by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, February 15.
- South Africa’s Zuma Leaves Behind a Broken Democracy (“Can the party of Nelson Mandela cleanse and revive itself?”)
- Bipartisan group reaches deal on immigration, fulfilling some Trump demands
- ‘A horrific, horrific day’: At least 17 killed in Florida school shooting (So what is our government, which is supposedly there to protect us, going to do about these continued shootings?)
- Ryan struggles on Dreamers as GOP fractures (“The speaker is coming under pressure to take up a conservative immigration bill — but he doesn’t have the votes to pass it.”)
- Senate immigration deal on life support (“A bipartisan plan for Dreamers is facing stiff opposition from Trump and his GOP allies.”)
- It’s Time for John Kelly to Go (The guy “has his own history of condoning sexual abuse in the military,” “smeared the Florida congresswoman Frederica Wilson in retaliation for her complaint about Donald Trump’s disrespectful condolence call to the widow of a slain soldier,” “believes the Civil War was caused by “the lack of an ability to compromise” and that immigrants are ‘too lazy to get off their asses.'” Great guy, huh?)
- CNN Exclusive: At least 100 White House officials served with ‘interim’ security clearances until November (That’s crazy. Can you even imagine if Obama or Clinton had done something like this???)
- Third White House official resigns after being told he wouldn’t qualify for full clearance
- Kelly’s uphill battle for redemption (Kelly’s a disaster.)
- Nervous GOP seeks new 2018 Senate candidates in three states
- EPA changes its story on Pruitt’s first-class travel (“The EPA spokesman said anyone seeking additional details about Pruitt’s travels would have to formally request them under FOIA.” Pruitt is corrupt and evil.)
- Why Does Trump Ignore Top Officials’ Warnings on Russia? (“His refusal to take on the Russian threat to our democracy violates his oath to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.'”)
- “Who Needs a Controversy Over the Inauguration?”: Reince Priebus Opens Up About His Six Months of Magical Thinking (I’m sure we’re all super interested in hearing what RNC PR BS has to say.)
- Porn star who alleged Trump affair: I can now tell my story
- The Trump Stain Spreads (Trump ruins everything he touches.)
- Kelli Ward’s imaginary publication and the history of Republican fake news (“Right-wing Senate candidate Kelli Ward was endorsed by a publication that does not exist. It’s really nothing new”)
- Trump, a Week After Porter Resigned, Says He’s ‘Totally Opposed’ to Domestic Violence (Hahahaha, and if you believe THAT one!)
- World stocks steam higher as inflation fears suddenly fizzle
- “America’s Harvest Box” Captures the Trumpian Attitude Toward Poverty
- Don’t look to Trump for leadership after the Florida school shooting
- House Russia investigation has ‘abundance’ of evidence against Trump, says top Democrat (“Adam Schiff said the panel had seen evidence of collusion with Russia and obstruction by Donald Trump’s campaign and administration that is not yet public”)
- Ex-GOP rep urges voters to ‘flip the House’ if they want results on gun control: ‘Republicans will never do anything’
- ‘Shut up!’: CNN’s Don Lemon is totally over people who say it’s ‘too soon’ to talk about gun control (Exactly.)
- A Climate Caucus Has Turned Into a Magnet for House Republicans. Wait, What? (“They are finding an easy action to get a green badge or a line on their resumes.” OK, this is totally f’ed up. Disband the climate caucus if you’re just going to let in anti-climate Republicans.)
- Alex Jones on Florida high school shooting: It may be a false flag, and Democrats are suspects (Everything’s a “false flag” for this madman.)
- Kimmel writer quotes every GOP lawmaker’s post-Florida ‘thoughts and prayers’ tweet — and how much money they took from the NRA (The Republicans’ “thoughts and prayers” are with the gun lobby, that’s about it. Defeat all of them.)
- Fox News host praises AR-15s as ‘so safe’ hours after one was used to murder 17 people (“It’s actually a very safe weapon.” Yeah, just like Fox is a real “news” station.)
- Trump finally spoke out about domestic abuse and his answer was not great (“It almost wouldn’t even have to be said.” How can anyone support this sociopath?)
- What’s Behind Trump’s Rising Popularity? (“There’s rarely a single factor behind such shifts, but there are a few possible culprits. Let’s call them the economy, exhaustion, and equilibrium.”)
- The Real Meaning of Elizabeth Warren’s ‘Pocahontas’ Speech (“There are ugly truths behind the myths.”)
- President* Trump’s Crack Team Is Screwing Him Over (Again) (“Michael Cohen, Scott Pruitt, David Shulkin—the gang’s all here.”)
- People Sick Of ‘Thoughts And Prayers’ Demand Action After Florida School Shooting
- Virginia Republicans still haven’t gotten the message on guns (Lori Haas: “While House Republicans spoke of a new bipartisan era in Richmond, their actions speak for themselves. They are still in charge — the will of the people be damned. They are going to do what they want, and that started with ignoring calls to improve Virginia’s gun laws.”)
- Virginia Republicans still haven’t gotten the message on guns
- Where key legislation stands at the legislative session’s midpoint (Medicaid expansion still in limbo…)
- Charging for electricity (“Dominion is still studying Del. Toscano’s amendment, and state Senators will need to as well, as they decide whether it makes an otherwise identical House bill better than their version. We’re sure that when they do, they’ll agree that it is the way to go”)
- ‘Resist White Supremacy’: A sign. A Va. farm. And the fury that followed. (“The owners of Cox Farms have always taken politically charged stands at their Centreville property, but they were floored by the massive backlash to this one.”)
- Cupid must be in Richmond as lawmakers claim bipartisan goodwill (Reminder that Republicans have killed almost every progressive, environmental or pro-clean-energy bill.)
- Kilgore: The next step for rebuilding Southwest Virginia’s economy (Let’s just say creative spin, combined with revisionist history, combined with lots of horse manure, by Terry Kilgore, who of course was wildly wrong all along on Medicaid expansion.)
- Archer: General Assembly should act on Medicaid expansion (“Robert ‘Bob’ Archer is Chairman and CEO of Blue Ridge Beverage Co., a past president of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the Board of Trustees of LewisGale Medical Center in Salem.”)
- House Appropriations leader expects fall special session on tax reform (How about taxing planet-killing CO2 pollution?)
- Editorial: What Trump’s infrastructure plan means for Virginia (“There are probably many ways to describe Trump’s infrastructure plan: Insufficient. Important. Ironic. All would apply.” It’s important, yeah, important that it be summarily shit-canned.)
- Millennials in the General Assembly form a caucus to advocate for their generation (Millennials need the same stuff as everyone else —
good/affordable health care coverage, educational opportunities, an economy that works for everyone, a safe/secure place to live, a healthy environment, etc. The problem is that pretty much every Republican in this caucus opposes those things. So…good luck with this one.) - Henrico considering possibility of replacing J.R. Tucker High School
- Rick Weddle: Legislation would help improve grid, energy costs (And it will REALLY improve Dominion’s bottom line!)
- Editorial: Meet here about offshore drilling (“IF THE Trump administration wants to open the Virginia coast to oil and gas speculation, forever altering one of the commonwealth’s most important and valuable natural resources, it should afford this area some measure of respect.”)
- ODU to settle lawsuit from student who said she was interrogated after reporting a rape
- Spring bursts on the scene today, but winter plots a weekend comeback
