by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, October 24.
EU Keeps Boris Johnson Waiting Over Length of Brexit Extension
- Brexit end game: UK leaves the EU with Johnson’s deal – Downing Street source
- An Election Is the Only Answer for Britain
- The Consequences of Donald Trump Washing His Hands of the Middle East (“The short-term costs have been brutal, but the longer-term ones could be far more significant.”)
- Donald Trump declares Syria ceasefire permanent and lifts Turkey sanctions (Trump has permanently disgraced America and harmed our credibility around the world. Great job, Trumpsters.)
- Amazon rainforest ‘close to irreversible tipping point’ (“Forecast suggests rainforest could stop producing enough rain to sustain itself by 2021” We are so screwed.)
- The Trump-Ukraine Scandal: More than a Quid Pro Quo, It’s Extortion
- Ukraine Knew of Aid Freeze by Early August, Undermining Trump Defense
- Republicans Grind Impeachment Inquiry to Halt as Evidence Mounts Against Trump
- No. 2 GOP senator: ‘Picture coming out of’ diplomat’s testimony ‘not a good one’
- White House Aides Feared That Trump Had Another Ukraine Back Channel
- Sondland seeks to align himself with Taylor after bombshell testimony
- “The Walls Are Closing In”: Bill Taylor’s Testimony Puts Trump Impeachment in Overdrive
- Pompeo Gets Drawn Deeper—Way Deeper—Into the Ukraine Scandal
- The President Has No Defense (“After the bombshell testimony by the U.S. envoy to Ukraine, the best Trump can hope for is mercy.”)
- House Democrats look to take impeachment probe public as soon as mid-November
- Republican defense of Trump grows more frantic and disjointed as Ukraine scandal escalates
- Trump told the GOP to fight. It took the brawl underground.
- Trump and his defenders are inventing the reality they want
- Tom Daschle and Trent Lott: The Senate can hold a fair impeachment trial. We did it in 1999.
- So much for ‘due process’: Republican mob crashes secure hearing room (Top comment on the WaPo article: “When I was working for the DoD, if I had walked into a SCIF with a cell phone my security clearance would have been suspended pending an investigation and likely revoked if I had tweeted from inside. Why should the rules be different for members of Congress?”)
- A SCIF in Stormy Seas (“With the investigation going badly for Trump, House Republicans attack the investigators.”)
- Why Did Republicans Storm the Capitol? They’re Running Out of Options (“As more testimony is disclosed, it becomes clearer that President Trump’s only defense against impeachment is to distract from the facts.” And they’re sociopathic.)
- Matt Gaetz Says Storming Impeachment Hearings was Like ‘300’ (You can’t get “more stupider” than this clown.)
- Here’s why the Matt Gaetz sit-in stunt was particularly weird
- Republicans Try To Storm Impeachment Room, Break Rules In Process (Are there going to be consequences for this lawlessness?)
- 13 Republicans involved in impeachment protest already have access to hearings
- The Anti-Shakedown Law That Could Finally Bring Down Trump
- Trump’s War on the ‘Deep State’ Turns Against Him (Anytime you hear the idiotic phrase “Deep State,” substitute the words “Rule of Law” and/or “The Constitution”)
- Trump lawyer argues president would be immune from prosecution even if he were to shoot someone (As always, just imagine if this had happened in the Obama or Clinton administrations.)
- The White House resorts to character assassination of courageous public servants
- MSNBC announces four all-star female moderators for November debate
- House Unanimously Passes Bipartisan Bill Outlawing Animal Cruelty (“The PACT Act would outlaw the intentional crushing, burning, drowning or other violence causing ‘serious bodily injury’ to animals.” Good. This should apply to the “meat” industry as well.)
- Donald Trump, Life of a Zombie Party (“And an army is blindly following.”)
- Rep. Katie Hill says she had ‘inappropriate’ relationship with campaign staffer and is under House investigation
- Senate Republicans duck for cover after explosive Taylor testimony
- Lou Dobbs praises Republicans for storming closed door impeachment hearing: “I’m so impressed” (Lou Dobbs is completely deranged.)
- Voter Enthusiasm for 2020 Is Off the Charts — Especially for Trump Fans (We’ll see how it is in Virginia on 11/5)
- Trump: ‘We’re Building a Wall in Colorado, a Big One’ (Imbecile.)
- Colorado governor mocks Trump for saying he’s building wall there
- The Memo: GOP schisms deepen as Trump impeachment pressure rises
- How two businessmen hustled to profit from access to Rudy Giuliani and the Trump administration
- Rudy Giuliani is looking for a defense attorney, sources say
- Indicted Giuliani Associate Ties Case to Trump
- House chairman asks sergeant-at-arms to ‘take action’ after Republicans bring electronics to secure hearing
- Trump blasts ‘Never Trump’ Republicans as ‘human scum’ (Yes, ladies and gentlemen, THIS is our “president”)
- Democrats torch Zuckerberg for 5 hours (Zuckerberg is awful, as is Facebook in many ways.)
- Watch AOC ask Mark Zuckerberg if she can run fake Facebook ads, too
- Virginia’s Republican Members of Congress Are All Violating Their Oaths of Office (Check out Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) storming the SCIF with the rest of the GOP mob)
- You Can Pick Out All Your Favorite Wingnuts as They Commit a Dangerous Breach of National Security (“Matt Gaetz et al. were caught on video storming the SCIF to disrupt the impeachment inquiry, because Republicans.” Expel them all from Congress.)
- Sanctuary cities cause ‘death and crimes that don’t have to happen’: Ken Cuccinelli
- There Was A Tense Exchange Between One Of Trump’s Top Immigration Officials And An Asylum Officer (“The back-and-forth is the latest episode in a fraught relationship between hardline acting director Ken Cuccinelli and the asylum officers union.”)
- Exclusive: Trump Wants To Pick Cuccinelli For DHS, But Worries Senate Would Balk (As well it should, given that Cooch is completely unfit to hold ANY office.)
- Wexton grills Zuckerberg on doctored Pelosi video; Riggleman won’t play ‘stump the dummy’
- Sen. Mark Warner On Social Media, Syria And The Election
- CASEY: Amid impeachment chaos, Cline and Griffith to appear at town hall meeting (They are both violating their oaths of office.)
- Virginia Beach Rep. Elaine Luria has pointed exchange with Navy brass over slow carrier maintenance
- Virginia Retirement System Has a “Fiduciary Duty” to Divest from Fossil Fuels ASAP (“When an industry faces existential risk, there is no floor price”)
- AG Mark Herring Fights to Preserve States’ Authority to Protect State Waters
- With 13 Days Until Virginia Votes, Dominion Energy CEO Spews “Greenwashing” and Puts Finger on the Scale for His Preferred Candidates
- Follow The Money: Unparalleled Fundraising In Virginia’s Off-Off Year Elections (“All 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for grabs, and donations have reached about $53 million. That’s 67% more money raised than in Virginia’s last off-off elections in 2015.”)
- Video: Far-Right VA Sen. Amanda Chase (R-SD11) Calls for Everyone to “Stop Being Ugly”…Then “Likes” Ugly Comments on Her Facebook Page
- PolitiFact Virginia: Cox Characterization of Bynum-Coleman’s SRO Statement “Mostly False”
- Why this delegate skipped dozens of votes to hang in Cocoa Beach (“House Speaker Kirk Cox was so confident in his ability to herd his caucus that he let one of his members catch some rays in Cocoa Beach, Fl. instead of attending the 2019 reconvened session of the General Assembly, the biggest day of votes this year. In allowing Del. Rob Bloxom (R-100) to stay at the beach, Cox signaled a 50-49 edge was good enough to win.”)
- Virginians are buying less gas but driving more miles. For transportation officials, that’s a problem.
- On The Ballot: The Constitutional Officers
- [Loudoun] Voters Asked to Approve $215M in New Debt
- On The Ballot: School Board
- Park Police revises use of force rules in wake of Fairfax Co. man’s shooting
- Shad Plank: VCU poll offers a read on DC politics impact in the General Assembly election
- Historic Triangle tax divides candidates in 96th House District
- Tim Hugo Fails to Come Across as Above the “Nastiness of Politics”
- A debate like the harsh fliers in Yancey, Simonds race
- A Look at This Year’s General Assembly Political Ads
- From shoo-in to write-in: Paperwork stumble forces a Va. Republican to run the hard way (Yeah, getting $500k from a far-right donor.)
- Whistleblower: Archeologist Minimized ‘Cultural Richness’ of Site Planned for Water Project (“For centuries, a site in central Virginia was capital of the Monacan Indian Nation. Today it’s owned by Fluvanna and Louisa Counties and officials plan to build a water pump there. They say the infrastructure is needed to provide water to residents and businesses in Zion Crossroads. Now those plans could be derailed by allegations of misconduct lodged by a former employee of the archaeological firm that tested the site. “)
- Hampton council gets a look at how new HOT lanes are expected to affect traffic on I-64
- Editorial: Are November council elections what they seem?
- Opinion/Editorial: Snook, Brown are leading candidates for City Council
- ‘Yawhoo!’: The 83-year-old grandmother hit with a lease violation for taking too many cookies won’t have to move (“Elsie Cruey’s situation at a Virginia apartment complex sparked concerns about senior housing across the nation.”)
- This month’s pedestrian fatality wasn’t the first time a Pulse bus hit someone on Broad Street
- The Nationals are meeting the World Series moment, and the Astros are shrinking from it
- “Gunimals Van Cleave” Group Endorses Henrico County GOP Sheriff’s Candidate
- Nationals crush Astros, 12-3, to take commanding 2-0 lead in World Series (This team is amazing!)
- Two more near-perfect fall days before a mixed weekend (“Showers are possible Saturday night and likely Sunday.”)
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
