by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, May 31.
- Trump team doesn’t know what it wants from North Korea (“The president and his top officials have been at odds with each other — and sometimes even themselves — when it comes to defining the U.S. negotiating position with Kim Jong Un.”)
- U.S. to slap tariffs on steel, aluminum from EU on Thursday: sources
- Trump will hit EU with steel, aluminum tariffs: report (Supposedly anti-tax Trump loves imposing new taxes, it appears.)
- The Memo: Trump’s feud with Sessions grows toxic
- Andrew McCabe turned over his memo on Comey’s firing to Robert Mueller
- President Trump is normalizing racism (“Racists such as Roseanne Barr are feeling enabled by the president.” Also crackpot conspiracy theorizing.)
- Call out his lies. He depends on them. (The media needs to say, clearly and plainly, that Trump is lying. Every single time he does it.)
- Trey Gowdy separates himself from his weakling Republican colleagues (“By forcefully rebuking Trump’s ‘spy’ charges, Rep. Trey Gowdy underscores the moral cowardice of his GOP colleagues.”)
- How Trump’s Election Shook Obama: ‘What if We Were Wrong?’ (“Mr. Obama and his team were confident that Mrs. Clinton would win and, like much of the country, were shocked when she did not.”)
- Email snafu reveals White House outreach to Obama and Clinton alumni (“Recipients of a blast email were asked to ‘amplify’ Trump’s policy on Iran — baffling some who have sharply disagreed with the president in public.”)
- Puerto Rico will be an enduring stain on Trump’s presidency
- The shocking truth about the Hurricane Maria death toll is our Trump nightmare made real (“An unfit president contributes to an unprecedented catastrophe.”)
- How Donald Trump is weaponising the courts for political ends (“Trump is appointing judges far faster than Obama did – and the white-, male-dominated crop could be his most lasting legacy”)
- As U.S. Jobs Go Begging, Forget Those Monthly Gains of 200,000
- Arkady Babchenko reveals he faked his death to thwart Moscow plot
- Trump melts down after reports of Sessions being key witness in Mueller’s investigation (“And I wish I did!”)
- Sarah Sanders tried to brush off Trey Gowdy’s debunking of ‘spygate.’ It did not go well. (“Total desperation.”)
- The extreme right won’t stop defending Roseanne (“While the rest of us move on, far-right accounts won’t stop turning out in droves to support the disgraced comedian.”)
- WATCH: Ex-prosecutors shred Rudy Giuliani’s lies in latest crazed appearance on Fox News
- Study finds 5,000 people may have died from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Cable news focused on Roseanne instead. (“Cable news covered Roseanne for over 10 hours. They covered Hurricane Maria’s death toll in Puerto Rico for just over 30 minutes.”)
- Democrats gear up for 2020 — and Bernie Sanders still leads the pack (“Bernie and other top Democrats are lining up while Trump is fighting the culture war and dancing with Kim Jong-un”)
- Sen. Mark Warner says Trump’s ZTE deal is a mistake
- Full video and transcript: U.S. Senator Mark Warner at Code 2018 (“On Mark Zuckeberg’s Congressional hearings: “I thought, ‘Oh God, they’re going to leap to it.’ Then I was saying, ‘Oh my God. This is an embarrassment.’””)
- She was convicted of disposing of her stillborn fetus. Now, Va.’s attorney general says his office made wrong call.
- Virginia AG: Disposal of stillborn fetus doesn’t violate law
- Virginia Just Voted to Expand Medicaid. These States Could Be Next. (Idaho, Nebraska, Utah)
- 5th GOP District Plans Meeting This Saturday to Pick Nominee for Garrett Seat – UPDATED (Declared candidates so far: Joe Whited, Jim McKelvey, Denver Riggleman, Martha Boneta, Dale Woodson, Del. Michael Webert. Other possibilities: Sen. Bill Stanley, Sen. Bryce Reeves.)
- Who Will Replace Bob Goodlatte?
- AmmoLand: Interview with Nick Freitas, Virginia Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate (The guy is far out there.)
- Blue Firefight in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District (“Six Democrats vying for Democratic nomination to face Barbara Comstock”)
- Jennifer T. Wexton for the Democratic primary in Virginia’s 10th District (Not surprised at all by this one from the WaPo: “Among several plausible candidates, we support Jennifer T. Wexton. She is the best qualified and also the one most likely to chip away at partisan gridlock in Washington… if voters want a candidate who has proved she can win a tough election and then rack up genuine accomplishments while remaining true to progressive values, they have only one choice.”)
- 5th District Republicans to pick new nominee Saturday to replace Rep. Tom Garrett (Wow, just two days!)
- After Years of Trying, Virginia Finally Will Expand Medicaid
- Virginia General Assembly approves Medicaid expansion to 400,000 low-income residents (“After the Senate vote, the House of Delegates approved the measure by 67 to 31 as the chamber erupted in cheers.”)
- Virginia set to expand Medicaid as Senate and House back budget deal (“Gov. Ralph Northam has left no doubt he will sign a pair of budget bills that will begin a two-phased process of receiving federal approval to expand Medicaid in Virginia on Jan. 1, relying on billions of dollars in long-available federal funds and a pair of taxes on hospital revenues to pay for it.”)
- For Va. House’s Democratic freshmen, Medicaid expansion vote is payoff to 2017 campaigns
- Schapiro: For some Republicans, health care fight not over yet (“To remain floor leader, Norment must preserve his majority in the 2019 elections. And he is wagering that a tough line against Medicaid expansion will discourage nomination threats from the right to Republican incumbents he has won over with fundraising assistance and legislative favors.”)
- A new political action committee in Virginia aims to counter corporate cash (Peter Galuszka does a much better than the WaPo’s hit piece on “Clean Virginia”)
- Alexandria mayoral candidates get testier as election approaches
- General Assembly backs budget, Medicaid expansion
- Mountain Valley Pipeline sued by Franklin County landowners for erosion damage (“Mountain Valley has shown a ‘startling disregard’ for the impacts of building a natural gas pipeline on its neighbors, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.”)
- Opinion/Editorial: Departures create, result from turmoil (“…at this stage it’s unclear whether the problem is Charlottesville’s form of government, or simply a misfit between the current manager and the current and recent councils. Much more information is needed before reformists push for a change as radical as trading the city’s executive style of government for a new model.”)
- New owners of The Pilot make bid on cross-water “synergy”; I hope it works (Highly doubtful.)
- 2018 NHL Stanley Cup finals: Holtby save, Orpik goal give Capitals Game 2 win over Golden Knights
- Intermittent downpours present flood risk through the weekend
