by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 13.
- How to Cut U.S. Emissions Faster? Do What These Countries Are Doing. (“If the United States adopted an economy-wide carbon tax similar to British Columbia’s, which started small and is set to rise to $37.50 per ton, emissions would start to fall, according to modeling by Energy Innovation, an energy policy firm. The nation could also require utilities to produce all their electricity from zero-carbon sources — like wind, solar or nuclear — by mid-century, following states like New York and California.”)
- Trump Edges Toward Taking Shutdown-Averting Border Deal
- Trump Is ‘Not Happy’ With Border Deal, but Doesn’t Say if He Will Sign It
- How Manafort’s 2016 meeting with a Russian employee at New York cigar club goes to ‘the heart’ of Mueller’s probe
- Congress poised to put Trump in veto bind (“The House will move a step closer to a major confrontation with Trump by voting as soon as Wednesday on a resolution that would cut off U.S. military support to the Saudi-led coalition in neighboring Yemen.”)
- Michael Bloomberg’s $500 million anti-Trump moonshot (“The sum represents a floor, not a ceiling, on the billionaire’s potential spending to defeat the president in 2020.”)
- McConnell Wants to Troll Democrats With Green New Deal Vote (McConnell certainly doesn’t want to protect the environment, he just wants to play sociopathic political games.)
- Trump administration still separating families at border, advocates say
- Warner splits with Burr on collusion question
- El Chapo trial: Mexican drug cartel boss found guilty (“Joaquín Guzmán, 61, could spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted following three-month New York trial”)
- Trump’s superpower is his shamelessness (“Unlike the rest of us, he is not hobbled by fact, consistency or logic.”)
- Trump’s Followers Believe His Lies About the Wall (“No evidence—not even from Fox News—can shake their faith.” It’s a cult.)
- Susan Collins’ outrageously stupid defense of Brett Kavanaugh (“There’s nothing ‘careful’ about Brett Kavanaugh’s attack on Roe v. Wade.”)
- It’s Not Dark Yet. But It’s Getting There. (“The potential for violence is one of the things that fill the arena at Trump rallies—and the media are the obvious targets.”)
- President* Trump Made President Hannity and President Coulter Very Mad (“Nothing gets them going like the Big, Beautiful, Stupid Wall.”)
- Former astronaut Mark Kelly announces his Arizona Senate campaign (“Kelly, a former astronaut and husband of Gabby Giffords, is Democrats’ first big Senate recruit for 2020.”)
- Schumer recruits famed fighter pilot to challenge McConnell in 2020 (“The GOP leader is deep into preparations to take on Democrat Amy McGrath.”)
- The best way to resist Trump? Beto and El Paso show us how it’s done (“Thanks to Beto O’Rourke and the people of El Paso, Trump’s first big rally of 2019 was a bust. Resistance, learn!”)
- Trump makes wild claim that Ralph Northam wants to ‘execute’ newborn babies (“Execute the baby.”)
- Is Socialism Still An Effective Political Bogeyman? (“But it’s 2019, not 1949; socialism doesn’t automatically evoke the Iron Curtain anymore, and fewer Americans now associate socialism with government control or ownership. Trump’s anti-socialist message may find less success than he hopes.”)
- Howard Schultz’s campaign is based on 3 ideas, and they’re all wrong (“Howard Schultz isn’t solving America’s problems. He’s reinforcing them.”)
- Virginia’s Democrats in Congress call to stop seismic testing off coast
- Time for Dominion to cut its losses on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
- Dominion Energy pledges 50 percent cut in methane by 2030, but pipeline opponents unswayed (“The best way for Dominion to reduce methane emissions is to abandon its plans to build its controversial and unnecessary $7.5 billion pipeline.”)
- Senators Warner, Kaine Announce Opposition to William Barr Nomination for Attorney General
- Schapiro: And now the collateral damage of Va’s political crisis
- Northam to meet with budget negotiators as he tries to govern amid crisis
- ‘White privilege’ in America: The blissful ignorance of Ralph Northam
- Black Virginia voters may forgive Democrats: ‘I can’t oust Gov. Northam for acting white in America’
- The questions Ralph Northam and Justin Fairfax must answer
- Tyson’s lawyer to Virginia General Assembly: We will cooperate
- Video: Justin Fairfax Accuser Dr. Vanessa Tyson Speaks on Sexual Violence (“There is a recurring theme….when women come forward, of this deliberate attempt to undermine that person’s credibility”; “Sometimes you have to lead by example, no matter how hard it is”)
- Vanessa Tyson speaks about the #MeToo movement in first public appearance since accusing Justin Fairfax of sexual assault
- The Political Ascent of Justin Fairfax, and the Disturbing Allegations That Might End It (“The next day, Dr. Tyson’s allegations emerged. Mr. Rossi, who said he could not ignore the disturbing accounts, has not been in touch with Mr. Fairfax since.”)
- Unmistakable Divide Among Women in Virginia Over Accusations Against Fairfax (“To Constance Cordovilla, the president of the Virginia National Organization for Women, the two sexual assault allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax are not just grounds for him to resign — the detailed claims also demand that women side with his accusers…But to Khadijah Vasser, a 23-year-old employee at the Virginia Bar Association and recent University of Virginia graduate, the matter is less clear-cut.”)
- Impeach Justin Fairfax (“An impeachment hearing for Virginia’s lieutenant governor over allegations of rape and sexual assault would give his accusers a chance to tell their truth, and grant him the due process that he demands”)
- Second woman who accused Fairfax of assault was subject of 2008 restraining order (“The dispute between the two centered around $2,000 that was owed to Watson and was resolved, Smith said, with the man agreeing to pay Watson. The man who filed the request for the order did not respond to a request for comment for this story, nor did Fairfax through his office.”)
- Virginia’s black lawmakers struggle with painful questions as scandals unfold around race and sex (“…constituents have been telling Aird they don’t want either man to step down. That Northam deserves a chance to redeem himself for a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook, and that Fairfax should be able to defend himself against allegations of sexual assault.”)
- Virginia’s Economy Weathers the Storm in Its Statehouse
- Fairfax Continues To Preside Over Va. Senate As Staffers Resign, Investigation Begins
- Video: Sen. Tommy Norment (R), Who Edited VMI Yearbook “Filled with Racist Photos and Slurs,” Marvels at How Much VMI Has Changed in 50 Years
- Commonwealth Institute Outlines Adverse Racial Equity Impact of Proposed House and Senate Budgets
- Northam Announces Civil Rights Restored to Over 10,000 Virginians; But Also Has “missed chances to lead on race as governor”
- “Ripoff.” “Another fixed system.” Arnold Schwarzenegger has some thoughts on Virginia politics
- Virginia House, Senate at odds over how to conduct gambling study
- Cigarette, vape buyers in Virginia may soon have to be 21, not 18
- Virginia governor’s civil rights restoration efforts are underwhelming, activists say (“If the governor were truly committed to rooting Jim Crow out of our constitution he would join us in calling for the elimination of… felony disenfranchisement.”)
- Editorial: Northam, like many Virginians, was taught propaganda (“It’s likely that this is the textbook that future-Gov. Ralph Northam learned from in seventh grade. The chapter on slavery begins with this image that shows a well-dressed white man greeting a well-dressed black man, as if they were on equal footing. It repeatedly describes enslaved workers as happy.” F’ed up.)
- House of Delegates honors Bob Goodlatte (BADlatte deserves nothing but DIShonor for all the terrible things he did in the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s perverse to “honor” him.)
- Ralph Northam’s neighbors shaped his views on race. Here’s what they want the governor to do next. (“People like to think Virginia’s Eastern Shore has a nobler racial past than its neighbors can claim. It’s not quite so simple.”)
- The ‘Loyal Slave’ Photo That Explains the Northam Scandal (“The governor’s yearbook picture, like many images before it, reinforces the belief that blacks are content in their oppression.”)
- If only: Northam’s missed chances to lead on race as governor
- ‘Ralph Must Resign’ protest set to take place at governor’s mansion (“Wednesday is the day the governor had a Black History Month event scheduled to take place at the governor’s mansion. The date was set prior to the recent controversy. It is now being postponed, but protesters say their fight is not.”)
- EVMS investigators will use letters, social media to find leads on racist yearbook photos
- Is the University of Virginia yearbook name, ‘Corks and Curls,’ about to become history as the school grapples with racist imagery?
- Loudoun County Supervisor Geary Higgins Announces Bid for State Senate Seat (All you need to know about this guy is that far-right extremist bigots Dick Black and “Sideshow Bob” Marshall have endorsed him because he’s 100% anti-abortion and 100% pro-guns.)
- Keeping the Metro open later could also mean keeping it less safe
- Amended bill clears way for charity health clinics (“Kilgore changed the language to reflect his intent that out-of-state dentists would have the same ease as doctors have in volunteering at the clinics. which offer up to three days of free health, dental and vision care.”)
- Joe Morrissey ‘exploring’ second run for Senate against Rosalyn Dance (Hell no.)
- Trending milder through Friday, then a pair of weekend wintry threats
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
