Wednesday News: “Trump sets stage for 2020 fight with false claims and recycled attacks”; “Trump’s empty Cabinet”; “Mitch McConnell Is Letting His Freak Flag Fly”; “Tim Kaine on Shanahan allegations, Mark Esper and tensions with Iran”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, June 19.

• Trump Moves From Trade War to Currency War
• Khashoggi murder: Independent investigation blames Saudi Arabia for ‘extrajudicial killing’ of journalist
• ‘Credible evidence’ Saudi crown prince liable for Khashoggi killing – UN report (“Mohammed bin Salman should be investigated over journalist’s murder, says report”)
• Globalization Is Moving Past the U.S. and Its Vision of World Order (“As President Trump deploys tariffs as weapons in international disputes, he has ceded the American role as champion of global trade. But globalization has become such an elemental feature of life that it is probably irreversible.”)
• Fed, Facing Pressure on Rate Cut, to Decide on Next Move
• Trudeau Approval of Tar Sands Pipeline, Say Critics, Would Make ‘Absolute Mockery’ of Climate Emergency Declaration Approved Less Than 24 Hours Ago
• The global transition to clean energy, explained in 12 charts (“Despite all the progress, we’re still struggling to hit the climate emergency brake.”)
• Energy Dept. Weighs Using Clean Tech Funds to Back a Fossil Fuels Project. Will Congress Stop It? (“U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is leading an effort to block the move, which would provide loan guarantees for ethane storage as part of a plastics hub in Appalachia.”)
• The Best People (“Thanks to Trump’s incompetence, there’s no one in charge at the Pentagon in the midst of multiple national security crises.”)
• Trump’s latest immigration threat is yet another half-cooked plan
• Another yes-man bites the dust (“As acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan was one of the president’s enablers.”)
• Trump has a credibility problem with Iran. Shanahan’s departure makes it worse.
• Trump Is Betting That Anger Can Still Be Power (“Trump 2020 may sound a lot like Trump 2016, but this time around the fusion of president and party is complete.”)
• Inside Trump’s 2020 Campaign Launch in Orlando, It’s Still 2016
• Trump sets stage for 2020 fight with false claims and recycled attacks (“President kicked off his bid with lies, attacks on the press and claims a Democrat president would ‘shut down your free speech’”)
• 2016 All Over Again (“What many of those in Orlando really wanted to do was relive their historic victory.” Pathetic.)
• Trump’s empty Cabinet (“Patrick Shanahan’s departure highlights the administration’s hollowed-out senior ranks.”)
• Shanahan drama shocks Capitol Hill, leaving Pentagon rudderless
• As Trump’s defense pick withdraws, he addresses violent domestic incidents (Only the “best people” in the Trump administration, eh?)
• Patrick Shanahan’s departure plunges the Pentagon into uncertainty (“The costs of the disarray the president has cultivated in his administration are growing.”)
• When Bright Futures Outshine Dark Pasts (“The story unraveling around Patrick Shanahan is tragic. But it reminds us of exactly who gets off easy, and why.”)
• Let’s talk about what really matters in 2020: Hillary Clinton’s emails (“As he formally kicks off his reelection campaign, he’s perpetually stuck in 2016.” Demented.)
• Trump’s 2020 message: “Depraved” Democrats “want to destroy you” (“Trump’s polling isn’t great. So he’s using the one play he knows.”)
• Trump launches his re-election campaign with a litany of grievances and grandstanding
• We ought to be concerned about preserving the political order of the Supreme Court (“We need courts that transcend partisan warfare to uphold rather than destroy faith in government. The court can play that role. But not if it is seen as a forum in which the game is rigged and half the population is effectively voiceless.”)
• Trump Never Stopped Campaigning Long Enough to Govern
• Here are 7 wild, bizarre and pathetic moments from Trump’s ‘campaign launch’
• Mitch McConnell calls representation for D.C. and Puerto Rico “full-bore socialism” (“For decades the Republican Party has supported possible statehood. Translation: Trump is now against it”)
• Mitch McConnell Is Letting His Freak Flag Fly (“The Senate Majority Leader is feeling particularly invincible at the moment. We all ought to take notice.”)
• Mitch McConnell says America made up for slavery by electing Barack Obama (You really can’t make this s*** up.)
• Biden, Recalling Civility in Senate, Invokes Two Segregationist Senators (Ugh, no.)
• Ocasio-Cortez Calls Migrant Detention Centers ‘Concentration Camps,’ Eliciting Backlash
• The Evangelical, the ‘Pool Boy,’ the Comedian and Michael Cohen (“Jerry Falwell Jr. defied expectations when he supported Donald J. Trump in 2016. Now details are emerging about behind-the-scenes maneuvering before the endorsement.”)
• Stonewall: a journey into the night that unleashed gay liberation (“Stonewall was a rebellion, a riot and a release of fear. But it was also the celebration of personhood by queer Americans standing proud and unashamed”)
• Poll: Democratic support for impeachment grows
• Trump’s call for mass deportation is exactly what white nationalists wanted
• The Democratic establishment warms to Warren (“Centrists who once said the senator would lead the party to ruin are coming around to her as an alternative to Bernie Sanders.”)
• New York Passes Its Own Green New Deal With Aggressive Targets (“Bill triples solar power, adds 9 gigawatts of offshore wind. Also calls for 100% emissions-free electricity by 2040” Hello Virginia?!?)
• The day that freed us all (“Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when this country served the last official notice that slavery had ended”)
• Top Trump Immigration Official May Not Have Been Legal Pick, Dems Say
• Cuccinelli email to asylum officers sparks anger, push back (“In the email, according to a source who received it, Cuccinelli appeared to press officers interviewing asylum seekers to be skeptical of claims of credible fear of returning home, saying that legally USCIS must conduct interviews but noting that many of the claims are ‘frivolous.'”)
• Tim Kaine on Shanahan allegations, Mark Esper and tensions with Iran
• Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Holds Gun Violence Prevention Roundtables, Says “It’s on our shoulders to act with courage to make our communities safer”
• Congresswoman Elaine Luria introduces Nuclear Energy Leadership Act
• Abingdon crowd rejects governor’s call for action on gun control following Virginia Beach mass shooting (“A roundtable in Southwest Virginia about gun policy on Tuesday started with an audience member’s recitation of the Second Amendment.” Lovely.)
• Gov. Ralph Northam reminds Virginians to get their state tax refunds
• House Republicans want hearing on sexual assault allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax during special session
• House GOP suggests hearing on Fairfax allegations during session on guns; Democrats say they won’t participate in ‘political games’
• Reps. Scott & Beyer Statement on Recent Restraint and Seclusion GAO Report
• Editorial: Herring notches two big wins
• Christopulos: Good thing Martin Luther King didn’t rely on The Roanoke Times for strategy (So true.)
• AG Mark Herring Urges Congress to Protect Integrity of America’s Elections
• Virginia Democratic Primary Spending per Vote Numbers Tell Some Interesting Stories
• How Big a Deal Was Dick Saslaw Getting Just 48.6% of the Vote in the 6/11 Dem Primary? How Big a Deal *Should* It Be?
• Metro’s clumsy Jack Evans probe would be laughable, except the stakes are so high
• Prince William supervisors recognize Pride Month
• Video: “Now This” Features Dan Helmer’s Call for Visa and Other Corporate Donors to “Stop Subsidizing Gun Violence”
• Richmond and Virginia restaurants can advertise their happy hour specials effective July 1
• Will it stay or will it go? After court ruling, fate of Dominion’s James River transmission line is uncertain
• Stoney administration challenges court-ordered release of Richmond Coliseum redevelopment plans
• Virginia Beach city manager says building where mass shooting took place should not be demolished (“City Manager Dave Hansen said the shell of Building 2 is worth $20 million. He favors converting it into a new police headquarters and changing its number to ‘531’ after the date of the shooting.”)
• Gun ban in municipal buildings rejected in wake of mass shooting in Virginia Beach
• 2 more families of mass shooting victims call for Virginia Beach to start independent investigation
• Self-driving shuttles set to hit Northern Virginia streets (“A long-planned self-driving shuttle is set to launch in Fairfax County, Virginia, marking what could be the first autonomous shuttle for public use on public roads anywhere in Virginia. The low-speed shuttle will run in the middle of the day to provide additional Circulator-type service between the Dunn Loring Metro and the Mosaic District, Virginia’s head of transportation innovation Cathy McGhee said Tuesday afternoon.”)
• First Of Three Young, Black Lynching Victims In Loudoun County To Be Memorialized
• Report: Major hurricane could cost Virginia $40 billion
• Muggy with more storms through Thursday; drying out Friday into the weekend