Saturday News: At NRA Convention, Trump “Pulls Out of Arms Treaty”; “Trump Still Thinks He Handles Charlottesville ‘Perfectly'”; Biden Raises “$6.3 Million on First Day as Candidate”; “Virginia’s NCAA-winning basketball team declines White House invitation”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, April 27.

• Sri Lanka’s Military Reports 15 Deaths In Shootout During Search For Bomb Suspects
• Trump withdraws from UN arms treaty as NRA crowd cheers in delight (Disgusting and evil.)
• Trump Pulls Out of Arms Treaty During Speech at N.R.A. Convention (“President Trump signed a letter onstage that would effectively cease U.S. involvement in a treaty designed to regulate the international sale of conventional weapons.” Appalling, of course.)
• The NRA Convention Is Trump’s Happy Place (“The president ingratiated himself with the gun lobby—and tore up an Obama-era arms treaty for dramatic effect.”)
• Trump Re-enacts Paris Terrorist Attacks, Says Armed Concert-Goers Would’ve Stopped Onslaught (“Yes, our president actually pantomimed shooting people.” And I ask again, how can anyone in their right mind support this freakazoid?)
• Donald Trump Shows a New Level of Contempt for Congress (“Many presidents have resisted congressional demands for testimony and documents. But not quite like Mr. Trump.”)
• Trump Still Thinks He Handles Charlottesville “Perfectly” (“‘I was talking about people that went because they felt very strongly about the monument to Robert E. Lee,’ the president clarified, helpfully.”)
• Trump says he answered Charlottesville questions ‘perfectly’ (“The president is refusing to back down from his comments that there were ‘very fine people’ on both sides.” Trump is incapable of learning.)
• Rosenstein defends Russia investigation, takes shots at Obama administration (I already had lost all respect for Rosenstein after he stood behind – literally – Bill Barr, but yeah…this confirms how much he sucks.)
• It Is Impossible to Come Off Worse in a Newspaper Story Than Rod Rosenstein Did Today (“The departing deputy attorney general got a justified hiding from the Washington Post.”)
• Could Don McGahn lead a Trump exodus? Republican lawyers may be ready to jump off sinking ship (“In stonewalling Congress and accusing McGahn of lying, Trump may have doomed himself with legal conservatives”)
• A Decision in Kansas May Show How Abortion Rights Could Outlive Roe v. Wade (“The Kansas Supreme Court’s decision may lead other states to establish abortion rights that could survive a reversal of Roe v. Wade.”)
• If This Guy’s Name Were al-Hasan Instead of Hasson, Would He Be Released From Jail? (“Dispatches from the United States of America.”)
• The Sandersites Open Fire on Biden (“‘Biden is an existential threat to your candidate,’ says one progressive activist.”)
• Biden allies launch super PAC (“The super PAC will run local and national media ads for Biden and ensure he’ll have an activist network in all 50 states as he seeks to maintain his standing at the top of the polls in the Democratic primary. For the People will also run Facebook ads that send potential donors directly to Biden’s campaign.”)
• ‘Sleepy’ or ‘Hyper’? Biden, Trump spar over age and energy (“A day after he entered the White House race, it appears the former vice president is getting under Trump’s skin.”)
• Biden Says He Raised $6.3 Million on First Day as Candidate (“Total tops all first-day fundraising totals by Democrats. Of online donations, 97 percent came in amounts less than $200”)
• Will Joe Biden’s History Lift Him Up or Weigh Him Down?
• The Biggest Threat to Biden’s Candidacy Isn’t the Left, It’s Biden Himself
• F.B.I. Warns of Russian Interference in 2020 Race (“The F.B.I. director warned anew on Friday about Russia’s continued meddling in American elections, calling it a “significant counterintelligence threat.” The bureau has shifted additional agents and analysts to shore up defenses against interference, according to an official.”)
• In N.R.A. Power Struggle, Insurgents Seek to Oust Wayne LaPierre (“Turmoil racking the National Rifle Association is threatening to turn the group’s annual convention into outright civil war, as insurgents maneuver to oust Wayne LaPierre, the foremost voice of the American gun rights movement. The confrontation pits Mr. LaPierre, the organization’s longtime chief executive, against its recently installed president, Oliver L. North, the central figure in the Reagan-era Iran-contra affair, who remains a hero to many on the right.” What a horrible organization.)
• How can the American people protect themselves from dangerous leaders — like the one we’ve got? (“Therapist and mediator Bill Eddy on the dangers of a leader who “repeatedly blames others” and becomes isolated”)
• We analyzed the Twitter firestorm around Ilhan Omar’s comments on 9/11. Here’s what we found. (“This is how Twitter turns one tweet into a major news story.”)
• Why can’t Twitter stop Trump’s hateful tweets about Ilhan Omar? (“Congresswoman received death threats following video Trump posted – but he didn’t technically violate the rules”)
• Chasten Buttigieg emerges as Mayor Pete’s secret weapon (“The 29-year-old school humanities and drama junior high teacher from Michigan not only functions as a much sought-after campaign spokesman and adviser, but he is also helping humanize the first gay major presidential candidate in a country that only legalized same-sex marriage four years ago.”)
• New York archdiocese releases names of dozens of Catholic clergy ‘credibly accused’ of child sex abuse
• Why So Many Violent White Supremacists Aren’t Charged With Domestic Terrorism
• Virginia’s NCAA-winning basketball team declines White House invitation (Good!)
• Trump to skip National Teacher of the Year award ceremony
• This Measles Outbreak Is a Manifestation of National Insanity (“What happens if an epidemic of a far more perilous disease touches these shores?”)
• Military families show housing concerns to Senator Warner: ‘You deserve better’
• Editorial: What Biden’s Charlottesville video really says
• Sen. Tim Kaine visits Virginia Tech to talk about sexual assault and campus safety, among others
• Charlottesville is an enduring symbol. But of what? (Former Cville Mayor Mike Signer: “Biden is right. It’s about ‘a battle for the soul of this nation.’”)
• Video: Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax’s Former Policy Director Speaks Out – “I believed and still believe that the Lieutenant Governor has lost the moral legitimacy to hold public office.” (“Dr. Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson are NOT a modern-day lynch mob”)
• GOP leaders send support to Capitol Police following report of Sen. Chase’s altercation (Paywalled.)
• Scott Miles Will Be the Democratic Candidate for Chesterfield Commonwealth’s Attorney (“Miles was the first Chesterfield Democrat to be elected Commonwealth’s Attorney in decades”)
• Video: Alicia Plerhoples Blasts “Make Fairfax Great Again” Candidate (“For a black or brown person like me; those words are hateful, filled with bigotry, divisive, and I can’t believe that they’re used in Fairfax County.”)
• Sen. Amanda Chase Goes Too Far in Accusing Capitol Police
• Yasmine Taeb Speaks Truth to Power at SD-35 Debate
• Chris Peace Supporter Set to Change Method of Nomination at the Last Minute (Crazy Republican infighting.)
• Arlington OKs $11.5 million grant to keep DEA in Pentagon City
• Majority of speakers decry Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan during first public hearing
• Windy this weekend, with gusts peaking today (“A wind advisory is in effect for parts of the area, as gusts may approach 50 mph.”)