Wednesday News: Trump Made a (Bizarre, Propagandistic) Movie for Kim; Trump Falls for “The Kim Con”; VA GOP Now 100% the Party of Neo-Confederate Corey

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, June 13.

• Kim Jong-un hailed victor in ‘meeting of century’ by North Korean media (“Supreme leader credited with creating conditions for peace as South Korea and Japan voice security concerns” Kim kicked Trump’s fat ass, sad to say but not surprisingly.)
• ‘Sleep well tonight!’ Trump claims nuclear threat from North Korea is over in pair of early morning tweets (If Trump actually believes that, he’s completely delusional.)
• Trump Got Nearly Nothing From Kim Jong Un
• Senior Republican senator suggests Trump-Kim deal lacks substance (“‘It is difficult to determine what of concrete nature has occurred,’ says Bob Corker, chair of Senate foreign relations committee”)
• North Korea highlights Trump concessions on war games after summit (We absolutely should not stop military exercises with our close ally, South Korea.)
• Trump Says North Korea Poses No Nuclear Threat, Despite Weapons (WTF? A few months ago it was all “fire and fury,” and now, after meeting the brutal dictator who enslaves and tortures his people, Trump says this shit? The guy’s completely loco.)
• Senior Justice Dept. lawyer resigns after shift on Obamacare
• Reporters thought this video was North Korea propaganda. It came from the White House. (Unbelievable. How far we’ve fallen as a nation under Trump. Can you even IMAGINE if Barack Obama’s White House had put out something like this? Holy crap!)
• No more concessions (“America needs tangible commitments from North Korea. So far, Trump hasn’t gotten them.”)
• Trump and Kim meet, shake — and lie through their teeth (“At the summit, the hotelier-in-chief traded American authority and legitimized a petty provocateur. For what?”)
• If Obama had held this summit, we know how the GOP would’ve reacted (“Sarah Palin, specifically mentioning North Korea, proclaimed the Obama doctrine was ‘coddling enemies and alienating allies.’ Mitt Romney mocked Obama for saying he was going to ‘engage North Korea.'”)
• Kim Jong Un pulls off a magic trick (“The North Korean leader was publicly embraced by the world’s most powerful nation.” And for what???)
• The Kim Con (“Trump isn’t trying to win over North Korea’s leader. He’s using him to win over you.”)
• Maine’s governor is threatening not to certify the results of Tuesday’s primary (You mean Maine’s extreme-right, batshit-crazy governor? The one who only is governor because two liberal candidates split the vote?)
• 4 winners and 3 losers from the June 12 primary elections (“On a more serious note — but with an equally slim chance of changing the expected outcome in November — Corey Stewart won the Republican Senate nomination in Virginia, and he will challenge Sen. Tim Kaine in November. Corey Stewart, who has had to repeatedly disavowed his prior friendliness with white supremacists. Corey Stewart, who doesn’t think black people really want Confederate monuments taken down. That Corey Stewart.”)
• Trump Slams Robert De Niro as ‘A Very Low IQ Individual’ (Actually, De Niro seems perfectly intelligent; it’s the Mango Mussolini I wonder about.)
• Republican Voters Embrace Trump-Style Candidates
• The DNC Will Refuse Donations From Fossil Fuel Companies (“No such decision from the Republicans, for obvious reasons.”)
• Ryan announces DACA votes as discharge petition stalls (“The development is a big loss for Republican moderates.” They’re not particularly “moderate,” but alrighty…)
• What you need to know about Tuesday’s elections (“MAGA loyalty is driving GOP primary voters…Corey Stewart, the controversial local Virginia politician who fell just short in the state’s 2017 GOP gubernatorial primary, edged out a tight victory in the state’s Senate primary, where he wore the Trump mantle proudly…In South Carolina, Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), a regular Trump critic, has been booted out of office likely as a direct result of his willingness to criticize Trump.” By the way, I love it when the media uses the wimpy word “controversial” instead of something more descriptive, like “batshit crazy” or “racist” in the case of Corey Stewart.)
• Sanford’s fatal sin: Crossing Donald Trump (And sadly, other Republicans will get the message and be even LESS willing than they’ve been – if that’s humanly possible – to cross Trump. Ugh.)
• Top takeaways from Tuesday’s Trumped-up primaries (“Another Republican crashes and burns after criticizing the president.”)
• Scott Pruitt is burying his radical pro-polluter agenda under oceans of boring legalese (“How a dense, legalistic notice about rethinking cost-benefit analysis could derail environmental protection”)
• AT&T’s Victory Is a Big Setback for Merger Enforcement (“Judge’s ruling expected to spur merger wave across industries” Oh great.)
• Trump administration threatens health care for 130 million people with pre-existing conditions; cable news barely noticed (“Cable news” is basically an oxymoron. For morons.)
• These senators worked to undermine Obama’s 2015 Iran deal. Now they are cheering Trump. (“They despised the verifiable nuclear deal with Iran, but are optimistic about Trump’s vague agreement with North Korea.”)
• All 5 federal energy regulators don’t believe there’s a national security emergency on coal (“Bailout plan could cost customers as much as $65 billion, commissioner says.”)
• Tim Kaine: Trump administration full of ‘crybabies’ (It truly is a bunch of pathetic, melting “snowflakes.”)
• Seth Meyers mocks body language of Trump and Kim Jong-un: ‘Like they’ve been set up on a blind date by their weirdest friend’
• McConnell Backs Obamacare Coverage of Pre-Existing Illness
• Women dominated the Virginia Democratic primary on Tuesday (Remember, Democratic women also romped here in Virginia last year, including winning almost every single House of Delegates primary where there was a man and a woman running.)
• How Virginia voted in primary elections for US Senate and House
• Corey Stewart wins GOP Senate primary in Virginia, setting up ‘vicious campaign’ against Tim Kaine
• Stewart wins GOP nod for U.S. Senate in a Virginia primary with low turnout
• Confederate Corey Wins (Ha, the Virginia Tea Party blog is going nuts – and not in a good way – at Corey Stewart’s win last night. Check this out from the blog’s editor: “The most Redneck counties along with Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William went for Corey. Arlington and Alexandria went big for Freitas. Not sure what that says. But it’s not good for the Republican party.” Yes, “Redneck.” LOL. Also, “Of course the Democrats want Corey to win. They know he will bring down the Republican Party with him. We will be very lucky to hang onto 3 Congressional seats, more likely it will be two.” Not sure I’d go that far, but Democrats do have an opportunity here to really demonstrate how roundly Virginia rejects Corey Stewart’s neo-Confederate, racist, xenophobic, nasty, “vicious” candidacy.)
• State Sen. Jennifer Wexton wins the Democratic race to run against Rep. Comstock
• Abigail Spanberger easily defeats Dan Ward in 7th District Democratic primary
• Vangie Williams wins Democratic nomination to face Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st
• Primary winners Taylor, Luria to square off for 2nd District (This will be a marquee race in Virginia this year, along with VA-10, VA-07 and possibly VA-05.)
• Anthony Flaccavento wins nomination for second shot at challenging Rep. Morgan Griffith in 9th District
• Ryan McAdams defeats Shion Fenty in the 4th District GOP primary (Go Donald McEachin!)
• Jennifer Lewis clinches Democratic nomination to face Del. Ben Cline in 6th District (I didn’t endorse in this race because I liked both Peter Volosin and Jennifer Lewis and would have been happy with either as our nominee. But now I say wholeheartedly, congratulations to Jennifer Lewis; I strongly support you!)
• Schapiro: For Northam, health care fix is tough act to follow (Unfortunately, we can no longer read Jeff Schapiro’s sometimes-incisive, sometimes-wacky columns unless we subscribe to the RTD. No thanks!)
• Justin Wilson defeats incumbent Alexandria, Va., Mayor Allison Silberberg in primary
• Editorial: A good night for Democrats in Virginia (This is the Republican Times-Disgrace saying this: “The down-to-the-wire GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine will do little to unite an already divided party. And the slim victory of divisive Prince William Board Chairman Corey Stewart suggests his party will have a hard time expanding its appeal in November…Brat might face a tough race this November. Much of the 7th lies in RVA’s western suburbs, where Trump is not especially popular. That could hurt Brat in the fall. “)
• Editorial: Republicans move right, Democrats move left (This headline is THE classic, corporate media “both-sides” false equivalency. In fact, Republicans have gone faaaar to the right with people like Corey Stewart, while Democrats are in the majority on issue after issue – in fact, I dare you to find an issue where Democratic candidates are NOT in the majority.)
• Hileman: Why Northam should delay pipeline construction (“What we are requesting now is time. MVP is in a race to build the pipeline — not principally to build it right — before the courts or agencies can intervene. We can no longer wait for the State Water Control Board to act, given the meeting to decide on stream-by-stream analysis was recently pushed back from June 11 to August 15. It is imperative the state exercise its authority under SB698 and SB699 to delay construction until the water board can meet.”)
• Shingles: The DEQ is failing in its responsibility. Deliberately? (“One plausible explanation of the DEQ’s long shut down of its website and the much longer delay of the next Water Control Board meeting is that it is a thinly veiled attempt to sabotage the opportunity to reconsider certification. The proof will lie in part on when the Board will be allowed to reconvene. If the rescheduling is delayed beyond June 30, that suggests deliberate subversion.”)
• Lewis wins 6th District Democratic primary
• de Ferranti wins Democratic primary for Arlington Co. Board (Go Matt!)
• Not as nice today, but then a streak of winning weather into the weekend