Friday News: “Pecker in a Vise”; “Trump the mob boss wants protection”; “Trump goes full white supremacy with South Africa tweet”; Hurricane Lane

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, August 24.

• Hurricane Lane brings torrential rains to Hawaii’s Big Island
• Scott Morrison, Australia’s Next Prime Minister, Pledges to ‘Heal Our Party’
• The Tax-Cut Con Goes On (“Why Social Security and Medicare are on the ballot.”)
• Manhattan D.A. Eyes Criminal Charges Against Trump Organization (It’s basically a criminal organization run by a crime family – the Trumps.)
• Some of Trump’s most loyal allies seem to have finally had it with him
• Critics fear Trump’s attacks are doing lasting damage to the justice system (Why the formulation, “critics fear?” Why not just state it point blank that Trump’s attacks could be doing lasting damage to the justice system?)
• Trump rage brings sharp response from Sessions
• A cancer on the presidency (“If Trump weren’t the president, he might face jail time.”)
• Trump the mob boss wants protection (“The president is essentially living out a cliche-ridden gangster film.”)
• Donald Trump’s Mafia Mind-Set (“Listening to a legendary American mobster and hearing the president of the United States”)
• Arming teachers with federal education money? Are they even thinking? (“If Betsy DeVos persists with this misfire, Congress should step in.”)
• Betsy DeVos’ Plan for Guns in Schools Is Not Optimal, School-Wise. Also Sanity-Wise. (“Worse, she’s using the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program to do it.”)
• AP: National Enquirer hid damaging Trump stories in a safe
• David Pecker, CEO of National Enquirer Publisher, Granted Immunity in Michael Cohen Case
• “Holy Shit, I Thought Pecker Would Be the Last One to Turn”: Trump’s National Enquirer Allies Are the Latest to Defect
• Republicans: Sessions gone after midterms (“As the president renewed his attacks on his attorney general, two Senate Republicans indicated they’d be open to replacing him — sparking a quick smackdown from GOP leaders.”)
• CNN analyst explains how state case against Trump Organization would be ‘nightmare’ that destroys the entire family(That whole family really needs to be charged with crimes.)
• Republican Leaders Stay Silent After Convictions of Cohen and Manafort (That basically says it all about the Republican Party. Vote them ALL out of office on November 6!)
• ‘Who cares?’ Donors to Trump, GOP shrug off scandal (This party is completely amoral – or is it immoral?)
• Trump’s Long War with Justice (“He fought the law—and won. Could he do it again?”)
• ‘Dangerous and poisoned’: Critics blast Trump for backing white nationalist conspiracy theory on South Africa (Just a reminder that having a “president” like this IS NOT NORMAL!!!)
• Trump goes full white supremacy with South Africa tweet: Does he want a “race war”? (“Trump’s tweet about white farmers in South Africa channeled Tucker Carlson, who channels the worst racist lies”)
• Trump’s Vile Ploy on South Africa (“The president, who gets his intelligence briefings from Fox News, repeats a white nationalist myth about murders of white South African farmers.”)
• Trump’s White-Nationalist Pipeline (“The most enduring scandal in and around the White House might not be corruption, but rather the administration’s constant embrace of bigotry from white-supremacist and far-right groups.” Just like Corey Stewart.)
• The Endgame for Trump Comes Into View (“The exact timing remains unknown, and a little more perseverance and patience in the face of the torrent of Trump indignities will be required. But when this White House collapses, it will happen fast.”)
• Trump Wants to Ban Flipping Because He Is Almost Literally a Mob Boss
• The Conspiracy Memo About Obama Aides That Circulated in the Trump White House (“The 2017 document, titled ‘The Echo Chamber,’ accused former Obama officials of undermining the incoming Administration.”)
• The Fox News president: Trump confirms he’s just repeating what he hears on TV (“Trump spends his latest interview with Fox & Friends echoing the network’s talking points” Utterly demented.)
• White House Reportedly Shut Down Bipartisan Bill to Fight Election Hacking
• Geraldo Rivera blames his own network for putting racist spin on Mollie Tibbetts murder (“We at this network are putting that spin on this story … This is a murder story, not an immigration story.”)
• Second Fox News reporter leaves amid objections to network (No serious reporter should work for Fox – or Sinclair, for that matter.)
• Listen to Mollie Tibbetts’ family, not the fear-mongering rhetoric
• Trump, allies use Mollie Tibbetts killing as rallying cry, but her family is not on board (“Tibbetts kin and the Liberatarian-leaning Cato Institute push back at GOP attempts to ‘politicize’ her murder.”)
• The Note: A bad week for Trump clarifies the stakes
• Coal power is biting the dust – despite Trump’s reprieve.”
• To Be Scared No One Should Need a Tape of Him Using a Racial Slur (“President* Trump is openly promoting international white-supremacist conspiracy theories”)
• Trump learns the taste of betrayal
• Michael J. Cassidy column: Working families missed out on Trump’s tax plan, but Virginia can rebalance the scale (“… households with incomes of $200,000 and higher get over 40 percent of the overall federal tax cuts for individuals. To put that in context, just over half of Virginia tax filers are families who earn less than $50,000 per year. Yet this group of taxpayers will receive only 7 percent of the overall tax cuts.”)
• State scientists confirm more sightings of endangered bumblebee along pipeline route (Another reason to stop this stupid thing.)
• Virginia’s high court passes on chance to stand up to Dominion for conflicts of interest on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
• Could climate change make mosquitoes worse in Virginia? The answer is more complicated than you might think.
• Leadership changes coming at Inside Business, Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press
• Charlottesville judge hands down multiyear sentences in garage beating of DeAndre Harris
• Editorial: Don’t like Lee County arming teachers? Blame Richmond. (Seems like a stretch.)
• Dulles to Europe for $149, Virginia welcomes Primera Air (“One-way flights to London are starting at $149 and one-way flights to Brussels start at $199.”)
• Protesters shut down Albemarle County School Board meeting over dress code vote
• Blissful August comfort through tomorrow. Heat and humidity build in a few days.