Sunday News: Trump Meets His Soulmate in N. Korea; “Dem debates spark fundraising gusher for breakout stars”; “Kamala’s attack on Biden was months in the making”; “A Wave of Cash Headed for Virginia Elections”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, June 30.

• Trump becomes first sitting president to step foot into North Korea (“President Trump became the first U.S. leader to meet his North Korean counterpart at the border since an armistice was signed after the Korean War 66 years ago. Trump and Kim Jong Un later met for close to an hour and agreed to restart negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program.”)
• Trump Becomes First Sitting U.S. President to Enter North Korea: In Pictures (So, clearly Kim gets something out of this, but I’m totally unclear how – if at all – the U.S. might benefit from meeting this thug, giving him legitimacy, etc. My guess, particularly given that it’s “dotard” Trump, is NOTHING…probably hurts us, actually.)
• Analysis: Trump’s diplomacy puts relationships over results (Which, of course, is ass backwards.)
• Boris Johnson: UK’s main parties face ‘political extinction’ without Brexit (“Tories and Labour ‘will suffer considerably from an electorate that feels that they can’t trust politicians to deliver on their promises.’”)
• Donald Trump Too Tame for You? Meet Britain’s Boris Johnson (“The bombastic and narcissistic former mayor of London and foreign secretary is the favorite to become the next prime minister. Brexit here we come.”)
• Trump tries to persuade supporters that no deal on China is a win (“The president is running for reelection with a major unfulfilled campaign promise — a trade deal with China.”)
• China warns of long road ahead for deal with U.S. after ice-breaking talks
• Pentagon study: Russia outgunning U.S. in race for global influence (“A divided America is failing to counter Moscow’s efforts to undermine democracy and cast doubt on U.S. alliances, says the report, which warns of a surge in ‘political warfare.'”)
• Kamala Harris Won in Miami, but Vladimir Putin Won in Osaka (“On the high cost of President Trump’s in-your-facemanship.”)
• Trump just publicly proved he couldn’t pass a middle-school civics test (“He thinks ‘Western liberalism’ literally means liberals on the west coast.” Ee gads, how can anyone be this stupid?)
• Trump just proved he doesn’t even know the meaning of America
• Harris dropped a bomb on Biden that’s bigger than politics
• What Trump’s Team Must Be Thinking After the Dem Debates (Kamala Harris: “My God”; Elizabeth Warren: “A strong showing in her first exhibition game.”)
• Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe Is Making Trump Very Uncomfortable (“Now AOC is cheering her on”)
• Internal cracks emerge in GOP strategy to avoid shutdown (“Congress has until the end of September to prevent the second government closure of the year, but Republicans are struggling to overcome the first roadblock — agreeing to topline defense and nondefense figures or deciding what comes next if they can’t…House Democrats have already moved 10 out of the 12 government funding bills, giving them potential leverage in any spending negotiations, though the bills include partisan provisions that make them dead on arrival in the Senate. “)
• Supreme Court stokes DACA fight for 2020
• A climate-focused presidential debate? Here’s what moderators should ask. (Bill Nye: “How would you persuade climate deniers in Congress to help you address the problem? Or how would you work around the deniers?”)
• The Democratic Primary’s Moving Margins (“In the first debates, radical ideas were as much at the center of the action as at the fringes.”)
• Kamala Harris raises $2 million in 24 hours after breakout debate
• 2020 Democrats defend Kamala Harris after Donald Trump Jr. tweet about her race
• Kamala’s attack on Biden was months in the making (“She and her advisers assiduously plotted the attack — and how to capitalize on it afterward.”)
• Trump Consultant Is Trolling Democrats With Biden Site That Isn’t Biden’s
• Dem debates spark fundraising gusher for breakout stars (“The Democratic digital fundraising platform ActBlue raised $6.9 million on Thursday alone — the party’s biggest day in more than two months and a sign of fresh energy coursing through 2020 campaigns after this week’s debates.”)
• Newest justices shift high court, but with big differences (“Data shows that Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh have disagreed more than any pair of new justices chosen by the same president in decades.”)
• Frederick Douglass would be outraged at Trump’s Fourth of July self-celebration
• Oregon Republican Senators End Walkout After Killing Carbon Bill (“After disappearing for nine days, Oregon’s Republican state senators returned to work.”)
• Tesla Led The Charge, But More Premium Electric Vehicles Are Arriving
• Trump Is Counting on the Media to Help Re-Elect Him — Will They Oblige? (“In 2016, all that free air time, and not calling a lie a lie, tilted the scales. Are we looking at a repeat performance?”)
• Dems Torn Over Whether to Now Go Nuts Gerrymandering Their Own Maps (“To gerrymander or not to gerrymander, that is the question.”)
• Video: Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Rips “Small Band of Members” Who Killed House Dem Border Bill that Would Have Added Protections, Inspections, etc.
• Video: At 2019 VA Women’s Summit, Sen. Mark Warner Promises to Take “Get Things Done” Fan to Mitch McConnell (Warner marvels at how the Women’s Summit has grown from like 7 people a couple years ago to many hundreds now.)
• Schapiro: A high court ruling too late to help Virginia Republicans
• A Wave of Cash Headed for Virginia Elections (“Just in the last week or so, three high-profile donors have pledged $1.6 million to the effort to wrest control of the Assembly from the GOP… If the two Democratic PACs are able to replicate that in the 2019 Assembly races — and if Steyer is able to keep the upward trajectory of the youth turnout — Republican control of the Assembly could be in danger.”)
• New laws going into effect: Interstate 81 improvement plan, driver’s license suspensions and happy hour promotions
• This swamp is worth saving (“Norfolk Southern must protect the Great Dismal Swamp as it recovers from Tuesday’s coal spill…The Great Dismal Swamp is more than just a refuge for rare types of wildlife. It is visited by nearly 500,000 people each year who enjoy the peace and serenity that comes with it.”)
• Editorial: Progress stalled on mental health reform (“THE VIRGINIA GENERAL Assembly in 2017 approved an ambitious package of reforms intended to improve the delivery of mental health services, expand the array of programs available and bolster access to care.”)
• Opinion/Editorial: Both parties play political games (This editorial is basically the epitome of the corporate media’s “both sidesism,” false equivalency, covering politics as a game, etc.)
• Limpert: Pipeline coating is dangerous
• Democratic Nominee Ann Ridgeway Argues Del. Nick Freitas’s Failure to Get on Ballot Means He’s “Unable to Properly Participate in November 5th Election Process”
• Editorial: At regional jail, inmate health still at risk
• “We’re strong. We’re resilient”: A month after tragedy, Virginia Beach is a changed city
• Editorial: Richmond should hold a citywide summit to address the root causes of crime (“In February, then-Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring released a discussion guide designed to spark debate at a hoped-for citywide summit that would adopt policies to move criminal justice beyond the cycle of arrest and prosecution.”)
• Virginia police use lift to remove pipeline protester (“The Roanoke Times reports 26-year-old Michael James-Deramo is facing misdemeanor counts of entering private property to damage it and preventing the operation of a vehicle. Virginia State Police used a mechanized lift Friday to remove James-Deramo.”)
• Summer Parade in Churchville, VA Features Confederate Flags, Trump 2020 Signs, “Open Carried” Rifles and Handguns
• Mother of missing toddler charged with neglect; police seen at site of city-operated incinerator
• D.C.-area forecast: Still summery but more pleasant through tomorrow, then heating up again through the Fourth as storm chances return