Tuesday News: “Trump Inaugural Committee Is Subpoenaed for Documents”; “Stacey Abrams’ Golden SOTU Opportunity”; Fairfax Implies Stoney and/or Northam Behind “Smear”; “As lawmakers quarrel, Virginia tax returns put on hold”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, February 5.

• Trump Inaugural Committee Is Subpoenaed for Documents
• Stacey Abrams’ Golden SOTU Opportunity
• New report shows the real State of the Union: American democracy is in decline (“The Freedom House report shows a dangerous shift in the United States — one that is amplified under the Trump presidency.”)
• Climate change on front burner after 8 years of GOP rule (“We’ve largely wasted eight precious years in this fight…making the need for strong action even more urgent.)
• Five things to watch at Trump’s State of the Union
• Trump’s State of the Union Expected to Underscore Political Rancor (“Pelosi to be seated behind him; Stacey Abrams will respond” The one I want to hear from is the amazing Stacey Abrams…NOT the corrupt, white supremacist, sexual predator imbecile in the White House.)
• Prosecutors issue sweeping subpoena for documents from Trump inaugural committee (“The subpoena seeks an array of documents, including all information related to inaugural donors, vendors, contractors and foreign contributors, according to a copy reviewed by The Post.”)
• Trade Hawks Quietly Bristle as Trump’s China Deadline Approaches
• Senate breaks from Trump with Syria troop vote
• Republicans defy Trump on national emergency (“Resistance from GOP senators could expose a split in the party and force the president to issue his first veto.”)
• House will vote on HR 1 government overhaul package this month, Pelosi says
• Donald Trump is ignoring the law today. And no one really cares. (“First Monday in February is legally the deadline for sending a president’s budget to Congress”)
• An Energy Wish List for Congress (“Here’s how lawmakers can accelerate the clean-energy economy.”)
• Trump’s Options for Wall Shrink as Republicans Balk at National Emergency Declaration
• The plan to keep Trump’s taxes hidden (“The Trump administration wants to drag an expected Democratic request for the president’s tax returns into a quagmire of arcane legal arguments.” They really REALLY want to keep Trump’s taxes hidden. Gee, wonder why!)
• It’s not just Northam. Republicans must confront the bigotry of the Pences too. (“If Ralph Northam must step down, why not demand the resignation of Vice President Pence for his views on homosexuality?”)
• Democrats Need to Get 2020 Priorities Straight (As far as I’m concerned, the #1 priority is beating Trump. As is the #2 priority. And the #3, #4, #5, #6, etc.)
• Has Facebook been good for the world? (Malcolm Gladwell: “Platforms are only as socially useful as their owners want them to be.” David Axelrod: Facebook “actually has become a tool for dividing us into virtual communities in which our views are affirmed, but not always informed; where we are surrounded by the like-minded and exploited by commercial and political interests armed with our personal data.”)
• Will the ‘green wave’ return for House Democrats? (“Fundraising for 2020 cycle may not come as easy for chamber’s new majority”)
• Congress is beginning to check Trump’s worst foreign-policy impulses (“Now that the ‘grown-ups’ have left the administration, Congress has to step up.”)
• Ginsburg Makes First Public Appearance Since Cancer Surgery (Stay strong, RBG!)
• Stephen Colbert Tears Into Ralph Northam: ‘You Would Remember’ Wearing Blackface (“The ‘Late Show’ host also tried to figure out ‘which is worse’: wearing blackface or a KKK hood.”)
• CNN panel falsely claims that Democrats haven’t offered a plan on border security (“Less than one week after CNN reported on a border security proposal by Democratic leadership, a CNN host and panelist falsely claimed that Democrats ‘haven’t offered any kind of plan whatsoever’ on border security.”)
• Ralph Northam Should Resign. But Democrats Better Wise Up. (“The Democratic Party—and the Elite Political Media—still do not grasp conservative ratf*cking for what it is.”)
• Blackface Is Just One Part of the Problem (“The furor over Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s yearbook photo has America once again asking the wrong questions about racism”)
• Ralph Northam Is Just A Small Piece Of The Shift In Race Politics In The Trump Era (“Democrats see a double standard in the Trump era. They point out that Northam and Al Franken before him had to go (Franken for sexual misconduct allegations), but Trump, Iowa Rep. Steve King (who questioned how the terms white nationalist and white supremacist became offensive) and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (who landed in hot water over her own past racially tinged remarks) got to stay.”)
• Gov. Northam blackface case distracts from broader problems of racism (“Analysis: The question of who is racist is an American obsession. But we’re less likely to ask why racial disparities remain.”)
• The Empty Quarters of U.S. Politics (“Two missing species: libertarian voters and populist racist politicians.”)
• Blackface Is the Tip of the Iceberg (“The structural problems we need to solve lie at the roots of American society.”)
• Why You’re Not Hearing That Ralph Northam Was Smeared by His Enemies and Destroyed by Social Media Polarization (“The difference between the reaction to Northam and the reactions to Kavanaugh and Covington is pretty easy to spot: Northam is a Democrat. Despite not every detail of his situation being locked down, we’re not hearing about this story as a smear job because, for reasons including identity, ideology, and coalition-building necessity, Democrats and pundits on the left aren’t looking for ways to worm out of confronting racist and sexist behavior. Northam’s peers in his party and his movement aren’t invested in proving that all such accusations are fraudulent, and centrist media figures haven’t been made self-conscious about criticizing people like him by years of bias accusations.”)
• Senate Dems block Sasse measure meant to respond to Virginia bill (“Sasse was blocked by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who argued that U.S. laws already prohibit infanticide and warned that Republicans were misrepresenting the bill.”)
• Rejoice! The president is doing nothing. (“This inaction is a welcome reprieve. Let us not, then, give the White House a hard time about your leisurely schedule.”)
• Ralph Northam Is Just A Small Piece Of The Shift In Race Politics In The Trump Era
• What Is Your Reaction to the Racist Photo on the Virginia Governor’s Yearbook Page?
• VA lawmaker who’s known Northam for a decade: He ‘cannot effectively govern’
• Ralph Northam promised black voters a voice. Will he listen now?
• This Is Not About Ralph Northam’s Feelings (“The Virginia governor needs to recognize that his racism scandal isn’t really about him”)
• Ralph Northam’s Mistake (“The Virginia governor’s main problem is not the particulars of his dalliances with racism, but the fact that they exist—and that they caught black voters unawares.”)
• Northam clings to power, but grip appears tenuous
• Former Rep. Moran has Northam’s back, even as Democrats ditch him (Protecting his brother Brian?)
• LG Justin Fairfax Refutes Allegations Published in Same Far-Right Website That Published Northam Photo
• Video: Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Holds Press Conference on Sexual Assault Allegations, Gov. Northam
• The man who could be governor. Who is Justin Fairfax?
• Northam promises to decide fate soon; Fairfax denies assault allegation
• Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of Virginia Denounces Sexual Assault Allegation as a ‘Smear’
• Justin Fairfax, second in line for governor of Virginia, faces sexual assault allegation (“Here’s what we know.”)
• Fairfax suggests Gov. Northam could be behind leaked sexual assault allegation (Northam’s spokesperson tweeted yesterday evening, “Let me state unequivocally: this is absolutely untrue.”
• Virginia Lt. Gov. Again Denies Sexual Assault Allegation, Suggests Political Hit Job (“Justin Fairfax, who is in line to succeed embattled Gov. Ralph Northam (D), now faces questions about his viability.”)
• Northam’s narrow path to unity
• New clue? Justin Fairfax praises reporter who asks if Richmond mayor linked to sexual assault allegation (“A spokesman for Stoney denied his boss has any involvement. ‘This insinuation is 100 percent not true. Period,’ spokesman Jim Nolan told the Washington Post.”)
• A turbulent weekend in Virginia politics got even rougher Monday
• Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax denies sex assault allegation from 2004
• Northam digs in as Virginia’s political turmoil deepens
• Northam’s medical school banned yearbooks in 2013 — after students posed in Confederate garb
• VA House Dems: Onus is on House Republicans to Introduce and Pass Emergency Clean Conformity Bill
• Crisis Comms “Best Practices”: Did Virginia House Dems and Gov. Northam’s Team Use Them Effectively? Or Not?
• Protests continue in Richmond as Northam considers whether to resign
• ‘We’re headed for a pretty disrupted tax season’ as emergency legislation fails in Virginia House of Delegates
• A quirk about budget bills and taxes
• A feud between Optima and Chesapeake Regional Medical Center lands on the Senate floor
• CASEY: A gobsmacking irony in Virginia’s gun laws (“Pro-gun rocker Ted Nugent banned guns from his summer concert at the city-owned Berglund Center. But Roanoke City Council cannot do the same in its chambers.”)
• As lawmakers quarrel, Virginia tax returns put on hold
• Bill to force those who kill police in Virginia to be killed or spend life in prison moving forward
• Casino bill passes Va. Senate with set tax rates (“The Senate voted 28-12 Monday to approve SB 1126, which would allow for local referenda on casinos but delay any votes until 2020.”)
• Springlike today, showery late this week and then winter by the weekend