Thursday News: Trump Goes to War With NATO Allies; “Trump appears to be doing Putin’s work for him”; Kavanaugh Piled Up Credit Card Debt Buying Nats Tickets; “Redraw House districts”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, July 12.

• ‘Rubbing salt in the wounds’: Trump won’t take yes for an answer at NATO summit (“After a year of haranguing by President Trump, Western leaders had agreed to his administration’s long-sought priorities on defense spending and counterterrorism — and were prepared to let him take all the credit. But Trump had other plans.” He’s completely bonkers.)
• Trump lashes out at NATO allies, then asks them to double defense spending (“The call came after a blistering critique by Trump against Germany and other allies.” Did I mention that Trump is completely bonkers? Oh yeah, I did.)
• Trump threatens to pull out of NATO (“President says US can go it alone if allies don’t meet spending target.” Same comment. Also, are Republicans EVER going to stand up to this maniac?)
• Trump’s barrage of attacks ‘beyond belief,’ reeling NATO diplomats say
• There Is No Cleaning Up the Foreign-Policy Mess Trump Is Making (Trump is doing serious damage that probably can’t be undone. And no, it’s not helping America in any way.)
• Trump appears to be doing Putin’s work for him (“By berating NATO partners, the President is opening divisions in an alliance formed to hold Russia at bay”)
• No One Loves Donald Trump More Than Vladimir Putin (“Here are 10 actions taken by the US president that boost long-held Kremlin goals.”)
• Trump tirade sends NATO leaders into crisis session
• When Trump attacked Germany in Brussels, his aides pursed their lips and glanced away
• Trump Sowing Divisions at NATO Seen as Helping Only Russia
• Supreme Court nominee piled up credit card debt by purchasing baseball tickets, White House says (“A review of Brett Kavanaugh’s financial disclosures and information provided by the White House shows between $60,000 and $200,000 in credit card and personal loan debt in 2016 and at times liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets.”)
• China Plays for Time in Trade War With Subtle Shift in Rhetoric
• NATO Doesn’t Need More Defense Spending (“America needs less.”)
• Abortion Rights Advocates Preparing For Life After Roe V. Wade
• Democrats Zero In on Nominee’s View of Presidential Power
• The GOP Will Defend Any Transgression. Jim Jordan Is New Proof. (“Republicans’ defense of Jim Jordan shows the party is willing to excuse almost any misconduct.”)
• In Andrew Wheeler, Trump Gets a Cannier E.P.A. Chief (Which is really, really bad news. Also note, Wheeler is as deeply corrupt as Pruitt. So any environmentalist or progressive who celebrated Pruitt’s resignation was wildly off base.)
• Now Trump’s Cabinet Will Pick Their Own Political Judges All Over the Government (“Brought to you by the same administration that put Scott Pruitt at EPA.”)
• Beto O’Rourke’s torrid fundraising leaves Ted Cruz in the dust, with another $10 million in last 3 months (“Democrat Beto O’Rourke raised an eye-popping $10.4 million in the last three months — catching up to Sen. Ted Cruz’s six-year haul in just over 15 months as he seeks to topple the Republican darling.” Wow.)
• Rosenstein Asks Prosecutors to Help With Kavanaugh Papers in Unusual Request
• Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lauded late Chief Justice Rehnquist for dissenting in Roe vs. Wade and supporting school prayer
• Sean Spicer contradicts Trump’s Manafort claims in new book (“Exclusive: Trump’s former press secretary describes Manafort as impactful and describes the president as ‘a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow’”)
• Wife of top Trump aide had radio show where she said women in military should expect sexual harassment (“Darla Shine, the wife of new White House deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, hosted a radio show in the late 2000s where she once mocked victims of sexual harassment in the military and repeatedly pushed fringe conspiracy theories about vaccines.” She “, has faced scrutiny in recent days after Mediaite and Huffington Post reported she had made racially charged comments and spread baseless anti-vaccination conspiracy theories on her now-deleted Twitter account.”)
• Nearly 2 years into the Trump presidency, Fox News is still obsessed with Hillary Clinton (Once right wingers create a villain, they never let it go. Progressives/liberals/Dems, in stark contrast, have no clue how to create and maintain a narrative for more than 5 minutes.)
• Like clockwork, Sinclair has a must-run cheering on SCOTUS pick Brett Kavanaugh (Remember, don’t watch WJLA-TV7 “news,” aka right-wing propaganda)
• Russian Influence Campaign Sought To Exploit Americans’ Trust In Local News
• A new study blows up Trump’s “catch-and-release” myth (“Families seeking asylum often miss their court dates — not because they’re criminals, but because the system is broken.”)
• Papa John’s founder resigns from company’s board after apologizing for using the n-word (What I don’t get is why any liberal, progressive, etc. spends a dime at Papa John’s…or any other business headed up by a scumbag/evil executive, such as GoDaddy and Jimmy Johns and any TV station owned by Sinclair.)
• The Washington Post Op-Ed Page Needs an Intervention (“Carpool Dad? Ken Starr?”)
• Evangelical Group Voices Opposition to Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Nomination (“Former Virginia Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told Politico that he was troubled by Kavanaugh’s ruling in the immigrant abortion case and said that a ruling like that suggests that Kavanaugh is not reliably conservative and could be a justice in the mold of Chief Justice John Roberts.”)
• Bannon hosts Europopulists in London ahead of Trump’s visit (“With London distracted by soccer and Brexit, the president’s former strategist has set up shop at a five-star hotel to fuel Europe’s surging brand of Trumpism.” GACK!)
• GOP growing nervous Trump’s policies will plunge party into peril (“Trump and Pence trot out bad-cop, good-cop routine as fears rise over trade war and NATO spat.”)
• Dems struggle with unity amid leadership tensions (“The shakeup has transcended thoughts of merely replacing Crowley as Caucus chairman, as some Democrats are now weighing runs at the very top of the party, where Reps. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Steny Hoyer (Md.) and James Clyburn (S.C.) have reigned for a dozen years.”)
• Big Oil’s ‘Explore Offshore’ Propaganda Is Corporate Ventriloquism (I’m appalled, but sadly not surprised at this point, to see Jim Webb involved in this evil crap.)
• Warner questions whether Trump take on N. Korea nukes matches intel (“The Virginia Democrat asked Trump’s intelligence director to assess whether North Korea is really willing to significantly reduce its stockpile.”)
• Shepard Smith Torches Trump Over NATO Remarks: Could ‘Turn Back the Global Clock Centuries’
• Sen. Tim Kaine on supreme court nominee, trade war
• Senate candidate Corey Stewart supports Trump’s crackdown resulting in child separations (Trump “Mini-Me” Corey Stewart robotically supports EVERYTHING Trump does, no matter how heinous.)
• Sen. Kaine isn’t saying if he favors or opposes Trump’s Supreme Court nominee but is troubled by what he’s seen
• Taylor says he’s different than Stewart (Republicans desperately try to distance themselves from their toxic U.S. Senate nominee, Corey Stewart. But will it work?)
• ICE requests ‘accelerated ramp-up’ of facility to hold immigrants in Caroline County (Blech.)
• Redraw House districts (“A nonpartisan and independent commission must be convened to redraw the 11 district to meet the October deadline. That commission model must then be used every decade to redraw districts.”)
• Draft rules would allow up to 3,000 horse-race gambling machines in Virginia (Not a fan at all.)
• Lawmakers hear advice on how to make Virginia schools safer
• SAIC hiring 75 new employees at downtown Richmond office as part of state IT management contract
• Fairfax County hires new fire chief amid department turmoil (“Board of Supervisors tapped Howard County’s fire chief, John S. Butler.”)
• Seasonably warm today with a stray shower possible; more humid this weekend