Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The United States has a domestic terrorism problem, Part I: “A man walked into a Chabad synagogue near San Diego and opened fire, leaving one woman dead and three other people injured on Saturday, the last day of Passover. The suspect, John T. Earnest, 19, of San Diego, was in custody, authorities said.”
* The United States has a domestic terrorism problem, Part II: “A man who plowed his Toyota Corolla into a group of pedestrians at a crowded intersection in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday apparently did so in part because he thought at least some were Muslim, the police said Friday.”
* The reason for his ouster is still a little murky: “Guantanamo Bay detention center’s top commander was fired ‘over a loss of confidence’ in his leadership, officials said Sunday. U.S. Navy Rear Adm. John Ring was relieved of duty and will be replaced by Adm. Craig Faller, the U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.”
* Spanish elections: “Spain’s third parliamentary election in less than four years did little to dispel uncertainty over the political future of the eurozone’s fourth largest economy. The center-left Socialist party won re-election in Sunday’s ballot, collecting nearly 29 percent of votes, and will try to form a government.”
* I wouldn’t mind seeing a congressional hearing on this: “Stung by Trump’s trade wars, Wisconsin’s milk farmers face extinction.”
* It seems like there’s always a catch: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s push to raise the legal smoking age to 21 sounds like a victory for public health. But anti-tobacco advocates fear McConnell and the tobacco industry might use the bill to block other, more proven measures to reduce youth smoking.”
* There’s a lot of this going around: “The University of Virginia’s NCAA championship-winning men’s basketball team has declined an invitation to visit the White House.”
* I meant to mention this the other day: “A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to carry out a plan to close the gender pay gap — a plan the White House has spent the past two years trying to sabotage.” * Stephen Moore has so much to apologize for: “President Donald Trump’s choice for a seat on the powerful Federal Reserve Board said he regrets some of his writings from nearly two decades ago in which he made derogatory remarks about women in sports.” * He can’t even get the weather right? “President Trump took a swing at meteorologists at a Wisconsin rally Saturday, calling out weather forecasters for a bad prediction. The only problem? The forecast was on the mark.” * The Senate is worse in his absence: “Former Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican foreign policy sage known for leading efforts to help the former Soviet states dismantle and secure much of their nuclear arsenal, but whose reputation for working with Democrats cost him his final campaign, died Sunday. He was 87.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
