by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 8.
- The world needs rational American leadership on climate change (And NOW!)
- A ‘Green New Deal’ sounds like pie in the sky. But we need it.
- The American left needs to find its voice on Venezuela (Agreed, this is a massive humanitarian crisis and we have to do what we can to help. We also need the be on the side of democracy and freedom, not on the side of authoritarian and dictatorial thugs.)
- Trump Versus the Socialist Menace (“The Commies are coming for your pickup trucks.”)
- “I Am Disgusted”: Behind the Scenes of Trump’s Increasingly Scrutinized $107 Million Inauguration
- Russian-Style Kleptocracy Is Infiltrating America (“When the U.S.S.R. collapsed, Washington bet on the global spread of democratic capitalist values—and lost.”)
- Trump furious after Schiff hires former NSC aides to help oversee his administration
- Supreme Court on 5-to-4 vote blocks restrictive Louisiana abortion law (“Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined with the Supreme Court’s liberals Thursday night to block a Louisiana law that opponents say would close most of the state’s abortion clinics and leave it with only one doctor eligible to perform the procedure.”)
- John Dingell, the longest-serving member of Congress, dies at 92 (R.I.P.)
- Nancy Pelosi Nails What Donald Trump’s Attacks On Democrats Are Really All About (“I always think that whatever the president says about us, he’s projecting his own unruliness. He’s a projector and that’s what it’s about.”)
- Trump cornered on border wall (“The president doesn’t have GOP support to go through another shutdown or declare a national emergency — pressuring him to back whatever deal Congress makes.”)
- Bezos: National Enquirer Threatened Me With a ‘D*ck Pick’” (“The Amazon chief and Washington Post owner says the supermarket tabloid tried to blackmail him with explicit pictures and texts of him and his mistress, Lauren Sanchez.”)
- Ronan Farrow says he also faced ‘blackmail efforts from AMI’ for reporting on the National Enquirer, Trump
- Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of ‘Extortion and Blackmail’
- The Democratic apology tour is a sorry spectacle
- Dems wary of killing off filibuster
- Ivanka Trump has ‘zero concern’ about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation (LOL, what a joke.)
- AOC’s Green New Deal Resolution Is Utopian — and Pragmatic
- Trump’s Federal Judges Will Make Sure Trumpism Is Forever (“Or at least lasts for decades.”)
- Year Before Killing, Saudi Prince Told Aide He Would Use ‘a Bullet’ on Jamal Khashoggi
- The Hunt for Donald Trump’s Tax Returns Has Begun (“House Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee have released the hounds.”)
- The NRA Welcomed Maria Butina—Even As She Worked to Arm Anti-American Thugs Abroad (“While NRA leaders embraced her, Butina denounced US sanctions and advised a militia group helping Putin seize Crimea.”)
- Why is racism still thriving? Ask the enablers.
- The Frank Robinson I knew: The proudest, orneriest, most competitive man in baseball (Rest in peace.)
- Virginia Political Crisis Grows for Democrats and Republicans
- Sen. Tim Kaine and Steve Miller discuss Virginia and Kansas City politics with The Star
- Chaos envelopes the Capitol, but lawmakers from both parties insist (insist!) they can still do their jobs (Haha, yeah, good luck.)
- In Virginia, learning to unlearn
- Editorial: Amid turmoil, the people’s work must continue
- Virginia Gov. Northam, isolated, gets space to ponder his fate as Democrats absorb scandals
- Inside Ralph Northam’s plot for survival (“Buffeted by his blackface scandal, the Virginia governor has a better chance of hanging on than anyone imagined a few days ago.”)
- U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott knew of Justin Fairfax allegation last year — but says he had few details (“An aide to the Democratic congressman said Scott and Fairfax’s accuser, Vanessa Tyson, were friends for years, and that she first approached him about her allegation of sexual assault last year while The Washington Post was investigating it.”)
- Virginia Sen. Tommy Norment was an editor for VMI yearbook filled with racist photos and slurs (Now THIS is not surprising. At all.)
- Communications experts: Governor’s response missed the mark; ‘this is among the worst management of a crisis’ (Yep, I wrote about this the other day…massive #FAIL by Northam and his comms team.)
- Norment on racist content in VMI yearbook that he worked on: ‘Use of blackface is abhorrent’ (Yeah, except in Norment’s case, he’s spent the rest of his career pushing policies that hurt minorities, such as voter suppression.)
- Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax demands retraction from NBC over reports that he used profanity toward accuser
- Editorial: Where does Virginia go from here? (“Virginia Republicans are in need of new leaders after having gone winless in every statewide election since 2009. However, Democrats may be in the market for new leaders, as well. The obvious winners here? Women.”)
- Red Herring: All “Scandals” Are Not Created Equal
- Joint Statement by Entire U.S. Senate/House Virginia Democratic Delegation on Northam, Fairfax and Herring
- Video: Sen. Kamala Harris Comments on “Blackface,” Says Vanessa Tyson Account “Credible” and Calls for “Investigation to Get to the Bottom of It”
- BREAKING: Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment (R) Edited Yearbook “Filled with Racist Photos and Slurs”
- Crisis Management 101: How Virginia’s top three Democrats dug themselves deeper holes
- VA House GOP Budget Doubles Down on Trump Tax Scheme
- Northern Virginia leaders say crisis in Richmond leaves their priorities on hold (“The Democrats who lead Northern Virginia’s bluest suburbs say the chaos in Richmond has slowed their communication with the state government, threatening to delay funding and coordination on key transportation and other projects.”)
- ‘If you sin, you must pay for the sin’ — Al Sharpton calls for Northam’s resignation at Virginia Union event
- R.I.P. to Long-Time (37 Years!) Prince William County Supervisor John Jenkins (D-Neabsco District)
- Hundreds rally outside Virginia Capitol to protest abortion legislation
- D.C.-area forecast: Morning mildness gets booted by blustery Arctic air that’s returning for the weekend
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