by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, April 4.
- Blackwater founder held secret meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel (Impeach.)
- The “New Leadership” At Fox News Is Still Imposing A Culture Of Sexual Harassment
- Don’t be fooled by Trump’s National Park Service photo-op (“Sean Spicer made a big show of handing over the president’s salary, but his budget slashes the Department of the Interior by 12 percent.” Disgusting — but I bet there are actually people out there who will fall for this crap.)
- Mercedes pulls ads from ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ as sexual harassment allegations grow (“Five women who had accused O’Reilly of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior received payouts to keep quiet.”)
- The totally phony Susan Rice story, explained (“The former national security advisor’s surveillance activity is neither illegal or unethical.”)
- ‘This is one of the most ridiculous presidencies I’ve ever seen’: Larry King torches Trump in John Fugelsang interview
- Justice Dept. to Review Accords With Troubled Police Agencies
- Why Trump lies: The conspiracy theorist in chief
- McConnell bets the Senate on Gorsuch (“The Republican leader’s Supreme Court gambit secures his place in history — but at what cost to the Senate?”)
- Trump faces test mixing Mar-a-Lago with difficult diplomacy
- Democrats Have the Votes to Filibuster Neil Gorsuch. He’s Still Getting on the Supreme Court.
- Fox serves up a fetid reminder that when you’re a star, you can still do anything
- Serving a president who feels no one else’s pain (“Despite Nikki Haley’s efforts to speak up for human rights, U.S. foreign policy is a mess thanks to Trump.”)
- Democrats recruit veterans early for 2018 battle (“Washington seems like a dirty place. But so was Afghanistan. And so was Iraq. And we’re going to clean it up.”)
- Republican Health Proposal Would Undermine Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions
- Trump’s growing corruption: The president’s business conflicts and nepotism become even more flagrant (The “swamp” grows more fetid and malarial by the day.)
- Trump’s in trouble: Republicans may face a massive wave during the 2018 midterms (“The 2018 midterm elections are a long way off, but the early signs are ominous for Trump and the GOP”)
- A broken process gets worse: Democrats may filibuster Neil Gorsuch — but Mitch McConnell broke the Senate when he ignored Merrick Garland
- Egypt’s president is a bloodthirsty dictator. Trump thinks he’s done a “fantastic job.” (Note that Trump was MUCH warmer to human-rights-abusing al-Sisi than he was to the leader of our ally, Germany? This guy is totally FUBAR.)
- What the optimists get wrong about Trump’s climate policies (“I tend to think the This Is Very Bad view is closer to the mark here. What the optimistic view misses is that we were making woefully insufficient progress on climate change even before Trump. Yes, coal is declining and renewables are booming in the electricity sector. But that’s only a tiny slice of the climate problem. If we really want to stop global warming, we’d need sweeping changes to virtually every sector of the economy — and fast. Even under Obama, we weren’t close to doing that. The US wasn’t even on pace to meet its (weak) Paris climate targets. They look extra-impossible now.” Agreed.)
- The Gorsuch Filibuster Shows Liberals’ Clout (Perhaps, but I’d argue that Democrats as a whole are rightfully livid over what Republicans did to Merrick Garland.)
- Sen. Warner joins Kaine in opposition to Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court
- Make Virginia Great Again (“A Trumpian gubernatorial candidate is campaigning on Confederate nostalgia.” Yep, that’s Corey Stewart for ya.)
- The Unfit President (“Unlike George W. Bush and Barack Obama before him, Trump doesn’t seem to care about working out or eating healthy.” Trump is both physically and mentally sick.)
- What I do know is that electing Jon Ossoff gets the country one step closer to Minority Leader Paul Ryan, and that’s the game that matters. (“What I do know is that electing Jon Ossoff gets the country one step closer to Minority Leader Paul Ryan, and that’s the game that matters.”)
- Tim Kaine’s Dishonorable Distortion on Gorsuch (Fascinating that Ramesh Ponnuru and his fellow right wingnuts are so bent out of shape over what Tim Kaine believes Neil Gorsuch thinks about contraception. Do these right wingnuts really think that Gorsuch is a friend of women’s reproductive rights?)
- Ed Gillespie, Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate, Wants Abortion ‘Banned’ (Screw you Ed.)
- Virginia Democrats and Republicans Gearing Up for Multiple Races
- Terry McAuliffe Has A Very Clintonian Plan For Democrats To Win Back Power (“It’s still the economy, stupid.” Actually, this last election proved that it’s only “the economy, stupid” in part.)
- Medicaid expansion is right for Virginia
- Research shows significant ways climate already has changed for the Chesapeake (Which is why if you’re for new fossil fuel infrastructure, including new natural gas pipelines, you are for harming the Chesapeake Bay.)
- Editorial: What’s this dispute over economic development in the coalfields really about? (As soon as I see the words “both sides” in a corporate media editorial, I tune out.)
- Editorial: McAuliffe and Northam call on GOP to expand Medicaid. Good luck with that, fellas. (Yep, the Republican Times-Disgrace strikes again.)
- Times-Dispatch announces layoffs, reorganization of printed newspaper (They should lay off their editorial board employees.)
- Vandals again strike Trump National Golf Club in Loudoun County (“The vandals spray-painted the word ‘Resist’ on the course. ‘Resist’ has become a credo of the anti-Trump administration movement.”)
- George Mason-NOVA partnership could revolutionize the transfer experience
- National Weather Service confirms two tornadoes — one with 120-mph winds — hit Tidewater on Friday
- Forecast calls for skies to clear by midday, but tunderstorms to return by Thursday
********************************************************