Wednesday News: “‘Obvious lie after obvious lie’: Biden campaign blasts RNC as ‘incoherent charade’”; “Corruption Was On Full Display At The RNC”; “Personality Cult”; “The McCloskeys’ Unsubtle Message to White America”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, August 26.

• Angela Merkel Is Exasperated by Putin as Navalny Lies in a Coma (“The German chancellor is at the end of her rope with Moscow.”)
• Exxon’s Departure From Dow Highlights Market’s Retreat From Energy Bets (“After being the largest U.S. company as recently as 2013, Exxon has been eclipsed by technology giants”)
• The Unprecedented Offenses of Mike Pompeo’s GOP Convention Speech
• A Vacuous Pompeo Speech for an Empty Trump Foreign Policy (“America is a shell of the nation it once was on the global stage.”)
• Chris Wallace: Barrier between GOP convention, White House ‘completely blown away’
• Donald Trump’s Corruption Was On Full Display At The RNC (“Eric Trump is running the president’s company and is under investigation in New York, but spoke at the convention Tuesday. That was only the beginning.”)
• RNC 2020: Trump hailed as a benevolent chief who deserves re-election (“Speakers – including three members of the president’s family – spouted falsehoods about his character and his opponent”)
• Republicans shatter norms by using government roles during political convention (“Trump allies and family members also used misleading claims to portray the president as the best hope for America’s future”)
• The moral rot of Trump and his enablers has spread to the core
• The GOP hides its bigotry only when caught (“Conspiracy-mongering anti-Semites are now welcome in the Republican Party.”)
• Nikki Haley and Tim Scott don’t deserve any praise from the media (“The media’s false balance distorts the Republican convention.”)
• The Epic Shamelessness of the Republican Convention (“Norms are for chumps, not for Trumps.”)
• The Platform the GOP Is Too Scared to Publish (“What the Republican Party actually stands for, in 13 points”)
• Fact-checking the second night of the 2020 Republican National Convention (“It was another tsunami of untruths on the second night of the Republican National Convention.” Note that the WaPo still won’t say the word “lies.”)
• Trump uses tools of government in reelection effort (Massive ethics violations.)
• The RNC keeps referring to Covid-19 in the past tense. 1,147 American deaths were reported Tuesday.
• ‘Obvious lie after obvious lie’: Biden campaign blasts RNC as ‘incoherent charade’
• If the case for Trump is strong, why isn’t the truth good enough?
• The Republican Coronavirus Strategy: Lie About Everything
• Trump uses powers of government in service of reelection, with pardoning and naturalization ceremonies
• Pelosi calls Pompeo’s convention address from Jerusalem ‘appalling’
• Trump uses immigrants as campaign props in likely ethics violation
• Pompeo stirs up outrage among some diplomats over speech to RNC
• Focus on Trump’s official White House actions as part of Republican convention programming raises Hatch Act concerns
• Republican National Convention Night 1 Down on DNC in Early Numbers
• The RNC Has Made a Compelling Case for America’s Imminent Collapse
• The RNC Has Already Run Out of Things to Say
• Fact-checking Night 2 of the Republican National Convention (“Eric Trump, the president’s son, offered numerous false or misleading claims about Joe Biden’s views and policy prescriptions.”)
• A loyalty test for the GOP, a reality test for the country (“The Republican Party has become a personality cult.”)
• Kamala Harris: Voting is the best way to honor generations of women who paved the way for me
• RNC Speaker Cancelled After Boosting QAnon Conspiracy Theory About Jewish Plot to Enslave the World 
• On eve of suffrage centennial milestone, RNC to feature speaker supporting policies barring women from voting
• An RNC Speaker Said Cops Would Be ‘Smart’ to Racially Profile Her Own Son
• Sean Hannity receives special White House access for Republican convention
• Hillary Clinton to Biden: Don’t concede if the election is close
• Brought out to bolster Trump’s campaign, Pam Bondi offered numerous reminders of its flaws
• Fact check: Sen. Rand Paul on Trump’s Iraq War opposition
• Melania Trump recognizes the pandemic’s painful toll as her husband’s convention ignores it
• Trump Isn’t Building a Case Against Biden. He’s Running a Convention to Troll the Press. (“The president and his team openly flouted ethics laws on Tuesday night. They don’t care. In fact, they love the anger it produces.”)
• Is The Electoral Map Changing?
• Former One America News correspondent Emily Miller gets senior FDA post (“Former reporter for right-wing network has no known health expertise, and has made inaccurate coronavirus claims”)
• Biden agenda hinges on Senate majority
• Senate Democrats map out climate change strategy
• Republicans Blast Democrats As Socialists. Here’s What Socialism Is (Republicans just use the word “Socialism” for anything they don’t like. It’s pretty much meaningless the way they use it.)
• The McCloskeys’ Unsubtle Message to White America (“Mark and Patricia McCloskey appeared at the Republican National Convention to warn that Democrats want to ‘abolish the suburbs.’ Their vision of America is premised on fear—and dominating others.”)
• How TV media’s coverage of the party conventions compares
• Trump goes dark on TV as early voting looms (“The president is getting badly outspent in key battleground states.”)
• Two people are dead and a third injured after an overnight shooting in Kenosha, police say
• Congressman’s old social media posts about sex with 15-year-old girls, rape surface in South Florida re-election fight (“South Florida Congressman Brian Mast joked about rape and referenced sex with 15-year-old girls in old Facebook comments to a friend who is now his campaign manager. The messages were posted years ago, but they’ve surfaced in Mast’s tough re-election fight against Democratic challenger Pam Keith.”)
• Nobody Is Entitled to Be an Elected Official (“It’s not cancel culture to demand a would-be teen legislator demonstrate maturity.”)
• Watch how reports across the country omitted dangerous QAnon connections to supposed anti-child-trafficking rallies
• Survival is anything but certain for coal country
• Virginia Democrats Call Out Trump’s Broken Promises That Have Left the Economy In Crisis Ahead Of Day Two Of Republican National Convention
• Video: Cameron Webb Campaign Releases First TV Commercial for General Election
• U.S. Sen. Mark Warner calls for more business, family aid
• Senator Warner holds “community check-up” with local Lynchburg leaders
• Webb, Warner host socially-distanced discussion about COVID-19, health equity
• Loudoun business owners speak with Rep. Wexton about flu season, consumer confidence concerns
• BREAKING: Days After Claiming It Would Be Done by “Early 2021,” Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC Requests Two More Years to Finish Its Fracked-Gas Boondoggle
• Virginia Mail-In Ballot Requests Already Up 75% vs. FINAL # of Requests in 2016; Ranges From +22% in 10th CD to +112% in 8th CD
• Tuesday (8/25) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,005 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 114,635), +52 Hospitalizations (to 9,259), +23 Deaths (to 2,529) From Yesterday
• BREAKING: Virginia State Senator Bryce Reeves (R) Tests Positive for COVID-19, Demonstrating Why Virginia House Dems Were Right to Insist On Meeting Virtually
• Virginia state senator tests positive for coronavirus a week after meeting in special session
• Va. senator tests positive for COVID-19 during special session on COVID-19
• House panel backs ban on tear gas, rubber bullets
• House committee rejects legislation limiting the state’s ability to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine
• Legislators’ bid to craft exceptions to any COVID-19 vaccine mandate stopped in Virginia House
• Lauranett L. Lee column: Black women suffragists in Virginia: “Lifting as we climb”
• Video: Virginia Del. Dawn Adams Demonstrates How Dems Should Rebut Republican B.S. on COVID-19
• Virginia Advances Legislation to Make it Easier to Cast an Absentee Ballot
• Editorial: Commission can help level the field for minority businesses
• Jerry Falwell Jr. confirms he has resigned as head of Liberty University
• Falwell confirms resignation, calls departure ‘a relief’
• The Jerry Falwell Jr. scandal, explained (“It’s not just about sex — it’s a tale of financial, institutional, and political corruption. And there’s a Trump angle.”)
• Decision On AG Herring’s Motion to Dismiss Lee Statue Case
• Richmond judge won’t dismiss Lee statue lawsuit; case heads for trial
• After judge’s ruling, Richmond’s Robert E. Lee statue will stay in place until at least October
• Wait, Seriously? Sen. Louise Lucas’ *Daughter*, Portsmouth Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke, Now Faces Criminal Charges After “a white city resident brought them”???
• Williams: Henrico embraces diversity in its top jobs amid a national reckoning on race
• Caroline officials vote to remove Confederate monument from courthouse lawn
• Virginia is in line for Hurricane Laura’s remnant rains this weekend. How much is still in question.
• Still warm, but much less humid today; high humidity and 90-degree temperatures return Thursday