Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, August 27. Also, check out the video about how we really shoud name our national disasters. I’ve got a few more suggestions: Hurricane Ken Cuccinelli, Tropical Storm EW Jackson, Superstorm Mark Obenshain…all (un)natural disasters!
*Obama weighs limited military strike on Syria (“The potential strike would serve as both punishment and deterrent for chemical weapon usage, while keeping the U.S. out of deeper involvement in Syria’s civil war.”)
*25-year span of no chemical arms may have been broken
*Wave of retirements at top levels of federal workforce creates challenges (“Agencies may not be prepared for departures of those with expertise that cannot easily be replaced.”)
*Humans’ complicity in climate change can’t be ignored (“The scientists are set to claim that the increasing amount of greenhouse gases that humans have emitted into the atmosphere has almost certainly been the chief driver of the warming of the planet over the past half-century, a finding to which they ascribe 95 percent confidence. That’s the level of likelihood researchers typically consider robust enough to justify drawing very strong conclusions.”)
*Why Ken Cuccinelli Is the Anti-Chris Christie (“Ken Cuccinelli, the GOP’s floundering gubernational candidate in Virginia, would be wise to take a page of out of Chris Christie’s blue-state playbook. But it might be too late, writes Lloyd Green.”)
*Cuccinelli goes on defense over McDonnell in Va. governor race (How about over his own scandals – Jonnie Williams/Star Scientific, Bobby Thompson, CONSOL Energy, etc?)
*The state of the Virginia governor’s race: A running conversation between The Fix and GovBeat’s Reid Wilson
*Rubio to stump for Cuccinelli in Virginia (Hey, one of the climate science-denying natural disasters is coming to campaign for Ken Kookinelli. Surprised? I’m not – cuckoo birds of a feather flock together.)
*Realtors endorse McAuliffe over Cuccinelli (Note that this group almost always endorses Republicans. But not Ken Kookinelli – he’s too crazy for them, apparently.)
*Patrick, a retired reservist and a Democrat, will run against Rigell (“Suzanne Patrick, a former Pentagon official and retired naval officer, said she is running against U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell next year.”)
*McDonnell is fundraising again – but this time for his legal bills (What a farce.)
*The red, the blue and the green (“Color-coded maps follow the money in statewide elections.”)
*Inmate sex-change request likely to be ruled on this week
*The state of Roanoke (“Roanoke is, as the mayor says, on the right track for growth. Plans are under way that will bring major change.”)
*Forecast: Summer’s sizzle isn’t over
*Harper isn’t a hit with opponents
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