by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, Presidents Day, February 18.
- Seven lawmakers quit Britain’s Labour Party over Brexit and anti-Semitism (Britain’s Labour Party is f’ed up, no doubt. Unfortunately, the Conservative Party is even worse.)
- What’s the Plan for Brexit? There Is No Plan (“It may be time to stop the doomsday clock and start over.”)
- Rift Between Trump and Europe Is Now Open and Angry
- Trump policies unite allies against him at European security forum
- More Than 300 Chemical Attacks Launched During Syrian Civil War, Study Says (This is the regime that Virginia State Senator Dick Black supports.)
- Even Trump Can’t Drive Europe Into Russia’s Arms (“Europeans don’t trust the U.S. and are open to new security arrangements, but Putin squandered a historic chance at continental leadership.”)
- Trump to Ramp Up Pressure on Maduro to Leave Venezuela (“His speech will be directed at Venezuelan generals and expatriates who may be the key to winning Florida in 2020.”)
- White House defends Trump’s emergency declaration as lawsuits and political battles mount (Absolutely indefensible.)
- An off-key Pence sings from the Trump hymnal to a stony European reception (“European leaders have learned that there is no point in seeking agreement with Trump, which is why Pence’s speech sounded so off.”)
- The Democrats have an Israel problem — and it’s not Ilhan Omar (“Benjamin Netanyahu has doggedly and successfully worked to thwart the goal pursued by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and still embraced by most Democrats: a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He relentlessly campaigned against Obama’s nuclear deal with the Iranian regime, an initiative most Democrats still support.” Agreed; the big problem for a lot of liberal American Jews is that Israel has moved sharply to the right, I’d argue since the 1970s when Likud first came to power, but certainly since Benjamin Netanyahu threw his – and his country’s – lot in 100% with right-wing Republicans and Christian fundamentalists in this country.)
- Democrat Adam Schiff Just Laid Out Why Trump’s National Emergency Is Unconstitutional (“If we surrender the power of the purse…there will be little check and no balance left.”)
- Andrew McCabe, Ex-FBI Deputy, Describes ‘Remarkable’ Number Of Trump-Russia Contacts
- How Mitch McConnell Enables Trump (“He’s not an institutionalist. He’s the man who surrendered the Senate to the president.”)
- McCabe’s “bizarre” job interview with President Trump and other clips (“He began by talking to me about his Electoral College results in the state of North Carolina, which I didn’t really know about or understand how that related to the position of FBI director”)
- McCabe: ‘I was fired because I opened a case against the president’ (That’s called “obstruction of justice,” and it’s very serious.)
- Five things to watch as Barr takes the reins of Justice, Mueller probe
- Obama Quietly Gives Advice to 2020 Democrats, but No Endorsement (“The discreet role he has taken on reflects his longstanding ambivalence about acting as a partisan political leader.”)
- Graham Vows to Investigate Whether ‘Bureaucratic Coup’ Tried to Oust Trump (There’s something seriously, seriously f’ed up with Lindsey Graham.)
- Trump ally Graham will subpoena McCabe and Rosenstein over ‘coup’
- White House Asked Japan for Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Nomination (If there’s an Ig-Nobel Peace Prize, Trump should be nominated for that.)
- The Snowflake in Chief (“President Trump suggests that comedy sketches making fun of him warrant ‘retribution’ and investigation.”)
- Kellyanne Conway’s Husband Thinks We Should Be Worried About Donald Trump’s Mental Stability (“The latest data point? The president’s comments about how close Obama was to starting a war with North Korea.”)
- Alec Baldwin suggests Trump’s latest attack on ‘SNL’ could be ‘a threat to my safety’
- Trump’s ‘SNL’ attack crosses the line
- “We’re going to go to the edge on everything”: Trump pushes governing to the brink
- Fox’s Wallace presses Stephen Miller for example on Trump emergency declaration
- Chris Wallace calls out Limbaugh for being ‘outraged’ when Obama took executive action
- Stephen Miller signals Trump ready to veto resolution against emergency declaration (Which means it would have to get strong Republican support, but since Republicans are the invertebrate party…probably not.)
- Protests planned across US on Presidents Day in response to Trump’s national emergency for border wall
- North Carolina board to hear evidence on election fraud claim
- ‘It Is Not a Closet. It Is a Cage.’ Gay Catholic Priests Speak Out (“The crisis over sexuality in the Catholic Church goes beyond abuse. It goes to the heart of the priesthood, into a closet that is trapping thousands of men.”)
- Video: On Face the Nation, Terry McAuliffe Comments on Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax, Amazon, Possible Presidential Run
- Sen. Warner renews drive to repair national parks
- Virginia can be better than this (“What really matters, for Virginia and for the nation, is making a good-faith effort to do what’s right, fair and just, while respecting all the people involved. In our dyspeptic political age, Virginia can remind America how we ought to behave in a truly awful situation, even if the results are imperfect.”)
- Retired US Navy Commander, Intelligence Officer Kim Howard Announces Against State Sen. Frank Wagner (R-Dominion Energy)
- Student Council calls for Fairfax to resign, investigations into accusations of sexual assault
- Editorial: Why the abortion controversy in Virginia helps Republicans (What is NOT helpful is hand-wringing, concern-trolling editorials like this one.)
- Virginia lawmakers approve use of speed cameras — in limited circumstances
- Republicans and Democrats often clash over health care solutions, but a new individual-market fix aims for bipartisan support
- I Knew Henry Howell (He Was My Father), and David Suetterlein Is Definitely No Henry Howell!
- Video: Nick Freitas’ Wife Tina Announces for State Senate; Speech Highlights Utter Lunacy, Anti-Government Extremism of Far Right
- Special Election For Neabsco District, Prince William County
- Dems to hold a firehouse primary Tuesday to pick a nominee for possible April 2 special election for supervisor’s seat (“… those plans could change even as voters cast their ballots in the contest if the supervisors make good on a promise to push the special election back one week – to Tuesday, April 9.” What a mess. One thing’s for sure: this is *not* the way to choose a nominee for the Democratic Party, in a one-hour, short-notice caucus on a work day.)
- School board in Virginia may end transgender restroom ban
- A pleasant Presidents’ Day, but then a messy midweek with a major winter storm
