Thursday News: “Anthony Kennedy was not your friend”; “This is how a country’s progress can be crippled”; “Justice Must Be Won at the Ballot Box”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, June 28.

• Supreme Court delivers a crushing blow to unions — and the struggle for wage equality (“Labor unions are critical to closing the gender and race pay gap. The Supreme Court just tried to shoot that down”)
• Trump just backed down from a big trade fight with China (“He’s opting to work with Congress on a more modest measure to restrict Chinese investment in the US.”)
• Trump attacks Maxine Waters, then lies about his history of violent language (“Can you imagine if I said the things she said?” Yes we can.)
• Listen up, progressives: Anthony Kennedy was not your friend (“Kennedy was no ‘moderate.’ He’s been instrumental in dismantling American democracy so Trump could take it over…Kennedy voted to shut down vote recounts in the 2000 Florida election, siding with George W. Bush, who clearly worried that Al Gore would emerge the winner if the vote count proceeded…Kennedy wrote the opinion in the Citizens United decision of 2012 that eviscerated campaign finance law..Kennedy wrote the opinion in the Citizens United decision of 2012 that eviscerated campaign finance law…In the past month, Kennedy has gone hog-wild dismantling voting rights…Oh yeah, and Kennedy also voted against public-sector unions in Janus vs. AFSCME.”)
• Mitch McConnell Has Already Won (“The Senate leader’s successful gambit on Neil Gorsuch reshaped the court, even before Anthony Kennedy’s retirement.”)
• Will Any Republicans Vote Against Trump’s Eventual Supreme Court Pick? (“If the past 18 months have been any indication, expect some complaining from senators such as Collins and Flake about how partisan this nomination process is — and then for them to vote Trump’s way.”)
• Justice Kennedy’s retirement leaves the future of U.S. constitutional law entirely up for grabs
• Don’t want a right-wing Supreme Court? Do everything you can to stop it.
• Ocasio-Cortez just did Democrats a big favor (Agreed.)
• ‘Democracy is at stake’: Anthony Kennedy’s exit causes a political earthquake (“Democrats warn successor ‘could radically alter the course of justice’ and help Trump put an enduring stamp on America”)
• Senate Democrats Have Little Chance to Delay Trump’s Court Pick
• In Supreme Court pick, Trump can push conservative social agenda
• Why a second supreme court pick for Trump is liberals’ worst nightmare (“A future conservative nominee could affect issues ranging from women’s reproductive health to LGBT rights”)
• Republicans try to deflect criticism by accusing the left of becoming ‘unhinged’ (“Because nothing says civility like tearing infants away from their parents at the border.”)
• Everything’s Up for Grabs Now. What Will Stop Them from Taking It? (“Conservative Republicans have succeeded in every assault on democracy. That includes hijacking the Supreme Court.”
• Blow: Trump Remakes America (“Donald Trump, a lying, bullying, womanizing autocrat-idolizer, is fundamentally transforming America in very real and lasting ways, in ways that have left decent people slack-jawed, enraged and exasperated…This is an abomination and this moment of revulsion must burn itself into the psyche of the American electorate. This is how a country’s progress can be crippled. It’s happening right now in large part because too many people thought that it could not.”)
• With Kennedy Gone, Justice Must Be Won at the Ballot Box
• House rejects Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s latest immigration bills, ignoring Trump (“The vote on the comprehensive reform bill was 301-121, with nearly half of Republicans opposing the measure whose chief sponsor was Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The depth of GOP opposition was an embarrassing showing for Trump and a rebuff of House GOP leaders, who’d postponed the vote twice and proposed changes in hopes of driving up the vote for a measure that seemed doomed from the start.”)
• Mitch McConnell’s politics of shamelessness have won (“Nobody likes him, but he’s the most effective politician of his time.”)
• America after Anthony Kennedy (“What Kennedy’s departure from the Supreme Court will mean for abortion, gay rights, and more.”)
• Justice Kennedy deserves this nasty, unflinching sendoff (“Anthony Kennedy was a horrible justice, and his last decision was his worst”)
• GOP plans to steamroll Dems on Supreme Court pick (“Senate Republicans will move quickly to replace Anthony Kennedy before the midterm elections.”)
• The Republican Court and the Era of Minority Rule (“Over the last generation, the Republican Party has moved rapidly rightward, while the center of public opinion has not. It is almost impossible to find a substantive basis in public opinion for Republican government…The Republican Party’s comfort with the crude authoritarianism of its president, though, did not spring out of nowhere. It is the culmination of a party increasingly comfortable with, and reliant on, countermajoritarian power.”)
• Democrats Bet On a New Generation of Vets to Deliver the House
• 31% Think U.S. Civil War Likely Soon
• Why Anthony Kennedy Gave Up (“In his last year on the bench, the lifelong devotee of dignity and the rule of law joined Team Trump. What happened?” “It was always more fan fiction than reality that Justice Anthony Kennedy was a moderate centrist…For any of us who clung to such symbols, it’s a bracing reminder that there is no longer a center, or even a center built of make-believe.”))
• Anthony Kennedy Just Destroyed His Legacy as a Gay Rights Hero
• Who’s on Trump’s short list to replace Supreme Court Justice Kennedy?
• How Bad Will It Get Without Kennedy? (“He provided a crucial fifth vote to the court’s conservative wing, but not always.”)
• House GOP closes ranks on abortion (“Barring a major upset, next year there won’t be a single House Republican who supports abortion rights.”)
• This Is What Happens the Minute Roe Is Overturned (“Thanks to so-called ‘trigger laws,’ abortion bans will spring into effect.”)
• Jeffrey Toobin: ‘No Doubt’ Abortion Will Be Illegal In Many States In 18 Months”
• Kennedy exit gives Trump chance to reshape court for decades (Anyone who didn’t vote in 2016, or who voted for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson or Donald Trump is responsible for this situation.)
• ‘I thought you were my friend’: Immigration meltdown exposes GOP hostilities (“A seven-week effort to pass immigration reform ends in anger and distrust across the House Republican Conference.”)
• Fox News runs the government (“Donald Trump is reportedly close to bringing aboard Bill Shine, Sean Hannity’s former producer and the former president of Fox News, as the next White House communications director…Shine has been repeatedly implicated in the rampant sexual misconduct at Fox News. He played a similar role inside of Roger Ailes’ Fox News that Michael Cohen played for Donald Trump. As the senior executive vice president at the network, Shine reportedly retaliated against women who reported sexual harassment by then-CEO Roger Ailes and helped participate in covering up the reports that eventually led to Ailes’ ouster.”)
• The Virginia GOP’s big drag (Actually there are two: Donald Trump and Corey Stewart.)
• Sen. Mark Warner reveals how migrant children are doing in Northern Va. facility
• Virginia Senator Praises Bristow Facility Housing Migrant Children
• Editorial: Allegations of abuse in Virginia must be investigated
• Man accused of driving into crowd at Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ rally charged with federal hate crimes
• Migrant kids in Va. not being reunited with relatives fast enough, Warner says
• Rejection of subpoena issued to Virginian-Pilot reporter is a win for readers, the public
• ‘Bittersweet’ bills: Governor signs legislation that could save the next girl
• Editorial: Red Hen provokes a lot of childish behavior (Ha, the Roanoke Times editorial board actually uses the phrase, “on all sides.” It’s beyond parody.)
• 5th District election forum set for Aug. 8 (“Terry Cooper, vice president of the Senior Statesmen, said that, so far, only Democratic nominee Leslie Cockburn has accepted an invitation to the debate-style event. Denver Riggleman, the Republican nominee, did not confirm whether he would attend.”)
• Virginia Democrats working on gun violence emergency bill (“Del. Chris Hurst meets Wednesday with officers, experts”)
• Man dies in custody in Fairfax Co. following overdose call
• Heating up today but just the prelude to a sultry weekend