Thursday News: Trump Takes Aim at Transgender Kids, the Environment; Republican Times-Disgrace Strikes Again

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, February 23.

• Trump Rescinds Protections for Transgender Students (Gratuitously cruel, nasty, stupid. That’s the Trump administration for you — great job, anyone who voted for or supported this @#@$@#$!)
• President Trump Takes Aim at the Environment (This falls into the category of “evil.”
• Blow: The Death of Compassion (“But while Reagan at least operated under the veneer of positivity and hopefulness with the language of a “shining city on a hill,” Trump has pursued a blatant appeal to anger and hostility with his talk of a nation in decline…Trump is a cancer on this country and resistance is the remedy. The Trump phenomenon is devoid of compassion, and we must be closed to compromise…Fight, fight, fight. And when you are finished, fight some more. Victory is the only acceptable outcome when freedom, equality and inclusion are at stake..”)
• Donald Trump is dangerous when he’s losing (“Trump’s failures at governing feed his illiberalism.”)
• The next DNC chair will have a huge opportunity — and a huge burden (“The next leader will have to organize the party’s discontent into a potent electoral force.” Exactly — need to channel the anger, outrage, energy into winning elections — lots of ’em.)
• Trump should try acting a bit more vice presidential (“In his belated and perfunctory response to anti-Semitism, the president used the same hollow formula he has used to condemn a long list of ills. Mike Pence did better.”)
• NASA has discovered 7 Earth-like planets orbiting a star just 40 light-years away (How about Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, Trump and his cabinet set off on a mission to explore those planets? Just a thought. LOL)
• If abortion rights fall, LGBT rights are next (“Marriage equality and reproductive rights share the same legal basis.”)
• Dems rip Trump administration for revoking Obama’s transgender directive
• Trump’s Russia problem dogs Republicans at town halls (“Constituents are demanding GOP lawmakers investigate the president’s ties to Moscow.”)
• McMaster Has the Islamophobes Worried. Good. (“Trump’s new national security adviser can be a powerful counterweight the the baleful influence of Steve Bannon.”)
• POLITICO survey: DNC race is a nail-biter (“The battle for chairman could take several rounds of balloting to determine a winner.”)
• Trump’s disapproval rating keeps creeping up (“Less than five weeks into his presidency, Trump has an approval rating of 38 percent and a disapproval rating of 55 percent.” Wait, what about the Republican Rasmussen “poll?” LOL))
• 7-year-old Arkansas boy has epic confrontation with Republican senator (“Toby. I am Toby.”)
• Report: Conway sidelined after going ‘off message’ (Apparently, she’s not a skillful enough liar or something…)
• David Brock, donors wade into state fights (“Leading Democratic figures are mounting rival efforts to boost Democrats ahead of 2020 redistricting.” Starting right here in Virginia 2017, I hope.)
• Drilling experts explain why Trump can’t bring back oilfield jobs (“Just as with coal, oil jobs are decreasing due to automation and advanced machinery, not regulations.” Yep, these are capital-intensive industries, NOT labor-intensive. The future is in clean energy for environmental and pretty much every other reason.)
• Making America Meh Again (“Donald Trump’s first month has produced a big bowl of nothing.”)
• Can we finally ditch the “white working class” myth? Obama-then-Trump voters weren’t the problem (“More white Obama voters switched to third-party candidates than voted for Trump, yet the media won’t let it go”)
• Hate is coming to a campus near you: Meet the evangelical bigot helping Trump deregulate America’s colleges (Yep, that would be Virginia’s own Jerry Falwell, Jr. Barf.)
• Editorial – Gov. McAuliffe’s knee-jerk veto of guns and knives (Just when you thought the Republican Times-Disgrace couldn’t get any crazier…)
• McAuliffe vows vetoes as immigration issue heats up in Virginia (“Three bills would tighten policy and provide fodder for the gubernatorial race”)
• Editorial: Kirk Cox was destined for leadership(Hahahaha, the Republican Times-Disgrace strikes again! LOL)
• Cox is chosen by GOP as its pick for next House speaker in Virginia (BLECH!)
• ‘I thought it was going to be worse’ (“Rep. Dave Brat says he anticipated jeering at town hall in Nottoway County.”)
• After almost a week of waiting, Hampton Roads Regional Jail gets a yes from new superintendent
• No, she’s not the “ODU racist”: Online witch hunt under way in Hampton Roads (“Vigilante social media users are taking to Twitter to find the perpetrator on their own, using screenshots of a left-arm tattoo as a possible identifying feature. Several white women named Cheyenne have been accused.”)
• Va. budget deal includes raises for teachers, faculty, Capitol Police
• Arlington board chair Jay Fisette will not run for reelection (“The long-serving Democratic lawmaker was the first openly gay official elected in Virginia.”)
• Sen. Norment briefly sides with Democrats on immigration bill, setting up Northam (“Within minutes, the communications director for Republican Ed Gillespie’s gubernatorial campaign sent reporters a news release attacking Northam, a candidate for governor on the Democratic side, for his vote.” Clever, clever, eh?)
• Sligh: Virginia’s governor can and must protect us from bad pipeline projects (“Contrary to assertions in a Feb. 13 Roanoke Times editorial (“Showmanship”), Virginia’s governor will play a decisive role in determining whether major interstate natural gas pipelines can be built across our state.” Yep, the Roanoke Times editorial board was badly wrong, yet again, on that one.)
• Virginia Senate passes anti-sanctuary cities bill (I’m still amazed Dems managed to lose the State Senate and even more amazed we didn’t take it back in 2015. Huge #FAIL by Saslaw and Company.)
• Editorial: A restive and promising start (Good that Scott Taylor is holding town halls; bad that what he has to say is so wrong, false, etc.)
• Opposition-organized town hall draws crowd, questions for ‘cardboard’ congressman (“Although the real Rep. Bob Goodlatte was a few continents away and unable to attend a town hall arranged by local grass-roots organizations, constituents eager to address the congressman were still able to do so — via a cardboard cutout.” Love this — great work activists!)
• Editorial: Sorry, we don’t need town hall theatrics (So sad, the Roanoke Times editorial board didn’t like the cardboard cutout of Bob BADlatte. Of course, the Roanoke Times editorial board fails to note that the 6th CD would be far better off with a cardboard cutout as its representative than with the horrendous BADlatte.)
• Second Democrat jumps into 8th District race (“‘I want every person who feels like they don’t have any hope or opportunities to be able to find out that there is, in fact, a way out of their situation,’ Bryan Keele, 35, said after a small campaign kickoff held at Roanoke College and hosted by the Roanoke College Democrats.”)
• Jesse Jackson, in Richmond, talks about Trump’s victory, Confederate statues and Terry McAuliffe
• Hampton, citing People Express loan, cuts support for Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport
• God, waffles and graffiti: The General Assembly building on one of its final days
• Near-record warmth next two days; thunderstorm potential on Saturday (Climate chaos run amok, all over the world. What’s Trump doing about it???)