Tuesday News: Terrorist Attack in Manchester Kills 22; Trump Budget Demolishes His Own Voters; “Jed Clampett” and the “Orb”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, May 23.

• Children among the 22 dead in ‘terrorist’ blast at concert arena in Britain (Horrible and evil.)
• Trump budget proposal would slash spending, could reshape assistance to the poor (Completely unacceptable on every level.)
• Trump asked intelligence chiefs to deny collusion between campaign, Russia, officials say (Impeachable?)
• Flynn takes 5th on Senate subpoena as a top House Democrat alleges new evidence of lies (Flynn for Prison?)
• Trump’s budget is so cruel a Russian propaganda outfit set the White House straight (“A reporter with Russia’s Sputnik pointed out that the proposal would cut off benefits from American citizens who are the children of immigrants.”)
• Team Trump directly censors climate science statement
• Another bad budget from Trump targets the poor (“The Trump budget takes aim at entitlements — but largely ones that the most vulnerable Americans depend upon.”)
• Trump’s budget hits his own voters hardest (“The president’s proposal for next year’s federal spending calls for more than $1 trillion in cuts to social programs, including farm aid.” Working-class and rural whites get decimated by Trump. Shocker, huh?)
• Trump seeks historic cuts to government (This monstrosity needs to be D.O.A.)
• Watch Netanyahu’s face while Trump says he never mentioned “Israel” to the Russians (“Did Trump just inadvertently confirm Israel was the source of the intel disclosure?”)
• Will Donald Trump Be Impeached? (“The easiest-to-imagine scenario for Trump being removed is if Republicans get clobbered in the midterms after two years of trying to defend Trump, the Republican agenda is in shambles, Democrats begin impeachment proceedings in early 2019, and just enough Republicans decide that Pence (or some fresh face with no ties to the Trump White House) gives them a better shot to avoid total annihilation in 2020.”)
• In Trump’s house of betrayal, leaks are business as usual. That’s a big problem.
• The White House may claim Mueller has conflicts of interest. That’s ridiculous.
• The absurd conspiracy theory around Seth Rich’s death causes real harm
• Want to know what Trumpcare would do to the country? Look at the implosion in Iowa.
• Donald Trump is destroying his own presidency (“Trump has no one to blame for his endangered presidency but himself.”)
• The Supreme Court may just have given voting rights activists a powerful new tool (“Elena Kagan’s decision opens doors to fight gerrymandering in future cases.”)
• Fox News Staffers ‘Embarrassed’ by Hannity’s Conspiracy Theory Crusade (“The right-wing prime time star has incensed his co-workers by giving airtime to a fringe theory that Clinton apparatchiks had DNC staffer Seth Rich murdered.”)
• Fox News continues to push Seth Rich conspiracy after Rich family sent cease and desist to Fox contributor, demanded apology (“Fox News staffers are reportedly ’embarrassed’ by the network’s promotion of Seth Rich conspiracy, asking ‘ARE WE STILL AIRING THAT SHIT?!’ Of course, you could ask that for this entire “news” network.)
• Is a wave election forming for Democrats? (“Nonpartisan election handicappers have begun to shift the House further away from the Republican majority, in part due to President Trump’s tepid approval ratings and the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.”)
• Donald Trump’s Budget Will Never Pass. It’s Still Frightening.
• The hilarious Trump orb photo is a nearly perfect metaphor for his foreign policy
• What Does Trump Win If He’s the Last One Touching the Orb? (“God, we’ve sent the Clampetts overseas…No wonder Ringling Brothers went out of business over the weekend. The competition for traveling circuses is way too ferocious these days.”)
• The President Just Told a Room of Israelis That He “Just Got Back From the Middle East” (Yep, that’s our “president” right there.)
• Clarence Thomas Joins Liberals, Shocks World (“A strange Supreme Court alliance just struck a blow against racial gerrymandering in the United States.”)
• The Alienated Mind (“Impeached or not, it’s hard to see how Trump recovers as an effective governing force. Now is the moment for a new establishment to organize, to address the spirit of alienation that gave rise to Trump, but which transcends him.”)
• The 25th Amendment Makes Presidential Disability a Political Question (“Nothing in the text or history of the amendment is stopping the vice president, Cabinet, and Congress from determining that the president is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.'”)
• Warner: ‘Real sense of urgency’ on Russia investigation
• Va. lawmakers to introduce bill to help combat sea level rise, recurrent flooding (That’s fine, but we’ve got to address the root causes of the problem.)
• Warner, in Richmond stop, says he wants details of Trump and Comey conversation
• The Democratic Primary in the Virginia Governor Race Is Getting Very Interesting (“The biggest difference between the two candidates is more about tone and focus: Northam seems to stand for the traditional Virginia Democratic Party and its constituencies and preoccupations, while Perriello is very much running a campaign fueled by anger at Donald J. Trump.”)
• Can Virginia Republicans withstand anti-Trump fervor? (Highly unlikely.)
• Ralph Northam Holds Press Conference with LGBT, Gun Control PAC
• Virginia Food Bank Aims To Tackle Root Causes Of Hunger
• A “personal friend” exemption on gifts to Virginia’s elected officials leaves open an unlimited loophole
• Virginia elections website shows security warnings on last day to register for gubernatorial primary
• Lieutenant governor candidates square off in Staunton (“Justin Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor, Susan Platt, a political consultant, and Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor, agreed on much as approximately 100 audience members at Mary Baldwin University listened carefully to try inform their voting decisions in the upcoming June 13 primaries.”)
• Richmond mom whose dynamite alarm clock caused a bomb scare is released from Henrico Jail (WTF?)
• Virginia inspector general calls for tighter financial oversight of airports
• How did more than $3.5 million in state money go to pay off a private airline’s loan in Newport News?
• Va. House candidate accused of racist posts says there’s more to the story (Hmmmm…)
• Editorial: Our No. 1 challenge
• McAuliffe announces loan for school energy improvements (Let’s do this with schools across Virginia!)
• Moving Virginia Beach City Hall to Town Center would cost $65M, a study says
• Rain likely today, and the gray weather continues into Thursday