by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, January 25.
- Schools close in Hong Kong over coronavirus fears as toll rises in China (“Experts say lockdowns and other measures may not be enough to prevent spread of the disease.”)
- China’s Coronavirus Spreads to Four Continents With Cases Surging
- Trump admin to expand fast-track returns of asylum seekers at southern border
- The Darkness Where the Future Should Be (“What happens to a society that loses its capacity for awe and wonder at things to come?”)
- Vandalizing America has been a group act starring Trump and Republicans
- VFW demands apology after Trump claims traumatic brain injuries are not ‘very serious’
- VFW Expects Apology From POTUS
- “He Really Thinks His Call Was Perfect. It Wasn’t”: Trump at Odds With GOP, Kushner, His Campaign as Impeachment Bites (What does “perfect” even mean in the context of a phone call? Seems nonsensical, among other things.)
- ‘Take her out’: Recording appears to capture Trump at private dinner saying he wants Ukraine ambassador fired
- Audio of Trump calling for Yovanovitch’s ouster appears to corroborate Parnas’s account (“The audio file reviewed by ABC News matches a description by Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani.”)
- Does Lev Parnas Have More Trump Tapes?
- Democrats focus on Trump’s character as they argue for his removal (“Managers make their final appeal to senators before next phase”)
- Democrats have been making their case for three long days. Will they get anything out of it?
- Republicans: There’s No Point in More Evidence, Trump Will Just Obstruct It (“A circular argument for letting Trump block anything new”)
- “Head on a Pike”: It Sure Sounds Like the White House Threatened to Decapitate Senators Who Vote Against Trump (“This isn’t concerning, not in the slightest”)
- Think Trump’s acting like a dictator now? What if he’s reelected after this?
- Trump finds nearly unwavering loyalty from Republicans after Dem case (The GOP is a cult.)
- Sen. Tim Kaine says jurors must be impartial in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial
- Impeachment managers have trigger man and motive. GOP has the votes. (“Analysis: Democrats have the case — but not the Senate. The electorate will determine who ultimately claims victory.”)
- Friday’s Senate impeachment trial, in 5 minutes
- Press Watch: Adam Schiff’s cry for truth and justice is also an indictment of political journalism (“Elite journalists must have felt Adam Schiff was directly scolding them for their failures. They were right”)
- The Closing of the Senatorial Mind
- As Trump’s lawyers begin their defense, the biggest obstacle is Trump himself
- The impeachment evidence will catch up to Republicans either way
- Trump’s defense team to target Bidens in counterpunch to charges (In other words, the Trumpsters have zero defense.)
- There’s a critical witness impeachment is missing (“Trump’s lawyers have ‘opened the door’ to calling an important witness — the president himself.”)
- After interview, Pompeo cursed at reporter, yelled: ‘Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?’
- Transcript: NPR’s Full Interview With Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo
- Pompeo Won’t Say Whether He Owes Yovanovitch An Apology. ‘I’ve Done What’s Right’
- Emotional Schiff Speech Goes Viral, Delighting the Left and Enraging the Right
- A GOP senator trafficked in flimsy allegations to impugn Alexander Vindman. And then Trump retweeted it. (I know we’re all numb at this point, but this is appalling.)
- The President*’s Defenders Have 2 Strategies Left: The Super Bowl and the Smoke Machine
- Lindsey Graham will oppose subpoena of Hunter Biden
- The March for Life Was a March for Trump (“He’s the first sitting president to attend the anti-abortion event.”)
- Trump sets a new GOP standard in the abortion fight
- Blocks From His Impeachment Trial, Trump Tells Extreme Abortion Foes He Has Their Back (“They’re not sure he’s one of them. But they know he needs them.”)
- Smear merchant John Solomon accidentally reveals role of his lawyers diGenova and Toensing
- Iowa could pick the big winner. But what’s really likely is more of a muddle.
- Why Democrats Still Have to Appeal to the Center, but Republicans Don’t (“Put simply, Democrats can’t win running the kinds of campaigns and deploying the kinds of tactics that succeed for Republicans. They can move to the left — and they are — but they can’t abandon the center or, given the geography of American politics, the center-right, and still hold power. Democrats are modestly, but importantly, restrained by diversity and democracy. Republicans are not.”)
- Video, Statements: Virginia House Public Safety Committee Passes Seven Gun Violence Prevention Bills
- Va. House committee advances first Democratic gun-control bills to House floor
- It’s time for Virginia to retire Lee-Jackson Day
- Gun rights group mocks Va. lawmaker for being unarmed during 1996 carjacking (“House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) said she was ‘shocked’ by the Instagram post.”)
- House of Delegates panel moves gun related bills to floor
- Her face was covered near the Richmond gun rally. So were many others. Why was she the only one arrested? (“A 21-year-old Richmond woman wearing a bandana over the bottom half of her face in a crowd of about 22,000 people, many of whom also had their faces covered on a freezing Monday morning, was the only person charged under a state law that prohibits masks”)
- Democrats debate approach to marijuana decriminalization. Civil rights advocates push for legal possession.
- General Assembly notebook: Senate panel backs jail deaths transparency bill, rural transportation proposal stalls
- Video: VA GOP Delegate Says Mention of Structural Racism Contributing to Maternal Mortality Is Trying to “stick a knife in there and twist it”
- Video: Del. Vivian Watts, Commonwealth Institute Explain Extremely Well Why Virginia Needs to Bring Back the Estate Tax
- SW Va. towns call for extension of federal fee supporting coal site cleanup
- Graphics: Despite What Todd Gilbert (R) Claimed, Virginia House Dems Are Actually Cranking Out Legislation
- When police say they smell pot, they can search you. Lawmakers worry decriminalization won’t change that.
- Lawmakers reject plan to boost affordable housing by allowing duplexes in single-family neighborhoods
- New Hope for State’s Largest Sea Bird Colony (“Bird lovers are gearing up to protect the state’s largest sea bird colony — asking Governor Northam to step in and protect the nesting grounds of gulls and terns that have raised their chicks near the Hampton Roads Bridge and Tunnel Complex for decades.”)
- Rain ending this morning, then it’s mild and tranquil into early week
