Wednesday News: “Jeff Flake is not a hero, despite what he wants you to think”; “Can the GOP survive the Trump presidency?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, October 25.

• ‘Dangerous,’ ‘utterly untruthful’: Two retiring GOP senators sound alarm on Trump
• Jeff Flake is not a hero, despite what he wants you to think (“It’s easy to fight the president when you don’t have to worry about your (18 percent) approval rating anymore.”)
• Republicans Need a Better Response Besides Quitting (“First Bob Corker, now Jeff Flake. We’re one away from a dangerous trend.”)
• ‘I Will Not Be Complicit’ (“In a blistering speech on the Senate floor, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake announced his retirement—and issued a challenge to his Republican colleagues.” Right, except Flake HAS been complicit – big time – in supporting Trump’s agenda.)
• Jeff Flake: Enough (“As I contemplate the Trump presidency, I cannot help but think of Joseph Welch…’You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?'”)
• Jeff Flake’s diagnosis is right. But it’s not enough. (“Republicans need to offer an alternative to Trumpism.” They also need to take ACTION.)
• The government needs to get its act together in Puerto Rico (“More than a month after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, most of the island is still without power.”)
• Schumer takes hard line with Trump on taxes (“‘There is a path forward, but only after this tax bill fails,’ Schumer says in a new ‘POLITICO Money’ podcast.”)
• Trump purges enemies and reshapes party in his image (“The president wins short-term victories with the retirements of Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, but the cost to the GOP agenda could be steep.” Pyrrhic?)
• Trump’s moment of unity turns into GOP crackup (“Trump wanted to rally Senate Republicans around tax reform — but found himself being condemned by members of his own party.”)
• The Memo: GOP braces for what’s next amid Corker, Flake tumult
• Inside Trump’s meeting with Senate GOP (“But other senators were less amused by the meeting, which they complained lacked substance and focus.”)
• ‘It Throws The Whole Thing Upside Down’: Flake Retirement Spawns Chaos (“But his decision to leave rather than stay and fight, coupled with the retirement of Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), another top Trump GOP critic, and Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) ongoing serious health problems, mean the Senate is likely to see a dwindling of Republicans willing to stand up to Trump after the 2018 elections — and it’s unclear whether it improves Democrats’ slim prospects of winning back Senate control next election.”)
• Bob Corker and Jeff Flake Would Rather Perform Their Trump Hatred Than Act on It (I’m looking for action, not words, no matter how true or eloquent.)
• Jeff Flake’s Rousing Speech Illustrates Trump’s Stranglehold on the GOP (“Whatever its other successes, this aspect of the Constitution’s design is proving a failure. Ambition is not counteracting ambition. Members of the legislative branch are able to oppose Trump only if they surrender their ambition…Flake expresses confidence that the hold of Trumpism over his party will not last. ‘This spell will pass,’ he promises. In the meantime, it is taking deeper hold.”)
• 4 Republicans Sound an Alarm on Trump. Will Others Follow?
• ‘There aren’t two sides when it comes to the truth’: CNN’s Tapper tells Colbert exactly why Trump is like Joe McCarthy
• Pence breaks tie as Senate votes to repeal banking rule (“Vice President Pence cast the final vote to break a 50-50 tie. The banking industry had been lobbying hard to roll back the regulation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” Appalling. And this is swamp creature Enron Ed’s buddy, just remember that on 11/7)
• In the dead of night, Republicans vote to give lawsuit immunity to banks (“Draining that swamp.”)
• Analysis: Can the GOP survive the Trump presidency? (“Peter Wehner, a Trump critic who served in President George W. Bush’s White House, said there’s a ‘struggle going on for the soul of conservatism and the Republican Party.’ He urged more traditional Republicans to stay and fight for their principles instead of fleeing — though he left open the prospect that it’s a fight they ultimately may not win.”)
• Michael Bloomberg: Brexit is stupidest thing any country has done besides Trump (Agreed. Both are incredibly self destructive and stupid.)
• How Does Jeff Flake’s Retirement Change The Arizona Senate Race? (“Either way, it won’t be easy for Republicans to hold the Arizona Senate seat. More Arizonans dislike Trump than like him, and midterm elections are almost always tough on the president’s party. Sinema, meanwhile, is probably the strongest candidate Democrats could have hoped for.”)
• Republicans on House’s Trump-Russia Probe Not That Interested in Trump or Russia (“Only three of the 13 House intel committee Republicans regularly show up to grill Russia-related witnesses. Meanwhile, GOP staffers are chasing the trail of the pee tape dossier.”)
• John McCain is escalating his longstanding feud with President Donald Trump
• Senate Intel advances surveillance reform bill
• How Steve Bannon and Sean Hannity’s ginned up Hillary Clinton uranium story became a congressional investigation (“Pro-Trump conservatives want to talk about their own Russia narrative. The only problem is that it’s bullshit.”)
• The Four Red States Where Trump 2020 Is Already in Trouble (“Two hundred thousand Puerto Ricans are moving to Florida, but that’s just for openers. Trump could face problems in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin, too.”)
• Kaine presses Mattis on Niger attack
• Virginia League of Conservation voters pumps more than $3 million into state races
  
• Schapiro: For subdued candidates, fear is powerful motivator
• The lure of the steady physician: Is Northam’s résumé enough in the age of Trump? (“His background as a country doctor and Army vet drew him to politics. Now he faces a polished Republican in a tight race.”)
• Marco Rubio, Susana Martinez to rally for Ed Gillespie in northern Virginia (That’s pathetic; Gillespie has run viciously anti-immigrant, race-baiting, xenophobic ads yet Rubio and Martinez are going to try to give him cover?)
• Virginia Democrats link Gillespie and Trump to white nationalist ‘hate’ in Charlottesville (“For 73 days, Ed Gillespie has refused to call out Donald Trump’s response to Charlottesville for what it was: disheartening and wrong”)
• Virginia’s unemployment rate is only 3.7%. So why is the economy a big issue in the governor’s race? (I mean, the economy’s always going to be a big issue, but in this case it’s largely because Gillespie has consistently lied and talked down Virginia’s economy for cynical, calculated, political purposes.)
• The Strangest Political Attack Ad of 2017 (“Gillespie appears to be campaigning in Trumpism while aiming to govern in criminal-justice reform. ” Bizarre and completely incoherent.)
• Virginia’s Governor Criticizes Republicans’ Economic Record Under Trump
• Mailers against Virginia Latina candidates have both parties alleging racial insensitivity (“Democrats have accused Republicans of distributing racially charged mailers against their two Latina House candidates running in Prince William County.”)
• Report: Black and Hispanic Virginia children lag behind peers on success measures
• Governor calls for Medicaid expansion to cover children’s health insurance
• Virginia Supreme Court to hear appeal in redistricting case
• Editorial: Our choices in House districts 21, 81 and 77 (“Despite Villanueva’s record of service, Fowler makes a compelling case for change and is the better choice this year.” I strongly agree – Villanueva is a corrupt slimeball and right winger, while Kelly Fowler will make an excellent member of the Virginia House of Delegates.)
• In bid to oust entrenched Republican delegate, a battle of ideas without debate (“Katie Sponsler’s bid to oust a Republican heralded even by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam as the presumptive top-ranking member of the GOP-controlled House of Delegates isn’t a David versus Goliath story, in her telling.”)
• Could J.E.B. Stuart High become Justice High?
• 98th House district candidate Hodges, Crowley debate
• The benefit of experience (“While both candidates are political newcomers with diverse and relevant resumes, Ms. Colaw — an attorney and Gulf War veteran — is more prepared to step onto the House floor in Richmond than her Republican counterpart, small business owner Emily Brewer.”)
• The Big Election of 2017: We Need to Stand With Trans Candidate Danica Roem
• Richmond Police detail the $570,000 in expenses for pro-Confederate rally on Monument Avenue
• Joe Morrissey sues Richmond TV station over column he said depicted him as ‘a stupid liar’ and ‘sex-crazed maniac’ (“Discovery” on the “sex-crazed” part could be, er, interesting.)
• National Weather Service confirms tornadoes in Southwest Virginia
• Cooler through Thursday, then warmer again; Sunday soaker?