staff, John Kelly.

• Iran vs. Israel: Is a Major War Ahead? (“The recent escalation of fighting is more likely to result in a stalemate than a cataclysm.”)
• Pompeo To Kim: Denuclearize And Enjoy ‘Future Brimming With Peace And Prosperity’
• Climate change fueled Hurricane Harvey’s destruction last year. This year could be worse.
• US stealth fighters intercept Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska
• AT&T Chief Says It Made a ‘Big Mistake’ Hiring Michael Cohen
• Six more Republicans could force a vote on ‘dreamers’ (“The proposal presents a stark choice to Republican moderates such as Rep. Barbara Comstock, who represents a suburban Virginia district that Hillary Clinton won easily in 2016 — and where thousands of dreamers live.”)
• Trump breaks key campaign promise on Medicare
• Drug Industry Dodges Its Worst Fears in Trump’s Plan to Lower Prices
• Pence’s call for the special counsel to ‘wrap it up’ echoed Nixon nearly word for word
• Advisers bad-mouth Nielsen as a ‘never Trumper’ (“The president, who demands the loyalty of his aides, is increasingly disenchanted with his homeland security chief.”)
• The Power of the Small Lie (“The president has repeatedly ‘revealed’ the same catchphrase as new, demonstrating how he uses minor untruths to confuse the public and destabilize facts.”)
• Trump’s Plan to Cut Drug Prices Breaks With Campaign Goal
• Trump Has Now Broken Every One of His Economic Populist Promises
• Kaine to oppose Haspel to lead CIA
• White House chief of staff demonizes immigrants in racist rant (“Xenophobia doesn’t get more hackneyed than this.”)
• John Kelly, Who Doesn’t Think Undocumented Immigrants Can Be American, Should Visit America’s Great Cities (John Kelly is an ignorant xenophobe.)
• Adult-in-the-Room John Kelly Is Also the Face of Hateful Ignorance
• Transcript: White House Chief Of Staff John Kelly’s Interview With NPR
• Kelly’s agonizing relationship with the press (“The White House chief of staff was forced to retract remarks made in an NPR interview.”)
• Mueller Asked Ford for Records After It Rejected Michael Cohen Consulting Overture
• White House Refuses to Apologize for Aide’s McCain Joke (Wait, a bunch of sociopaths and sadists aren’t apologizing for being sociopaths and sadists? I’m shocked!)
• Angry young white men, the “incel rebellion” and an age of worldwide reaction (“White supremacists, online misogynists and the rise of the far right: How to fight a rising tide of resentment”)
• We read every one of the 3,517 Facebook ads bought by Russians. Their dominant strategy: Sowing racial discord
• Politico Had a Good Run, But It’s Back to Tiger Beat on the Potomac
• How Michael Avenatti got Michael Cohen’s emails (“And why that’s a big problem for Cohen.”)
• ‘John McCain is not fighting a losing battle’: a senator defends his legacy (“The former presidential candidate has brain cancer. From his Arizona ranch, he is defending a worldview that is under attack by Trump”)
• NRA President Oliver North says Parkland gun control activists are criminal civil terrorists (North off to a fast start, I see. At being completely, batshit crazy that is.)
• Dick Cheney: Liar and proud torture advocate (“All the howling falsehoods the former VP told in his defense of torture” Cheney is a warped, sick dude.)
• Black GOP candidate blasts national party for not attracting minority voters (“E.W. Jackson, a conservative running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, says the GOP must reach out to minorities because he says they are the future of the party.”)
• Rhetoric Heats Up in 6th District (What a fiasco.)
• Editorial: How far out of the mainstream is Cynthia Dunbar? Read her book and find out (Wildly so. For instance: “Public schools are unconstitutional. This is a theme that runs through the book, which she traces back to passages such as Deuteronomy 11:19.” Also, “The entire foundation of American law is unconstitutional.” Note that she is, of course, a Republican.)
• Vogel – Medicaid expansion is coming (“It’s pretty clear to me that the votes are in the House and Senate”)
• Virginia could see extra $400 million from income tax payments; Northam urges caution
• Healthy waterways critical for a healthy seafood industry in Hampton
• Gov. Northam to students at prayer breakfast: Don’t forget your roots
• Louise Lucas: Expanded Medicaid works for Virginia
• MVP Protester “Living on Energy Bars and Rainwater” (This appears to be a flat-out lie: “A few days ago, however, the agency did allow a doctor to consult with the woman.” Not sure this is accurate either: “There were also several tree-sitters blocking the MVP site, although most of those protests have ended.”)
• Northam sends Hokie grads out of Lane Stadium to ‘make the world you want to live in’
• UPDATE: Mother says inmate is back in solitary confinement in Virginia after she campaigned with ACLU (If true, that’s complete bulls***>)
• Despite ‘red flags,’ brother of Parkland school shooter can move to Virginia, judge rules
• Capitals-Lightning Game 1: Washington strikes first, takes 1-0 series lead over Tampa
• Hot and humid with a storm threat late, then cooler behind a front Sunday