Monday News: Gorbachev Says Trump’s INF Withdrawal “Not the Work of a Great Mind”; “GOP plays the bigotry card in midterms”; Anti-Pipeline Protesters Make Views Heard at Northam’s “Summit on Rural Prosperity”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, October 22. By the way, that photo is by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), which writes: “Folks arrived in Staunton, VA to share our views on the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines at our Governor’s ‘Summit on Rural Prosperity.’ I’m sure we made an impression as we marched through downtown Staunton to the Stonewall Jackson Hotel as folks arrived and mingled in the conference room! Of course, we know there is no prosperity for landowners who will lose their land, or communities who are forced to host these dangerous, polluting fracked gas 42” pipelines. We represented everyone along the routes of both these monstrosities and we promise, they heard us!” By the way, seriously? The “Stonewall Jackson Hotel?” 

• Russia fires back at Trump’s plan to pull U.S. out of nuclear arms treaty
• Gorbachev Calls Trump’s Nuclear Treaty Withdrawal ‘Not the Work of a Great Mind’ (“In an interview with the Interfax news agency, Mr. Gorbachev called Mr. Trump’s rollback of the disarmament agreement “very strange.” He added: ‘Do they really not understand in Washington what this can lead to?'” No, of course not; Trump is an imbecile.)
• Inside the Saudis’ Washington influence machine: How the kingdom gained power through fierce lobbying and charm offensives
• Saudi king and prince phone Khashoggi’s son to give condolences (After they had him murdered.)
• Trump prizes strength, but the world may see weakness in reluctance to confront Saudis
• Turkey’s President Vows to Detail Khashoggi Death ‘in Full Nakedness’ (“On Sunday, Mr. Erdogan broke his silence, promising that within 48 hours he would remove the lid completely from what his spokesmen are now calling a Saudi cover-up.”)
• Saudi crown prince ‘phoned Khashoggi at the consulate right before he was killed’
• Count Me Among the Mob (“If it means people who stand in opposition to Trump’s degradation of the country.” Bingo.)
• The Midterms Have the Power to Usher in an Era of Climate Action (“Trump and the fossil fuel lobby can stall for time. But change is coming faster than you think.” Tell that to Dominion CEO Tom Farrell!)
• NBC/WSJ Poll: Democrats hold 9-point advantage for midterm elections (“Two weeks out, Democrats retain an edge but ‘unprecedented enthusiasm’ is fueling both parties.”)
• Juan Williams: GOP plays the bigotry card in midterms
• As Democrats Court Latinos, Indifference Is a Powerful Foe (That’s really sad.)
• Tribalism Isn’t Our Democracy’s Main Problem. The Conservative Movement Is. (“… it remains the case that the GOP, and its associated institutions, have spent much of the past half-century actively trying to polarize the electorate along racial lines, and mobilize the Christian right through appeals to its most paranoid, millenarian instincts. This is no partisan conspiracy theory; it is basic political history.”)
• Trump’s Closing Argument: The Brown People Are Coming! (“Demonizing Pelosi is backfiring, and McConnell stepped on everything else. So it’s the old GOP standbys—national security and race. Except Trumpified.”)
• Meet The Press sanitizes Proud Boys’ involvement in Miami protests (“Host Chuck Todd discusses ‘angry people left and right’ ahead of midterms, doesn’t mention that one party has a violent extremist group on its side ” Have I mentioned recently what an utterly pathetic excuse for a “journalist” Chuck Todd is?)
• 11 Tight Governor’s Races Will Shape America’s Political Landscape (If we win states like Ohio and Georgia…and Kansas, it will probably mean we’re having a great night.)
• Against a Federal Registry of Genitals (“A report that the Trump administration plans to define gender based on the appearance of infants runs counter to developmental biology and individual privacy.”)
• Florida Governor Candidates Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis Face Off in Contentious Debate
• Gillum to DeSantis During Debate: ‘This is CNN, Not Fox. You Have to Bring Facts’
• Andrew Gillum will be a governor for all Floridians (Miami Herald: “DeSantis and his surrogates have tried to paint Gillum as a socialist, an extremist and an anti-Semite. Gillum is none of these things…After eight years of misplaced priorities, it’s time to swing the pendulum back, back to a Florida that works for more of us, that builds on its prosperity and that doesn’t squander its more precious resources, be they fiscal, environmental or human.”)
• CNN Poll: Democrats up in Florida with two weeks to go (“Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum holds a wide 12-point edge over his Republican opponent Rep. Ron DeSantis in the race for governor, while the Senate contest is a closer matchup with incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson at 50% to Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s 45%.”)
• Audience howls as Andrew Gillum smacks Ron DeSantis for weirdly pivoting to Israel when asked about Donald Trump
• The hidden costs of the GOP’s deficit two-step (“Right-wing policies are doubly damaging to national solvency: They raise deficits and aggravate inequalities.” People like Dave Brat, Barbara Comstock, Scott Taylor and Denver Riggleman think that’s great!)
• Black ‘reverse migration’ driving Atlanta and Georgia towards Democrats (“Demographic changes could bring success for Democrats and Stacey Abrams – and counter alleged voter suppression against minorities”)
• Election Update: Republicans’ Overall Senate Chances Are Holding Steady
• Police in Mexico try to stop caravan of Central American migrants determined to reach the US
• Migrant caravan swells to 5,000 in Mexico, with members vowing to reach U.S.
• Kaine talks about campaign
• How four Democratic women in Virginia aim to spark a blue surge (“With suburban women trending nationwide against President Trump, Democrats have chosen women to run in four of their tightest races in Virginia — a state that will be an early indicator on election night of the party’s chances of wresting control of the House and gaining a foothold on power in the Trump era.”)
• Tim Kaine plans a new focus if voters send him back to the Senate
• Corey Stewart is running for Senate with a mission: be Trump’s “number-one partner” (Any further questions? Vote Democratic up and down the ticket!)
• Dominion CEO Tom Farrell’s Pro-Pipeline Editorial Is Filled with Lies and Distortions. Here Are a Bunch of Corrections.
• Wexton stumps in Winchester as election draws near
• Gardner, Olshansky, and Koziol column: Health care issues in rural Virginia, revisited
• Virginia attorney general calls for reforming state’s bond system
• Editorial: If Democrats want to win back rural voters, Cockburn isn’t helping (My god, this is stupid even by Roanoke Times editorial page “standards.” By the way, it was Leslie Cockburn’s HUSBAND – not her – who put out the tweet that has the Roanoke Times so freaked out. And second, it absolutely is fair game to correct the record on one’s opponent and his exaggerations, whether about his civilian OR military work. Third, note that the current NY Times poll has Cockburn up 46%-45%, so apparently she’s doing something right in that red-leaning district.)
• Virginia 9th District candidates differ on path to improving economy (False corporate media headline alert: in fact, Griffith does NOT offer any sort of path to improving the economy, but one towards making it much, much worse…except for the super-rich and big corporations, perhaps.)
• ‘Ice water on the bonfire:’ Delegate bucks convention on economic development deal with $70 million from taxpayers
• Pipeline protesters try to be heard amid discussion of rural prosperity
• Despite final state approval, pipeline opponents remain motivated
• The Northam administration wants a ‘prominent role’ for Virginia in offshore wind. Can they pull it off? (“Land-based wind, solar energy, and offshore wind are all complementary resources with different generation profiles, and building projects where they are most cost-effective will provide the most clean energy at the least cost to consumers.”)
• Real estate professionals again show preference for GOP ahead of special election in Henrico (Stupid.)
• Richmond voters said no new taxes last year. There have been three tax proposals since then.
• Seven are running for four seats on the Portsmouth School Board. Here’s what candidates say are the top issues.
• A calm and cool week ahead, with the exception of a possible stormy Saturday