by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, February 10.
- Venezuela’s Maduro Is Doomed? They Said That About Syria’s Assad
- South Korea signs deal to pay more for U.S. troops after Trump demand
- Michael Cohen’s Secret Agenda (“Donald Trump’s attorney built a reputation as his loyal bulldog. But like his boss, Cohen had his eye on higher office.”)
- Matt Whitaker Headed To Trump Hotel After Hearing And People Are Talking (“How very swampy.”)
- Matthew Whitaker Plays to an Audience of One (“Throughout a contentious oversight hearing, the acting attorney general seemed to be auditioning for his next job in the Trump administration.”)
- Sanders and O’Rourke Are Way Ahead in Race for Small-Dollar Donors
- Warren launches 2020 bid amid ancestry fallout
- Jeff Bezos’ Damning Medium Post Pulls Back the Curtain on Something Much Larger (“The Amazon CEO’s dick-pic-blackmail story about the ‘National Enquirer’ might, in the end, involve President Trump”)
- How Trump’s radical Republican tax cut broke the economy
- Obama Health Official Rips Trump’s Doctor As ‘An Instrument Of His Lies’ (“Former Ebola czar Ronald Klain called the exam results ‘a disgrace.'”)
- ‘SNL’ skewers Virginia politicians over blackface issue
- Average tax refund down 8% so far this season
- Trump has ‘gotten away with a lifetime of crime’ — and now investigators are finally closing in: ex-federal prosecutor
- Donald Trump Jr. applauds racist Native American jokes, calls father’s joke about Elizabeth Warren ‘savage’ (Don Jr. is a sociopath and traitor who hopefully will end up in prison for a long time.)
- Trump appears to mock Trail of Tears in tweet about Senator Warren’s campaign announcement (Trump is, of course, a raging bigot.)
- Google is accused of doing a deal with Russia to censor Government-banned websites from its searches
- Fairfax removed from leadership post in lieutenant governors group (“Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) was removed from his post as chairman of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA) on Friday after two women came forward this week to accuse him of sexual assault.”)
- What could happen next in Virginia: A flowchart
- Virginia Lt. Gov. accusers say they will testify if state has impeachment proceedings (“The two women who have accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault said late Saturday that they are willing to testify if the state General Assembly launches impeachment proceedings against him.”)
- Schapiro: Where’s Obama when Va. Democrats really need him? (I’ve been wondering if President Obama would weigh in. So far, haven’t seen it, but I hope he does, as he has enormous moral authority.)
- GOP sees scandals as chance to halt bluing of Virginia(“The meltdown of state Democratic leadership has Republicans eyeing gains in the statehouse and possibly U.S. House delegation.”)
- Justin Fairfax Puts Virginia Democrats in Bind on Impeachment (“The political turmoil for Democratic leaders this weekend is unfolding at the intersection of race and gender, and risks pitting the party’s most pivotal constituencies against one another. If Democrats do not oust Mr. Fairfax, at a time when the party has taken a zero-tolerance stand on sexual misconduct in the #MeToo era, they could anger female voters. But the specter of Mr. Fairfax, 39, being pushed out while two older white men remain in office — despite blackface behavior that evoked some of the country’s most painful racist images — would deeply trouble many African-Americans.”)
- House Speaker Cox calls on Fairfax to resign: Fairfax asks for full investigation
- Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax renews his denials and asks for an FBI investigation into assault accusations against him
- Virginians are split on governor’s fate amid blackface scandal, poll shows (“The poll, conducted Wednesday through Friday, finds residents split over Northam’s fate, with 47 percent wanting him to step down and 47 percent saying he should stay on. Northam counts higher support among black residents — who say he should remain in office by a margin of 58 percent to 37 percent — than among whites, who are more evenly divided.”)
- WaPo-Schar School Poll: Va. Dems Still Approve (66%-23%) of Northam; 57% of Dems, 58% of African Americans Do NOT Think Northam Should Step Down
- On Virginia’s rural Eastern Shore, Northam’s views of race took root (Fascinating article, nice job by the reporters – Marc Fisher, Beth Reinhard, Arelis Hernández)
- Va. Gov. Ralph Northam says he wants to focus rest of his term on racial equity (IF Northam stays on as governor, I strongly encourage him to focus on racial justice/racial equity.)
- Did We Forget About This November? Here’s Our Rally Cry.
- Video: Excellent Pep Talk by Virginia Del. Sam Rasoul After a Rough Couple Weeks
- Can the pipeline be stopped? State board ponders its next move on MVP (“Wading back into what could become a legal quagmire, the State Water Control Board may soon decide whether to revoke its earlier approval for a natural gas pipeline under construction in Southwest Virginia…If the board were to reverse its earlier position, ‘it doesn’t necessarily kill the project, although it’s possible that it could,’ said Jill Fraley, an associate professor at the Washington and Lee School of Law who specializes in environmental law.” Do it!)
- Dominion, DEQ Receive Chesapeake Climate Action Network’s First-Ever “Climate Underachiever” Award at James River “Toe-Dip”(“Once again, Dominion has done its dirty worth in the General Assembly, and every decent clean energy bill has been killed”)
- Okay, Yeah, Richmond is Burning, But What About My Crosswalk?
- Politicians must travel redemption’s painful path
- Legislators seek millions in funding for local state parks, but passage seems unlikely (We should be expanding the state parks big time, but of course Republicans don’t give a crap about the environment, so…)
- EDITORIAL: Time for Assembly to reward state parks
- Louisiana’s lessons for Virginia on building water economy
- Area lawmakers see mixed results with this year’s bills
- 1,500 people, including Gov. Northam, show up to mourn state trooper killed in Cumberland County
- D.C.-area forecast: Wintry mix arrives by evening, alternating with rain through Tuesday; icy spots possible, especially north and west
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