Tuesday News: Manafort Tampered with Witnesses; Trump vs. World on Tariffs; WaPo Goes “Tiger Beat on the James”; Caps One Win From Stanley Cup

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, June 5.

• It’s Trump against the world on tariffs — and he’s getting an earful
• Paul Manafort tampering with witnesses, say Mueller investigators
• Trump and His Team Embrace a Vision of Vast Executive Power
• Trump’s Travel Ban Is in Trouble at the Supreme Court (“Justice Kennedy’s ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case suggests the court’s next big decision might go badly for the president.”)
• There’s Reason for Hope in the Supreme Court’s Gay-Wedding-Cake Decision (“But it can also be read as an ominous signal from the Court’s conservative wing.”)
• ‘Masterpiece Cakeshop’ ruling actually suggests a good decision on gay rights in the near future
• WATCH: Sarah Sanders repeatedly refuses to explain her own false statements (“I’m not going to respond.”)
• California’s Jungle Primary Might Screw Over Both Parties
• Trump’s ambassador to Germany talked to Breitbart — and started an international incident (“He suggested he wants to ’empower’ the European far right — but diplomats aren’t supposed to get involved in domestic politics like that.” WTF on every level!)
• Every June 5 primary election you should know about, briefly explained (“California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, and New Mexico voters are all headed to the polls.” And next Tuesday, Virginia!)
• Mueller accuses Paul Manafort of witness tampering
• Trump’s legal team readies for fraught showdown with Mueller, even as president declares broad powers
• The Supreme Court’s narrow ruling on a wedding cake is a step in the right direction (“The court’s decision on a Colorado baker laid the groundwork for a more ambitious decision on LGBT protections in the future.”)
• The likely next speaker of the House is a mindless sycophant (“Rep. Kevin McCarthy appears to be little more than another presidential lap dog.”)
• His Majesty Czar Donald I claims imperium (“A letter from Trump’s legal team makes clear the president’s smirking contempt for the people he is supposed to lead.”)
• Trump’s trade policy violates almost every strategic rule (“Most economists agree that liberalizing trade is likely to do more for U.S. prosperity.”)
• Politics were unimaginable without RFK. Then they were unimaginable with him. (“Fifty years later, the memories of June 5, 1968, are murky, but its impact could not be clearer.”)
• I represented the wedding cake couple. We lost a battle but won the war. (“Charlie Craig and David Mullins could go back into Masterpiece Cakeshop and request a cake — and Jack Phillips would have no First Amendment right to turn them away.”)
• Letter reveals Scott Pruitt likely broke federal law by having top aide do his personal errands (Pruitt for Prison!)
• Scott Pruitt’s Latest Scam Involves the Words ‘Trump’ and ‘Mattress’
• Trump abandons loyalty test in midterm primary endorsements (“The president is giving his imprimatur to candidates who didn’t even vote for him in 2016 in hopes of keeping GOP control.”)
• Trump disinvites Philadelphia Eagles from White House visit, citing national anthem dispute (What a petty, pathetic person.)
• Melania Trump emerges at White House after weekslong absence
• GOP, Trump at odds on pardon power
• Donald Trump Is Winning the Media War Over the Russia Scandal. Here’s Why. (“In many ways, the media presents the Russia scandal mostly as a political threat to Trump, not as a serious threat to the nation. And many Americans, thanks to Trump and his allies, view it as a charade. All this shows how easy it is for disinformation and demagoguery to distort reality. That is a tragedy for the United States. For Trump—and Putin—that is victory.”)
• Trump Has Access to Everything a Dictator Could Want (“He is consolidating power based on deceit at an alarming rate, and getting more popular as he goes.”)
• WATCH: CNN’s Cuomo corners flailing Rudy Giuliani on White House lies in trainwreck interview
• Krugman: Intellectuals, Politics and Bad Faith (“Trump’s seven-lies-a-day habit and his constant claims of being victimized by people who accurately report the facts are only a continuation of something that has been going on in the conservative movement for years. At a fundamental level, after all, how different is Trump from Fox News, which has spent decades misinforming viewers while denouncing the liberal bias of mainstream media? How different is he from Republicans who accused Democrats of fiscal irresponsibility and now denounce the Congressional Budget Office when it points out how their tax cuts will increase the deficit?”)
• The Nastiest Primary in California (“The ugly battle between Hans Keirstead and Harley Rouda could cost Democrats a much-needed House seat.”)
• Fox News reportedly having difficulty selling ads for Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham’s shows: “The pro-Trump thing isn’t working” (“Fox News’ business model is not sustainable”)
• Robert Kennedy’s daughter on his death, Donald Trump and America’s future (“If Robert Kennedy were still alive, he would be 92 – younger than former presidents Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush – and quite possibly channeling his last energies against Donald Trump.”)
• Bolton sidelined as Trump readies for North Korea
• Fact-Checking Bill Clinton’s meltdown on NBC’s Today Show (Just pathetic.)
• Facebook is under fire and may face fines — again — for potentially mishandling users’ data
• 2018 Va. Primary Guide: GOP Senate candidates tout conservative credentials, support for Trump (They’re not “conservative,” they’re extremists.)
• 2018 Va. Primary Guide: US House, Senate races
• 2018 Va. Primary Guide: Democrats in 7th District focus on health care, rural broadband
• Video–Corey Stewart Calls Anti-Semite Paul Nehlen a ‘Hero’ (Corey Stewart may or may not believe anything he says or does as he panders to his bigoted base, but he’s a demagogue and a scumbag, no doubt.)
• Editorial: After Medicaid expansion, what’s next on the agenda? (The next thing needs to be energy/environment, as Virginia is currently getting its butt kicked in those areas by a bunch of other states.)
• The big money primaries? They aren’t in Hampton Roads (“In Northern Virginia’s 10th district, the six Democrats vying to challenge Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Fairfax, have spent an astounding $3.8 million so far.”)
• He wants to make pedophilia and incest legal. He’s not likely to win, but candidacies like his are scary. (“Nathan Larson lives in Charlottesville and describes himself as pro-incest, pedophilia and rape. He isn’t the only heinous candidate feeling emboldened enough to seek a place on Capitol Hill.” Amazing this guy’s not in jail.)
• Wexton features fake cops in campaign ad (The real problem would have been if she had used REAL cops, like Republican Bryce Reeves did last year in one of his ads.)
• Race to take on Comstock focuses on resume, not ideology
• 2018 Va. Primary Guide: Comstock faces 10th District GOP challenge
• Northam signs student discipline reform bills as Virginia schools still disproportionately suspend black students
• Williams: Confederate monuments and symbols are going nowhere fast. A Southern Poverty Law Center report has the numbers.
• How a reshaped Virginia legislature learned to love Medicaid expansion (This article is godawful, basically “Tiger Beat on the James.” I am seriously tempted to do a post about the top 10 most barf-inducing moments in the article. More to the point, the ComPost piece focuses 100% on a few insiders/elites and ignores a ton of factors, players, etc. who helped get Medicaid expansion done. To read about those, click here.)
• Take a cheat sheet: 12 Democrats vie for six seats on Alexandria council (“Four incumbents and eight newcomers are seeking six nominations in the June 12 Democratic primary.”)
• Flooded with challenges (Somehow, an editorial about flooding in Hampton Roads never says the words “climate change” or “global warming.” Our corporate media, ladies and gentlemen…)
• Henrico to hire first female superintendent in its history
• It’s all happening. The Capitals are one win away from the Stanley Cup.
• Afternoon showers and storms, then dry through the end of the workweek