Thoughts And Prayers. Wonkagenda For Mon., Aug 27, 2018

Another mass shooting, Sen. John McCain passed away, and President Bone Spurs tweets his approval ratings. Your morning news brief.

Morning Wonketariat! Here's some of the things wemaybe talking about today.

 A mass shooting at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida left two dead and nine wounded, including the suspected gunman. Additionally, two other people were injured attempting to escape the scene. Rather than offer thoughts and prayers, Trump tweeted about a gushing op-ed in a conservative newspaper that misstated his poll numbers shortly after the shooting. Ivanka Trump did tweet some thoughts and prayers, but was met with fierce criticism.

Following the passing of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain on Saturday, there are calls to rename the Russell Senate office building in McCain's honor .

WaPo reports that Trump iced a White House statement praising McCain's military service that would have called him a "hero," and instead opted to tweet and send an Instagram photo of himself quoting said tweet. This morning the White House flag remains at full staff . Real classy sumbitch.

A new NBC News/WSJ poll shows that Trump's LOW RATINGS sank by two points following last week's guilt trip.

The Republican plan to kill off protections for pre-existing conditions is moving ahead as 20 Trump-loving attorneys general ready their store-bought talking points. Over on the Hill, several conservative Congress creeps are hoping to ease the pain with a little legislative lube, but Democrats and policy analysts know we're all about to get fucked.

GOOD NEWS: A US District Judge slapped down several Trump EOs intended to neuter federal and private-sector union powers protecting employees from being "You're Fired."

Efforts to stop Brett Kavanaugh's SCOTUS appointment continue to fall flat as four key Republican and Democratic Senators offer semi-supportive statements for the loyal Bushie. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to hide Kavanaugh's big paper trail. #WhatAreTheyHiding?

After using a dirty rag to clean himself off, Axios's Jonathan Swan reported Republican have a "hell list" of subpoenas they expect Democrats to start filing based largely on ignored document requests. From Puerto Rico and Mar-a-Lago to baby jails and THEIR EMAILS, the leaderless GOP is expecting to get wrecked!

In an olive branch to young, hardcore lefties and progressives, Democratic party officials stripped superdelegates of much of their presidential nominating power during a contested national convention despite last minute opposition from party stalwarts and the Congressional Black Caucus.

Though his body is barely cold, Arizona Republican Senate candidates are loathe to say anything nice about the late Sen. John McCain, if they've bothered to say anything at all. Just hours before McCain's death, an ALLEGED staffer for "Chemtrail" Kelli Ward posted on Facebook that McCain's death was intended to damage her bus tour with "alt-right" celebrities.

Republican Troy Balderson won that Ohio special election. Meh.

Here's a list of all the bars Rep. Duncan Hunter ALLEGEDLY spent campaign money at. Wait...$150 at Busboys and Poets? $202 at the H St. Country Club? Goddamn, Duncan Hunter really is a pathetic douchebag with no taste. PFFFFFF, tourist!

Several protesters were arrested in connection with the toppling of a Confederate Statue at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill after the university president said the school would rebuild the "Silent Sam" statue within 90 days "as required by state law."

DARWIN AWARD: An impatient man in Salt Lake City was killed by a slow-moving train. According to local police officials, "It looks like he just squatted down and tried to roll underneath it, like in the movies or something."

With a new Mexican president anxiously waiting to go shithouse, Trump's proposed NAFTA renegotiations are coming down to the wire this week, and it all hinges on some cockamamie scheme to use coal and labor unions against congressional Democrats.

 Trump's trade war is expected to get a lot worse as he readies another $200 billion intaxes tariffs.With US businesses openly losing their minds in earnings calls, Chinese manufacturers have begun to shift exports to Vietnam and Malaysia; now all the pencil pushers are warning about Cold War: Part Deux.

Democrats want the notes from Trump's Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but they're being stonewalled by Mike Pompeo who says there are no notes, nor are there any tapes, audio recordings, or witnesses. 

Steve Mnuchin doesn't really feel like executing Russian sanctions after a number of businesses began complaining, prompting Mnuchin to consider easing Russian sanctions if Russian businesses shuffle around their oligarchs. With Congress considering additional sanctions, some oligarchs are considering partnerships and acquisitions with Chinese businesses to skirt punishment. How frugal of them.

After Trump told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to bother negotiating with North Korea (via Twitter) (again), North Korean state news began screaming that the US was getting ready for a war, adding that US forces would meet divine punishment from an army of moonlit nuclear butterflies, or something.

The UN has issued a stark and sobering report on the government of Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims, stating that Aung San Suu Kyi allowed hate speech, and contributed to "atrocity crimes." The report further calls for military officials to face the slow, icey hands of international justice.

Al-Jazeera is reporting that scumbag who was leading ISIL/IS/whatever in Afghanistan was killed in an airstrike with about a dozen other cave dwelling goat fuckers.

A former Vatican ambassador to the US is accusing popes Benedict XVI and Francis, as well as numerous top church officials, of covering up sexual abuse allegations against former DC archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Speaking to reporters, Pope Francis acknowledged the letter, and stated, "Read that statement attentively and make your own judgment."

Michael Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis now says that, maybe, JUST MAYBE, Cohen doesn't know shit about Russian fuckery, and Davis was just running his mouth like a common Giuliani.

The former head of Facebook's cyber security Alex Satmors has penned a long op-ed in Lawfare about the futility of election security in 2018, and the steps necessary to secure elections for 2020. In an appearance on MSNBC's Kasie DC last night, Stamos stopped short of throwing Mark Zuckerberg under the bus, and called for Congress to get off their collective asses.

John Oliver is on vacay, but he did issue a few "retractions" on the interwebs. [ Video ]

Sacha Baron Cohen tried to get OJ Simpson to confess to being a "lady killer." 

And here's your morning Nice Time! Arctic wolf puppers! 

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