Friday News: “‘Psychopath’ Donald Trump Cheers Body-Slamming Of Reporter”; Right Wingers Smear Khashoggi; ” Dominion shouldn’t make campaign contributions…This is legalized corruption”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, October 19.

• Top Afghan officials killed in Kandahar shooting; U.S. commander unhurt
• Twitter Explodes After ‘Psychopath’ Donald Trump Cheers Body-Slamming Of Reporter (“The president’s comments were criticized as ‘shocking and chilling.'”)
• Trump tweets laughable lie about GOP support of coverage for pre-existing conditions
• The Trump administration’s see-no-evil indulgence of Saudi Arabia
• Trump Says Khashoggi Likely Dead, Warns of ‘Severe’ Consequences (Since every word Trump says is a lie, I presume “severe” means “NOT severe”)
• Khashoggi’s alleged murder says as much about America as Saudi Arabia
• What does Trump’s ascendance mean about America? (“It’s impossible to listen closely to Trump without hearing echoes of fascist language and arguments.”)
• UK and US pull out of Saudi event over alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi (“UK trade secretary, Liam Fox, and US Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, join others in boycotting economic forum in Riyadh”)
• ‘He’s my guy’: Trump praises Gianforte for assault on Guardian reporter (“President’s comments at Montana rally in praise of violence against US journalist come amid international outcry over Khashoggi” And let me guess, the crowd of Trumpsters cheered?)
• Conservatives mount a whisper campaign smearing Khashoggi in defense of Trump (Evil.)
• Turkish source says Pompeo heard recording of Khashoggi murder, State Department denies
• Saudis May Blame Intelligence Official for Killing Jamal Khashoggi (There is zero chance the Crown Prince didn’t know about this.)
• The Memo: Saudi storm darkens for Trump
• Donald Trump’s Attempt At A Twitter Rhyme Backfires Spectacularly (“The president tested out a new hashtag, but it didn’t go as planned.”)
• Feds Launch Sex Abuse Probe Of Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic Church (This church needs to be investigated in every state, ASAP.)
• Kelly, Bolton get in profanity-laced shouting match: reports (Only the best people.)
• Jimmy Carter: Kavanaugh is ‘unfit’ to be a Supreme Court justice (Kavanaugh is unfit to be a judge of any kind.)
• A President Who Believes He Is Entitled to His Own Facts (Except they aren’t “facts,” they are lies.)
• Exclusive: Twitter pulls down bot network that pushed pro-Saudi talking points about disappeared journalist (“Twitter became aware of some of the bots on Thursday when NBC News presented the company with evidence of coordinated activity.”)
• Sean Hannity dismisses outcry over Jamal Khashoggi’s murder: “Where was the Benghazi outrage?” (Demented.)
• Rush Limbaugh: “So-called Washington Post journalist” Jamal Khashoggi’s murder doesn’t matter because Benghazi (“Limbaugh floats conspiracy theory that Khashoggi may still be alive” Pure evil.)
• A Defector From Conservatism With a Clear Vision of Trump’s Rise
• Ted Cruz Looks Stale and Old and Past His Time (“The Texas Republican is still the favorite against Beto O’Rourke, but Tuesday’s debate wasn’t flattering.”)
• Zinke is latest Trump cabinet member to have abused travel privileges (“Interior Department watchdog says Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke violated numerous policies.”)
• Men and Christians experience higher amounts of discrimination than other groups, Trump voters claim (“…more than women, LGBTQ people, Muslims, or non-white people.” Riiiiight.)
• This psychological quirk explains why Trump supporters can’t see he’s an idiot — according to science
• Brennan Gilmore: Dominion shouldn’t make campaign contributions (“Second, the false equivalency drawn in the editorial between Dominion’s spending and that of environmental groups misses the mark: Dominion’s activities are regulated by the politicians they are paying — they have a direct financial stake in the legislative actions of our representatives. Environmental groups are all non-profit organizations without that same financial stake. Worse, many Virginian politicians hold stock in Dominion, so both politicians and Dominion profit when Dominion wins. This is legalized corruption.”)
• Democrat Vangie Williams has fundraising surge, but still trails Republican Rep. Rob Wittman
• The Republican who shocked the world 4 years ago could lose because of redistricting (“Spanberger spokesman Justin Jones said he expects the race to be so close it could come down to hundreds of votes.”)
• Dave Brat tells inmates, “You think you’re having a hard time—I got $5  million worth of negative ads going at me” (Completely self absorbed; zero self awareness.)
• Brat takes heat over comment to inmates; recovery advocates defend him (Haha…a “Brat staffer pointed to a Facebook discussion in which drug recovery advocates came to Brat’s defense.”)
• VIDEO: Dave Brat Doubles Down on Belittling the Struggles of Virginians Facing the Opioid Epidemic, Says “Negative Ads” Are What Keeps Him Awake at Night
• Barbara Comstock Attacks Her Own Constituents In Bizarre Rant
• Video: Scott Taylor Says AR-15 Is a “Scapegoat” Not a “Monster”; Claims to Have No Clue What Black Lives Matter Is; Falsely Claims Need for “Corroborating Witness” in Sexual Assault Cases
• Pence comes to Richmond on Saturday for three GOP congressional candidates (Pence is as bad in his own way as Trump.)
• Brat to inmates: ‘You think you’re having a hard time — I’ve got $5 million in negative ads.’
• After 11/6, Special Election for Jennifer Wexton’s State Senate Seat Could Move Really Fast AND Really Slow
• Two progressives are running for Congress in Virginia’s most conservative districts. Do they have a shot?
• Bob McDonnell, sister help McEachin’s challenger land fundraiser with Pence (Corrupt ol’ “Taliban Bob” still at it, I see.)
• Editorial: The curious legal silence on Stanley’s question to Herring (“Brad Jacob, who teaches at the Regent University School of Law, was pretty emphatic: The Brown decision doesn’t apply here. The Brown decision, he says, was in the context of racial segregation. Nobody’s alleging that Virginia’s outdated schools are the result of racial segregation. Indeed, some of them are in predominantly white rural areas — some so white that some schools don’t have a single African-American student.”)
• Among Amazon HQ2 Watchers, Northern Virginia Checks the Most Boxes
• Your View: Kaine, Flaccavento have shown disdain for the word of God (The only reason I’m putting this one here is to say, WTF Bristol Herald Courier, you printed this bigoted insanity, which claims that Democrats supposedly “demonstrate their dismissal and disdain of the Word of God and His Son by supporting the killing of unborn children and supporting the LGBTQ agenda?” Why would you print this???)
• California professor from 2015 gerrymandering case will redraw Virginia’s voting map
• Chesapeake Bay surveys show striped bass doing just fine
• Richmond City Council to Kamras: Not so fast on real estate tax hike
• Enrollment in Va.’s expanded Medicaid program starts Nov. 1 (“After years of GOP resistance and a blue wave, an additional 400,000 to get health care.”)
• Q&A: Virginia couple takes a stand in Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s path
• October splendor today, showers tonight. Warm Saturday and blustery Sunday!