Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, August 8. Also see President Obama’s weekly address, in which he talks about “the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act by underscoring the importance of one of the most fundamental rights of our democracy – that all of us are created equal and that each of us deserves a voice.”
*Royal Dutch Shell cuts ties with ALEC over rightwing group’s climate denial
*In first debate, Republicans ditch the lessons of 2012 (“So much for a more inclusive tone.”)
*GOP hopefuls rush to the right to court base
*2016 Presidential Candidates: Their Grades on Energy, Climate Issues
*What Donald Trump didn’t say about his four big business bankruptcies
*The one reason Donald Trump was the clear winner of the first GOP debate (“Trump made it through the first Republican debate by avoiding the one mistake that could have seriously damaged his insurgent campaign: sounding like a professional politician.”)
*The Fox News freakshow lumbers on: Why this week’s GOP debates were a postmodern farce (“Thursday’s debates should make it official – a key player in the GOP primary is even weirder than Donald Trump”)
*The sound & fury of the GOP debate: A candidate-by-candidate breakdown of its weirdest & most idiotic moments (“The GOP debate was a tale told by idiots. Trump blustered, Rand wilted, and Ted Cruz was really, really creepy”)
*Va. GOP leaders praise debate performances, decry Trump’s disloyalty (In other words, you can be as extreme and crazy as you want to be, that’s fine, but god forbid you hint that you might ditch the red team.)
*Trump dumped from conservative event in Atlanta over ‘inappropriate’ comments (“Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was dumped from a prime speaking role to an important gathering of conservative activists on Friday for his criticism of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly after a combustible debate performance.”)
*Donald Trump’s war on Megyn Kelly (I’m not a fan of Megyn Kelly or any other Fox “News” “personality,” but Trump is a misogynistic sociopath.)
*Only a handful of GOP candidates are living in the real world
*Virginia to recall, replace Confederate flag license plates
*City rejects Roanoke Pride’s bid to raise LGBT flag (“Roanoke’s rationale: the 101-year-old flagpole at the high point in Elmwood Park has only been used to display the U.S. flag.”)
*Scott Walker taps Obenshain to lead presidential campaign in Virginia (Yep, the guy who compared peaceful protestors to ISIS is being supported by the guy who wants to send women to jail if they have a miscarriage and don’t report it to the police. Perfect combo of horrible-ness.)
*McAuliffe to hit the stump for Clinton in New England
*Kaine: Pell Grants should apply to workforce training
*McAuliffe pays for state plane to take him to NYC concert
*An easy fix for congressional redistricting (“…kudos to state Sen. Chap Petersen, the Fairfax Democrat who has resurrected the winning map in a 2011 public contest to draw fair, competitive, compact and contiguous boundaries.” Unfortunately, there’s no chance of that happening.)
*The Fairfax police officer who killed an unarmed man is finally fired (“…the first serious step toward accountability in the senseless killing of a civilian who posed no threat and had committed no crime on the day he died.”)
*Fairfax police officer Adam Torres, who killed John Geer in 2013, is fired
*Drew Storen allows grand slam as Nationals crumble in loss to Rockies (What on earth is going on with this team? Yikes.)
*D.C. area forecast: A pleasant Saturday, and Sunday isn’t shabby either
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