Thursday News: N. Korea Says Pence Is “Stupid”; NFL Caves to Trump; Garrett Says He’s Not Quitting; Caps Make Stanley Cup Finals

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, May 24. Go Caps!

• North Korea says US Vice-President Pence’s comments ‘stupid’
• North Korea Issues New Threat to Call Off Trump Meeting (“The country’s vice foreign minister said that Vice President Mike Pence had made “unbridled and impudent remarks that North Korea might end like Libya.” Who is worse, John Bolton or Mike Pence?)
• North Korea threatens to reconsider summit; official calls Pence a ‘political dummy’
• The New Uncertainty of Trump’s North Korea Diplomacy (“Just three weeks away from the scheduled talks, Trump is learning the same lesson faced by twelve of his Oval Office predecessors, dating back to Harry Truman, over seven decades: dealing with North Korea—and three generations of the mercurial Kim dynasty—is the toughest diplomatic challenge in the world”)
• What happens if there is no Trump-Kim Jong Un summit? (“From a possible summit to a possible war” Which is what crazy John Bolton wants.)
• North Korea demolishes what it says is nuclear test site
• House GOP holds last-ditch immigration talks as showdown looms
• Trump threatens aid cut to countries that do not stop MS-13 gang migrants
• Collusion Happened (“Despite what the president says, the question is answered.”)
• Jared Kushner Gets Security Clearance After Long Process (F’ed up.)
• Kushner gets permanent security clearance, a sign he may no longer be a focus of inquiry
• A short history of phony anti-Trump conspiracy theories (“Right-wing media help Trump spin lies about the Russia investigation, and it’ll only get worse”)
• Things are not looking good for Donald Trump Jr. (“Lying to Congress is a crime, even if you are not under oath.” Trump Jr. richly deserves to be in jail…for a lot of reasons.)
• Vice President Pence declares victory after the NFL cracks down on anti-racism protests (“The NFL made it harder for black people to protest being murdered, and Mike Pence declared it a victory.”)
• The GOP’s ‘Unbelievably Absurd’ Response to Santa Fe (“Anything-but-the-guns mentality has reared explanations that even fellow Republicans find unnerving.”)
• Body Camera Footage Shows Milwaukee Police Use Excessive Force Against Sterling Brown For No Reason
• Sterling Brown Arrest Video Shows Milwaukee Police Using Stun Gun on N.B.A. Player
• Trump Cannot Block Users on Twitter, Judge Rules (“President Trump’s practice of blocking users who are critical of him from seeing his posts on the social media platform violates the First Amendment, a federal judge said.”)
• The N.F.L. Kneels to Trump (“By deciding to fine teams whose players protest racism the league has given in to the president’s demagogy.” The NFL just disgraced itself.)
• Trump’s FBI Spy Theory Is Completely Insane (Yes, we have a “president” who’s off his rocker.)
• Trump’s words carry loathsome baggage (“Immigrants actually have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans , yet Trump sure seems to spend an awful lot of time talking about the small fraction who are criminals. And he doesn’t make much effort to distinguish them from the overwhelming majority of immigrants who are just here to make a law-abiding life for themselves and their families.” Same thing with Corey Stewart and many other Republicans these days.)
• Paul Ryan’s political purgatory
• Trump on collision course with Congress on ZTE
• Stacey Abrams and the New Democratic Coalition in the South
• Senator Jeff Flake to Harvard Law Grads: Trump ‘Debased’ Presidency (“This is it, if you have been wondering what the bottom looks like.”)
• It’s All Just Noise as Long as Robert Mueller Has a Job (“It’s not taking too long, just as it wasn’t during Watergate.”)
• Bowing to pressure, White House to host bipartisan briefing on Russia investigation (It shouldn’t take “pressure” to do the right thing.)
• Could Roger Stone spill Trump’s secrets to Mueller? (“The self proclaimed dirty trickster and longtime Trump adviser may know more about the president’s dirty laundry than his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. What if Mueller flips him?”)
• Trump’s Favorite Animals (“Don’t buy his outrage against MS-13. He loves killers, as long as they cozy up to him.”)
• Rep. Goodlatte Calls for Special Counsel to Investigate FBI (Disgraceful – Republicans like BADlatte attacking the FBI.)
• Kaine says Trump’s move on Iran could spell trouble for North Korea deal
• Kaine demands answers on Pentagon missions in Africa
• Stacey Abrams, Democrats’ newest Southern hope, looks to Virginia, Alabama for path to victory in Georgia
• Senators Warner and Kaine Support Legislation to Legalize Hemp
• Blue Firefight in Virginia 10th District (“Six Democrats vying for Democratic nomination to face Barbara Comstock.”)
• Virginia’s Tom Garrett Says He’s Not Resigning (“’I’m not resigning. I can tell you that definitively,’ Garrett told Roll Call. Garrett said his office would be putting out a statement soon.”)
• Garrett in turmoil, might quit Congress
• Pipeline protester known as ‘Nutty’ has come down from her pole in Giles County
• Editorial: Why did Northam veto Sutterlein’s redistricting bill?
• CASEY: Some lost chances to discourage a repeat of “Unite the Right.” (“Here’s one good way to discourage white supremacists from convening in Charlottesville on the anniversary of last summer’s violence-marred white nationalist rally: Stiff prison sentences for the alt-right miscreants who caused that mayhem. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that will happen before a planned anniversary march.”)
• As Trump steps up attacks, will Virginia Republicans vote to commend the FBI? This Democrat wants to find out (“On the same day that President Donald Trump fired off new Twitter attacks against the ‘Criminal Deep State,’ Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, filed a House resolution commending the FBI for 110 years of service. The honorary resolution, co-patroned by five other House Democrats, could come up for a vote next week when the House returns to pass a state budget.”)
• Will Rep. Tom Garrett run again? Friend says: ‘Until they tell you they are out, count him in.’
• Activists join forces against D.C.-area bids for Amazon’s second headquarters
• ‘No relief in sight’: Hundreds of Virginia inmates languish in solitary confinement for years, groups find (“An ACLU report and inmates’ letters counter the state’s claim that it is a national model.”)
• Salena Zito column: In Appalachia: stop crying about coal and build something better (Exactly.)
• Portsmouth Councilman Mark Whitaker and his attorneys tampered with witnesses, prosecutor claims
• Washington Capitals are heading to Stanley Cup finals, extinguish Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7
• Warm and pleasantly dry today; scattered thundershowers this weekend