Tuesday News: “Open Treason” as “Sad, Weak” Trump Sides With Putin, “Betrays His Country in Plain Sight”; “Russia-NRA Arrest: This Is as Close as It Gets to Collusion”; GOP’s “Moment of Truth”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, July 17.

• Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and America’s “geopolitical suicide” (“The Trump-Putin meeting reveals how Trump is killing American power.”)
• ‘Disgraceful,’ ‘shameful’: Trump’s defense of Putin finds few supporters in Congress
• The moment called for Trump to stand up for America. He chose to bow.
• Why Russian officials were gleeful at Trump’s diplomatic train wreck (“Analysis: In rushing headstrong into a summit with no agenda or goals, Trump failed on the world stage.”)
• ‘Shameful,’ ‘treasonous,’ ‘disgraceful’: Trump slammed from all sides for news conference with Putin
• ‘Very much counter to the plan’: Trump defies advisers in embrace of Putin (“Ahead of the meeting, staffers provided President Trump with some 100 pages of briefing materials aimed at laying out a tough posture toward Russian President Vladmir Putin, but Trump ignored most of it, according to one person familiar with the discussions.”)
• At Summit With Russia, Trump Betrays His Country in Plain Sight (“Trump told the world he trusts the denial of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin — the very man who did the deed! — over his own government’s intelligence.”)
• Trump’s Sad, Weak Encounter With Putin
• 7 Takeaways From Trump’s Catastrophic Meeting With Putin
• White House: Trump Isn’t a Traitor, Just a Cognitively Impaired Egotist (How about both?)
• It’s time to take Trump both seriously and literally on Russia (“Trump is hard on traditional allies and soft on Putin because that’s what he thinks.” Yep. He’s also a white supremacist who hates immigrants from what he disgustingly calls “shithole countries,” of course countries with lots of people of color living in them. Trump is America’s eternal disgrace, the absolute worst of this country, just as Barack Obama was its absolute best.)
• Trump’s Own Team: He ‘Looked Incredibly Weak’ Next to Putin (“The president, former advisers say, is driven by a deep sense of insecurity about the election. And so he will never really confront his Russian counterpart.” He SHOULD be, as he lost the popular vote by millions and only won the electoral college due to tiny wins in a few states, almost aided by Russian influence.)
• Putin’s view triumphs in Helsinki as Trump questions U.S. intelligence
• Fox News’s Chris Wallace gives Putin the grilling Trump won’t (“The interview turned heated at points, with Wallace clearly frustrated by Putin’s trademark filibustering and Putin clearly frustrated by a journalist actually challenging him.”)
• Trump just colluded with Russia. Openly. (Republicans should, but won’t, impeach his treasonous ass.)
• Trump’s Appeasement Summit with Putin
• Trump Shows the World He’s Putin’s Lackey (“Maybe the president is exactly as compromised as he looks.”)
• Trump and Putin vs. America (“There is overwhelming evidence that our president, for the first time in our history, is deliberately or through gross negligence or because of his own twisted personality engaged in treasonous behavior — behavior that violates his oath of office to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'”)
• Trump Sheds All Notions of How a President Should Conduct Himself Abroad (This is beyond appalling. How can any patriotic American support this guy?)
• Colbert says Trump’s meeting with Putin should count as ‘treason’
• Trump accuses Obama of rigging Russia investigation (“The president also praised Putin and told Hannity that the Mueller probe is hurting U.S.-Russia relations.”)
• Congressional GOP Carefully Expresses Mild Disappointment over Trump’s Helsinki Performance (The Congressional GOP all needs to be tossed out in November by patriotic Americans.)
• Look Who’s the Manchurian Candidate Now (“The far-right’s conspiracy theories about President Obama apply much better to President Trump.”)
• We are a deeply stupid country (“I know this must be the case because President Trump has repeatedly informed us that we are a ‘stupid country’ — he offered this opinion on at least nine occasions since he launched his campaign for the presidency — and he should know. As he reminded us after his NATO meeting last week, he is a ‘very stable genius.'”)
• The deep ties between the NRA and the Russian national just arrested on conspiracy charges (“The indictment also accuses the NRA of acting as a conduit between Russian operatives and the Republican Party.”)
• MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow explains why Paul Manafort’s Virginia trial delay could be the most important development today
• Trump Just Fell for ‘a Classic KGB Trick’ (“Putin, former KGB case officer that he is, certainly knew that details would bore Trump, who imagined he was engaging in big-time statecraft even as he sounded petty and defensive.”)
• Russia-NRA Arrest: This Is as Close as It Gets to Collusion (“For all the indictments, arrests, and guilty pleas in the far-flung investigation into Russian influence, none has come close to alleging collusion. Until Maria Butina was nabbed.”)
• Trump’s astounding ignorance about history (“So shallow, so witless, so dangerous.” Sociopathic as well.)
• Trump replaces national pride with personal vanity (“By following Trump into his Russian fetish, the GOP is forfeiting its legitimacy.”
• Trump is a Putin fanboy. Someday we’ll know why. (“Trump’s summit in Helsinki went a long way toward achieving Putin’s most cherished goal.”)
• Chris Wallace takes on Vladimir Putin, and is not outfoxed (“In his interview with the Russian president, Wallace pressed Putin in all the ways President Trump did not”)
• Trump aides face calls to resign after president’s appearance with Putin (“If you’re on the Trump national security team, and you’ve been out there saying how strong Trump is on Russia and how serious our commitment is to NATO, how do you not resign after the last four days?”)
• Putin’s Attack on the U.S. Is Our Pearl Harbor (“Make no mistake: Hacking the 2016 election was an act of war. It’s time we responded accordingly.”)
• In Helsinki, Trump Shows He Is Indeed Guilty of Collusion (“He again helped Putin cover up Russia’s attack on the US.”)
• This Is the Moment of Truth for Republicans (“The GOP can either defend the United States or serve the damaged and defective man who is now its president.” Corey Stewart, for one, made his choice – “serve the damaged and defective man who is now…president”)
• Even on Fox, Trump’s Helsinki Performance Was ‘Ridiculous’ and ‘Surreal’ (“The president found no safe harbor on his favorite network after his controversial press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”)
• Trump’s Defense of Putin Proves Too Much for Some Republicans (Key word: “some.” Should be “ALL”)
• Will Republicans punish Trump for his performance with Putin? (“While his comments on election meddling have been called ‘disgraceful’, a reluctance to avoid open conflict remains” If the GOP doesn’t openly confront Trump – and impeach his treasonous ass – then they are effectively colluding with him.)
• Trump’s performance at summit with Putin was ‘unprecedented,’ experts say
• U.S. Intelligence Chiefs, Current And Former, Fire Back At Trump
• Trump’s Helsinki Bow To Putin Leaves World Wondering: Why? (“It was as if the need to keep that Election Night feeling alive was greater than the need to deal with the geopolitical situation at hand and defend the international rule of law. Greater also than the need to support NATO and its mission to hold Putin accountable. And greater than the first commitment of any president to protect the national security and preserve the democracy of the United States.”)
• Kaine, Stewart agree to Senate debate in October
• CASEY: Comedian punks Virginia lobbyist on gun rights for kids (“Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, thought it was an ordinary interview. And that’s the way he played it, even after it meandered into the question of gun rights for toddlers, and guns masquerading as plush toys.”)
• Virginia House Democrats Propose Session on Redistricting; Leader Toscano’s Letter Requests Early Action
• Kaine, Stewart campaigns working behind scenes in summer preparing for fall
• Republicans lead fundraising in 6th and 9th District races; Democrat ahead in 5th District
• Money race narrows in 2nd Congressional District race (See all the numbers here)
• Va. House Democrats asks Republican leaders to begin redrawing electoral map this summer
• Watchdog group says McGuireWoods utilized weak Va. law by hiring former speaker (“Despite the state’s ethics laws, McGuireWoods’ wealthy clients will be able to buy a lot of access and influence through Mr. Howell — access and influence not available to the average Virginian” Disgraceful.)
• Vulnerable Virginia House Republicans lead in money race going into general election (“Democrats are building their war chests after competitive primaries”)
• Fairfax, Stoney convene panel on how to reduce eviction rates
• How will Richmond Public Schools pay for J.E.B. Stuart school renaming? Obama T-shirts
• Editorial: Our political all-stars (They put Bob BADlatte, one of the most destructive forces in Congress on an “All-Star” Team? Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…)
• Metro union’s strike vote capped two years of escalating animosity
• A Look At Immigration From A Virginia Town With A Fast-Growing Hispanic Population (“Galax, Va., is a small rural city that has one of the fastest-growing Hispanic populations in the state. Residents talk about their attitudes toward immigration and President Trump’s policies.”)
• Henrico Democratic chairman to step down to focus on campaign for state Senate (“Jones said he is stepping down to focus on his campaign in 2019 to replace state Sen. Siobhan S. Dunnavant, R-Henrico, to represent voters in Senate District 12, which includes Henrico’s western end and parts of Hanover County.”)
• Charlottesville City Council changes names of two renamed parks
• Muggy and hot with afternoon storms, big relief tomorrow