by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, May 16.
- North Korea expands threat to cancel Trump-Kim summit
- North Korea threatens to cancel Trump summit over nuclear demands (“Official says North Korea has no interest in ‘one-sided’ talks with US”)
- Israel, U.S. criticized for Palestinian deaths as toll climbs (Add Hamas to that list as well, but yeah…lots of blame to go around here, including Trump.)
- Turkey and Israel expel envoys over Gaza violence
- Israel’s violent rule increasingly driving liberal American Jews on to the streets
- North Korea Surprises Trump Administration by Acting Like North Korea Again (“They may be hoping that since Trump prematurely painted himself as the president who resolved the North Korea situation, he’s so desperate for a successful summit that he’ll give up on full denuclearization. It wouldn’t make any sense for Trump to cave over this relatively mild threat, but maybe North Korea willl luck out again. They probably didn’t expect Trump to agree to their summit offer in the first place.”)
- Just How Fragile Is Trump’s North Korea Diplomacy? (“In Seoul and along the D.M.Z., South Koreans—both supporters and skeptics of the new diplomacy—told me that they don’t care much about Trump’s motive, as long as it refocusses his energies through the rest of his Presidency.”)
- Why Democrats can’t win the ‘respect’ of Trump voters (“The right has a gigantic media apparatus that is devoted to convincing people that liberals disrespect them, plus a political party whose leaders all understand that that idea is key to their political project and so join in the chorus at every opportunity…Finally — and this is critical — never stop telling voters how Republicans are screwing them over. The two successful Democratic presidents of recent years were both called liberal elitists, and they countered by relentlessly hammering the GOP over its advocacy for the wealthy. And it worked.”
- EXCLUSIVE: Michael Cohen ‘asked Qatari investor for millions of dollars’ which he said he would ‘pass to Trump family members’ at Trump Tower meeting – and Qatar’s foreign minister was there too
- Trump team ready to ‘pressure’ Mueller at probe’s one-year mark (“In an interview, Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, even cited James Comey’s mid-2016 exoneration of Hillary Clinton as a model for the Russia special counsel.”)
- In Jerusalem, it’s the Trump team vs. reality (“The embassy was moved because it served Trump. How do we know this? Because everything Trump does is for Trump.”)
- 4 winners and 3 losers from the primaries in Pennsylvania and Nebraska (“A good night for women, while Rick Saccone loses again.”)
- Trump backs two successful US Senate nominees in primaries (“Two of the president’s favored candidates, Lou Barletta in Pennsylvania and Deb Fischer in Nebraska, won their U.S. Senate primaries.”)
- Pennsylvania Primary Election Results
- Women sweep to victory in House primaries
- Top takeaways from a wild primary night (“Women candidates won big, but moderate Democrats took it on the chin.”)
- Just about everything is odd about Trump’s support of Chinese firm ZTE
- Nikki Haley walks out of U.N. Security Council meeting as Palestinian envoy begins to speak (Disgusting behavior.)
- Financial disclosure deadline traps Trump in a dilemma of his own making (“A dilemma for a president who does not like to admit mistakes.”)
- Facebook disabled 583 million fake accounts and millions of spam, sex and hate speech posts
- Top Dem presidential hopefuls audition for 2020 (“The first cattle call of 2020 drew a host of big names, who tested out messages on progressivism in the Trump era.”)
- The Memo: Elizabeth Warren steals show at 2020 audition (“It was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) who ultimately won the day with a full-throated assertion of the need for Democrats to hew closely to a base she characterized as ‘angry and scared’ about President Trump’s impact on the nation.”)
- This Man Was Trump Before Trump. He Just Won Pennsylvania’s Senate Primary. (“As a small-city mayor, Lou Barletta championed a law that made English the official language and punished employers of undocumented immigrants.”)
- Frustrated Trump wants action on border wall, immigration
- Trump expected to cut Planned Parenthood funding through regs
- ‘They’re laughing at him’: Thomas Friedman explains why Trump screwed up the Israel embassy deal
- Some Trump voters now “feel so stupid” — but liberal Schadenfreude is not a real solution (“The media loves repentant Trump voters, but those stories only fuel the liberal myth that politics is rational” Which it totally is not.)
- GOP farm bill will be a nightmare for state SNAP programs (This bill is a nightmare in pretty much every way.)
- Trump to keynote anti-abortion group’s gala after it promoted his DC hotel (“In anticipation of its annual gala, the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) has been promoting official room blocks for the event at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., and running a contest in which the prize includes a free stay at the property during the gala”)
- The President* Is Tap Dancing on the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution (“How stupid do they think we are?” Very!)
- Betsy DeVos Won’t Go After For-Profit College Ripoffs. Will States Step In?
- Exclusive: how rightwing groups wield secret ‘toolkit’ to plot against US unions (“Internal documents obtained by the Guardian reveal a nationwide drive to persuade union members to quit and stop paying dues”)
- Tom Wolfe, dapper dean of ‘new journalism’ who never forgot his Richmond roots, dies at 88
- Torture Doesn’t Work, Unless You Want a Promotion
- Scott Pruitt Has Defeated Stiff Competition to Win Most Trumpian Cabinet Member (“The grift is strong in this one—and so is his will to dismantle the agency he leads.”)
- Dominion’s New Grid Plan Overlooks Energy Storage in Favor of Gas Peakers (Dominion is basically a self-dealing, rogue, out-of-control company. Break it up?)
- Editorial: Why aren’t Warner and Kaine fighting Trump’s idiotic tariffs? (Republicans are in charge of the Senate.)
- Warner to support Haspel as CIA director; Kaine will not (Kaine is right, Warner is wrong.)
- Mark Warner backs Gina Haspel, likely securing her confirmation as CIA director (And possibly securing himself a primary opponent in 2020.)
- Reminder: No, Mark Warner isn’t a presidential contender
- Va. Senate Democrats’ leader threatens ‘nuclear option’ on Medicaid (“Sen. Saslaw said he will make rare move to tear the budget bill away from the Senate Finance Committee.” Senate Republicans have been completely ridiculous/irresponsible about this, so they richly deserve that.)
- Federal appeals court orders halt to work on Atlantic Coast Pipeline (“Judges said restrictions against harming wildlife during construction are inadequate.” Wait, didn’t Dr. Ralph say and his pals at Dominion say this pipeline was following the “science” and was using the most stringent environmental standards in Virginia history, blah blah blah?)
- Federal appeals court invalidates Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s ‘incidental take’ review
- Letter: Virginia allows pipeline projects instead of protecting waterways (“Instead of protecting our waterways, the State of Virginia CHOSE to allow these pipeline projects to proceed and will accept compensation from the private corporations which are funding the fully acknowledged and inevitable degradation of state waters. If that is not ‘pay-to-play’ Mr. Strickler, then I do not know what is.”)
- Editorial: Will 6th District Republicans heed the lesson from 1982? (“Cline’s connections to Goodlatte now make him suspect in the eyes of some activists. His main challenger is Cynthia Dunbar, a former Liberty University law professor who is so far to the right that she believes public schools are unconstitutional.”)
- Judge fines Franklin County couple for allowing tree-sit protests of pipeline (“The Reillys were fined $1,000 each.” Not exactly draconian.)
- Young Henrico man fatally shot by Richmond police was high school teacher in Essex County, graduated from VCU with honors
- Dozens of Botetourt County residents speak in opposition of Aqua Virginia rate increases
- Lightning beat Caps, 4-2, in Game 3 and are awake in this series
- Cooler with more showers and storms today; heavy rain possible Friday
