Tuesday News: Yes, Dems Need Working and Rural People, No We Do NOT “Need the Mudcats” of the World; United Airlines Training Video

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, April 11. Also, check out that United Airlines training video. Yeah, I know, dark humor…for dark times.

• Gorsuch is the face of the new not-normal (“Gorsuch’s SCOTUS appointment is for life. Dems were right to think of all the other lives that appointment will affect. And fight for them. That’s the only normal any of us should be willing to accept.”)
• The Trouble With Trump’s White House Is Donald Trump (“The shambolic adhocracy of his White House is a perfect reflection of Trump’s own chaotic, disordered thought process and lack of mental discipline, and that’s not changing any time soon.”)
• A Weird, Violent Day in America
• How Alabama’s ‘Luv Guv’ Broke New Ground in a Scandal-Plagued State (“Naughty texts and burner phones shamed Republican Governor Robert Bentley. A vindictive coverup helped bring him down.”)
• Why Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan could wind up in a ditch (“His hopes for a ‘very bipartisan’ bill are running into the same kinds of political forces that torpedoed the Obamacare repeal.”)
• Tillerson readies for tough talk with Russia (I wish I had the slightest bit of confidence in this guy.)
• Why the Trump administration has so many vacancies (“The process is bogged down by the involvement of top White House officials, turf wars and an inexperienced and overworked staff.”)
• ‘He’s not a good influence on the president’ (“Elliott Abrams sounds off on Steve Bannon, Trump’s about-face on Syria and the boss he almost had.”)
• No one should feel good about Trump’s attack on Syria (Tell that to Brian Williams, Fareed Zakaria,
  etc.)
• The struggle to give a soul to a soulless presidency
• Our businessman president looks pretty anti-business (“The White House’s reform delays and uncertainty on policy could soon cause markets to deflate.” Why aren’t Republicans screaming about “uncertainty” now? Oh yeah, because a white, male, Republican is in the White House, not a woman or an African American or a Democrat, god forbid.)
• Many Voices Are Heard on Syria Policy, but Trump Is Silent (Trump is clueless.)
• United CEO told employees that passenger ‘defied’ security officers before he was dragged from plane (Remind me never to fly United.)
• When is the NRA complicit? San Bernardino school shooting comes after Republicans move to relax gun restrictions (“Republicans rushed to pass federal legislation overturning an Obama-era restriction for some with mental illness”
  They all have blood on their hands.)
• The White House will host a Passover Seder. President Trump probably won’t be there.
• CNN panel goes hilariously off the rails as conservative defends Trump spending taxpayer millions to play golf
• Global elites strike back: Have Jared and Ivanka defeated Bannon — and turned Trump into a cuckservative? (“The White House is at war with itself: Who will win — Wall Street elites or neoconservative chicken-hawks”)
• A blue wave begins? Republicans may be in trouble in Kansas, Montana and Georgia elections
• Sean Spicer can’t possibly mean what he just said about Syria. Can he? (“Either Spicer is full of it or Trump is going to bomb Syria pretty much every day.” My guess is Spicey has no clue what he’s blabbering about. Nor does his boss, Trump.)
• The Deeper Scandal of That Brutal United Video (“The footage is shocking. So is the law.”)
• Warner at W&M says Senate will get to the bottom of Russian hacking
• Which Choice Was Worse For Virginia Women? (“Let’s stop the smears and let the voters decide.” The bottom line is that both Ralph Northam and Tom Perriello are strongly pro choice, and we should be focused on Ed Gillespie, who is an anti-abortion extremist who apparently supports a draconian “personhood” law, given his expressed beliefs.)
• Southwest Va. overwhelmingly backed Trump. Will it support a Democrat for governor? (“Tom Perriello banks on repeated visits and an economic populist message to break through the deep-red region.”)
• Paul Begala: The anti-Trump for governor in Virginia (“Ralph Northam will continue the pragmatic progressive agenda of McAuliffe, Warner and Kaine in the commonwealth.”)
• Virginia to repay $7.1 million to U.S. for manipulating SNAP error rates
• Virginia, Georgia port authorities’ cooperative agreement endorsed by federal government
• Church leaders deliver letter to McAuliffe urging him to halt Teleguz execution
• In GOP primary, Wagner runs on the gas tax (“State Sen. Frank Wagner, a Republican candidate for governor, said Monday he’d like to turn much of U.S. 58 into an interstate as part of his plan to juice transportation construction in Virginia with an increase in the gas tax.”)
• Proposed budget cuts threaten local Meals on Wheels programs
• Prosecutors want Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot locked up for 17½ years
• Sen. Warner renews call for South Hampton Roads veterans care facility
• Kaine looks ahead to budget talks, Trump’s proposed cuts while visiting Lynchburg
• Why the Democrats Need the Mudcats of Their Party (Wait, what??? “Mudcat supports Northam. He said: ‘Perriello used to be pro-life, now he’s not. Perriello used to be pro-gun, now he is not. He is running away from the moderate Democrats and right into the arms of the left of the party and it’s disappointing.'” So instead, Trump-endorsing Mudcat supports someone he believes to have been consistently to the “left?” Man, ol’ “Mudcat” has been drinking/smoking/whatever some crazy s*** recently, it seems. And no, Democrats don’t need “the Mudcats,” but we DO need to fight for working people, whether urban, suburban, exurban or rural.)
• Former governor could use counseling – for self-awareness (Yeah, but McDonnell would have to have some self awareness to realize that he needs counseling.)
• Today is the warmest day of the week, tomorrow brings a slight chance of showers