by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, February 9.
- Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch calls Trump’s attacks on judges ‘demoralizing’
- The Mysterious Disappearance of the Biggest Scandal in Washington (“Whatever happened to the Trump-Russia story?” The corporate media massively fails yet again.)
- Sessions Confirmed as Partisan Rancor Racks the Senate
- Shutting Down Speech by Elizabeth Warren, G.O.P. Amplifies Her Message
- Steve Bannon vs. Pope Francis? (“Trump’s chief strategist could be headed for a showdown with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.”)
- What are Republicans going to do about Obamacare? ‘No idea.’ (“The GOP is sitting by and watching the health-care system unravel.”)
- Trump is trying to compare himself to Andrew Jackson. Wrong Andrew. (“He’s more like the infamous Andrew Johnson.”
- Blow: Trump’s Leading Rivals Wear Robes (“This is a tyrant who sees power as a zero-sum game: The exercise of it by another branch means diminution of his own. He doesn’t want to be president, but emperor.”)
- Collins: Elizabeth Warren Persists
- Trump Assails Nordstrom for ‘Unfairly’ Dropping His Daughter Ivanka’s Line
- Mitch McConnell’s censure of Elizabeth Warren just gave her a much bigger platform (“The GOP accidentally found the perfect way to circulate Coretta Scott King’s attack on Jeff Sessions.”)
- Nordstrom’s shares up nearly 5 percent after clash with Donald Trump (Hahahaha. #TrumpFAIL)
- Obama’s party-building legacy splits Democrats (“Party officials are having a painful discussion about the state and local losses that occurred on his watch.”)
- Despite his racist past, Jeff Sessions confirmed as attorney general (“He was previously dubbed too racist to be a federal judge.”)
- Jeff Sessions’s Fear of Muslim Immigrants (Americans should be about 1 gazillion times more afraid of ol’ Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III than of Muslim immigrants!)
- A Little Justice (“Trump’s lies, bigotry, and bad judgment come back to bite him in court.”)
- Another disastrous call: Trump bungled a phone call with the French president, Francois Hollande (“President Trump continues his string of unimpressive foreign policy fails” Trump is utterly unfit to be president.)
- A new front in the assault on women’s freedom: Anti-choice activists now going after birth control (Which, of course, would INCREASE the number of abortions, proving that theocratic Republicans mostly want to control women’s bodies, not reduce abortion.)
- The GOP’s new war on women: McConnell’s attempt to silence Elizabeth Warren epitomizes the newly empowered sexism of the right
- Elizabeth Warren thinks she won that round — but Mitch McConnell got everything he wanted (“It’s a win: He appeased the GOP base by attacking a woman, and the odious Jeff Sessions is now our attorney general”)
- Trump Hasn’t Rolled Back Obama’s Executive Orders (So Far)
- Sessions gets confirmed, despite nays from Warner, Kaine
- Sen. Kaine says Price is wrong for Health and Human Services
- http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/318640-tim-kaine-sometimes-i-feel-like-im-living-in-an-alternate
- U.S. judge blocks Anthem-Cigna health insurance merger
- Crouse-Mays: Don’t cut safety inspections
- Editorial: In Richmond, taking aim at the press (“State Sen. Thomas J. Norment Jr. frequently gets riled up by statehouse reporters and, despite a public persona that grows more prickly with each passing year, would just as soon not be troubled by personal questions. Or professional ones. Or political ones. Or any question that may cause him a moment’s discomfort.” Norment is a preening little putz.)
- Fiorina ‘certainly looking’ at 2018 Virginia Senate run
- In break with McAuliffe, Perriello announces opposition to Virginia pipeline projects (It’s time for a LOT more Dems to break with McAuliffe on this one.)
- Perriello comes out against pipeline, and in a shift, says he is skeptical of offshore drilling
- Planned Parenthood says defunding will impact thousands of Va. women
- Election system priority for Senate Republicans in fall, but not in budget (“Problems with Virginia’s voter registration system prompted howls of outrage from Republican legislators last fall, but almost $4 million proposed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to address their concerns disappeared from the budget adopted by the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee last weekend.”)
- A majority of Virginians say public schools are underfunded, survey shows
- A Virginia city votes to remove a Confederate statue, but doing so may prove difficult (“A ‘Save the Robert E. Lee Statue’ Facebook page was created not long after council members voted to remove the monument from a downtown park in Charlottesville.”)
- Ex-Fairfax mayor to enter plea on charges related to meth-for-orgy sting, lawyer says
- House Republicans vote to fire Virginia’s top watchdog over handling of Mitchell case
- Governor outraged at Republican-led House for blocking inspector general appointment over Jamycheal Mitchell case
- Va. city rocked by former mayor’s felony drug charge elects new leader
- Organizers hoping to bring anti-Trump fervor of the “Women’s March” to Manassas (Good!)
- Richmond mayor’s response to Trump immigration order inflames conservatives
- Editorial: Wise County judge throws legal curveball at McAuliffe’s rights restorations (Former right-wing Virginia political blogger Chad Dotson…)
- Local legislators still have array of bills alive and pending
- Cold and blustery with rain and snow showers today; big weekend warm-up
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