Hey Some Shit Is Different! Wonkagenda For Mon., June 11, 2018
Mostly G-7 and North Korea shit, probably.
Morning Wonketariat! Here's some of the things wemaybe talking about today.
A globally isolated Trump is in Singapore attempting to convince North Korea to scrap all of its nuclear weapons. While you were sleeping, Mike Pompeo held a brief and testy presser and claimed the US would offer "unique" and "different" assurances to North Korea, but refused to give any details.
The Chinese are super nervous that Trump's North Korean field trip could be successful and its leaders have been working hard to preserve the DPRK's dependence on Chinese aid.
Trump pulled down his diapers and shat upon the global stage this weekend, criticizing and insulting US allies, accusing them of "ridiculous and unacceptable" trade practices that treat the US as a "piggy bank that everybody is robbing." The summit culminated with Trump's refusal to sign on to the G-7 communique, and instead bitching about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from the safety of Air Force One after Trudeau called Trump's attacks on Canadian steel "insulting."
French President Emmanuel Macron put Trump on blast in his post G-7 statement, declaring that diplomacy could not depend on "fits of anger" or "little words" after Trump backed out of the official communique. German ChancellorAngela Merkel called Trump's actions "sobering and a bit depressing," adding, "“Sometimes I get the impression that the U.S. president believes that only one side wins and the other loses."
Larry Kudlow bumbled his way through the Sunday shows, calling Trudeau's actions at the G7 "betrayal" on CNN, and then doubling down on Meet the Press.
Later, Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro was in his safespace on Fox when he called Trudeau "weak," and said, "There's a special place in hell" for anyone who "tries to stab [Trump] in the back." Charming to the last.
Meanwhile, over in Lala Land, RT is wondering if Trudeau was wearing fake eyebrows...
Lawyers for Paul Manafort are attempting to brush off the shackles Robert Mueller wants to slide on Trump's former campaign manager by saying Mueller's charges are based on the "thinnest possible evidence," and that Manafort was simply reaching out tospiesfriends for a friendly chat.
Maggie Haberman's latest gossip column supposes Trump will be dealing with a "thinned-out cast in the middle of Season 2" as White House staffers are getting ready to bail, including John Kelly who was overheard calling the White House "a miserable place to work."
There's an office of career government officials who've been reduced to the lowly role of taping together presidential records due to Trump's habit of tearing up all the papers on his desk. They tried to get him to stop violating laws governing presidential records, but it was just easier this way.
The Trump tax cuts (for the super rich) are being subverted in blue states as legislatures concoct schemes to nullify pressures on middle and lower income folks, but some policy analysts warn that these efforts could be an even bigger boon for the super rich.
Virginia's passing of Medicaid expansion has thrown a wrench in the 2018 elections that's causing red states to reconsider work requirements for access to the social safety net.
Any kind of immigration reform or relief for DACA kids is unlikely as hardline conservatives and Trump loyalists remain firm on nuking the entire immigration system.
Super rich left-leaning business people are considering their own 2020 presidential runs, but there's concern that running an unorthodox, inexperienced and super-rich candidate could backfire.
For the first time in years South Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Sanford has suddenly dumped a ton of money into saving his House seat amid fears that he could get primaried by his pro-Trump opponent.
Florida's OIG has found that the state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services wasn't using the FBI background check system because the employee in charge forgot the log-in credentials, potentially allowing an untold numbers of Florida men (and women) to wander the streets with firearms.
A federal judge has blocked an Indiana law that would have purged voter rolls by using Kris Kobach's Interstate Crosscheck system after finding the state law violated federal mandates to maintain "uniform and non-discriminatory" standards.
Literally the day before Trump ran away from century-old US alliances and insulted other G7 nations, DNI director Dan Coats warned that Putin was actively attempting to destabilize Western democracies and existing alliances.
The new Russian state-sponsored media arm, USA Really, failed to secure a permit for their Trump/Flag Day rally thanks to a laughable logistics fuck up.
An increasingly unlikely group of US officials including members of the Trump administration, and a bipartisan group of Senators that includes Ted Cruz and Elizabeth Warren, are warning about Chinese influence operations similar to Russia.
Chinese state-backed hackers have stolen 614 gigs worth of highly sensitive data from a naval contractor working on a supersonic anti-ship missile.
Michael Avenatti has suggested that you follow him on social media with the promise that you might find SOMETHING about Rudy Giuliani's porn habits in the coming days. Our money is on weasels.
Jeanine Pirro was speaking to her audience of one when she bitched about liberal haters rooting for American failure. Blah, blah, blah.
A Fox News talking head was forced to apologize on air for accidentally referring to the North Korea summit as a "meeting between the two dictators" (again).
Last night's Tony Awards wereFABULOUS, and included an angry Robert De Niro testing the limits of the "bleep" button in comments about the Trump administration, and Parkland survivors giving an emotional performance of "Seasons of Love" from Rent.
John Oliver celebrated the one year anniversary of the Trump-Russia investigation by 'splainering Trump & Co.'s attempt to redefine, and use whataboutism and a counternarrative to actively obstruct the investigation and sway public opinion. [ Video ]
Another South Korean cryptocurrency exchange was hacked, wiping out $37 million in Bitcoin, and sending the price of the unregulated magic Internet money tumbling further down the toilet.
Net neutrality is officially dead today as Obama-era FCC rules blocking telecoms from censoring, throttling, or creating Internet "fast lanes" dissolve, and oversight falls to the FTC.
And here's your morning Nice Time! Kittens and goats!
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