Friday News: “Secret Society” (Not) Found; “A white supremacist ransom note”; “Es cuando muere”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 26.

• Trump moved to fire Mueller in June, bringing White House counsel to brink of quitting (“President Trump sought the firing of Robert S. Mueller III shortly after the special counsel took over the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The president backed off only after White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn threatened to resign over the move. Trump, when asked Friday about media reports of his effort, said the reports were ‘fake news, folks. Fake news.'”)
• White House unveils immigration plan laced with white nationalist policy ideas (“The plan calls for a whopping $25 billion for border security.”)
• ‘A white supremacist ransom note’: DREAMers quickly reject Trump’s immigration plan (“Another attempt by the White House to undermine the delicate, bipartisan work happening in Congress.”)
• White House jumps back into Dreamer battle with citizenship offer (“The White House is hoping to woo Democrats by offering protection to undocumented immigrants in exchange for border wall funding — and sharp restrictions on family reunification.”)
• The White House asked to borrow a van Gogh. The Guggenheim offered a gold toilet instead.
• Rubio rejects bipartisan immigration gang (“The Florida Republican is steering clear of bipartisan Senate talks to protect Dreamers — and pushing a more conservative approach.” Douchebag.)
• Sen. Johnson backs off ‘secret society’ claim (Johnson is bonkers.)
• Why Breitbart’s shot at ‘Amnesty Don’ is significant
• Judge seems open to emoluments suit against Trump
• “Secret society,” “missing texts,” and other salvos from the pro-Trump media’s conspiracy war
• ESPN puts Nate Silver’s site up for sale (“While the website’s sports content found a natural home at ESPN, its political forecasting and analysis were never a clean fit for the network. It’s unclear what will happen to staff — both sports and political — in the event of a sale.”)
• Rep. Pat Meehan will not seek reelection after sexual harassment furor (Good riddance.)
• Cliven Bundy Is a Free Man. His Cows Are Still a Nuisance. (“The Nevada rancher’s cattle are terrorizing people, threatening wildlife, and dying in the desert.”)
• Fox goes silent as its “secret society” conspiracy theory falls apart
• Donald Trump Was the Inevitable Result of Republicanism (“A few thoughts on Woke Bill Kristol.”)
• Freshman GOPer Is Building A National Profile By Smearing Russia Probe
• GOP panicking as signs point to imminent Mueller blockbuster
• As walls close in on FBI, the bureau lashes out at its antagonists
• Trump’s Surprise Immigration Proposal (A proposal that “might just make everyone mad.”)
• Paul Ryan Is the Silent Partner in Trump’s War on the Rule of Law (No doubt, “Lyin’ Ryan” is evil.)
• How George Soros Upstaged Donald Trump at Davos (“After acknowledging the dangers of climate change, he turned his attention to ‘another global problem: the rise and monopolistic behavior of the giant I.T.-platform companies,’ such as Facebook and Google. Here was a threat, Soros suggested, that was likely to be more lasting than the Trump Administration.”)
• The Economics of Dirty Old Men (“Everything we know about the Trump administration suggests that hurting renewables is actually a good thing from its point of view. As I said, this is an administration of dirty old men.”)
• Dem senator mocks GOP’s ‘secret society’ focus: Next we’ll ‘hunt for the Illuminati’ (How about the Illiterati?)
• Northam voices “significant concerns” on electric rate bills (“Northam said he wants state regulators to have greater oversight of utilities than what the legislation would allow. The Democratic governor also said he wants Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to issue bigger refunds to their customers than what’s been proposed.” We also need a LOT more aggressive targets for clean energy than the pathetically weak ones in this current monstrosity of a bill.)
• Medicaid expansion gets off to a rough start in Virginia legislature (“Despite polls showing a majority of Virginians support expanding access to health care, a Republican-controlled Senate committee killed a package of bills on a party-line vote in what the chairman called ‘only round one’ of what promises to be a long debate.”)
• Nick Freitas endorsed by Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul (That tells you a lot about Freitas, including that he’s wayyyy too extreme for Virginia.)
• ‘Es cuando muere’: Virginia Senate panel again kills bill to give immigrants driving cards (“Surovell said the bill, which still has a companion measure by Del. Robert Bloxom, R-Accomack, alive in the House of Delegates, is a tough sell for Republicans given the hard-right turn the GOP has taken under President Donald Trump.”)
• House panel shoots down bill to ban bump stocks in Virginia (Republicans are demented, part infinity.)
• Senator’s speech honoring Robert E. Lee left out context (“Lee’s acceptance of slavery was comparable to his Southern contemporaries, and he denounced abolitionists from the North, according to research by Gary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia and director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History.”)
• After ‘chaos’ of 2017 , Virginia General Assembly looks to overhaul election laws
• Editorial: Dominion’s charitable-giving dilemma (“In today’s letters section Hunter Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, takes vigorous exception to an RTD front-page news story concerning gifts from the foundation and Dominion’s CEO, Tom Farrell.” Hahahahaha.)
• New rules aim to make Norfolk flood resilient. But will they make it too expensive to build new homes?
• Roanoke County officials field questions about pipeline construction
• Editorial: If General Assembly wants to help rural Virginia, here’s its chanc
• Norfolk GOP Proposes Ban on Campaign, Political Staff From Leadership (WTF?)
• Bills would fund increased staffing for Hampton Roads Regional Jail
• A mild Friday starts a short warming trend. Sunday looks like it could be wet.