Tuesday News: “Millions Without Power In Texas, Northern Mexico As Blackouts And Bitter Cold Continue”; “Plummeting Cases in U.S. Show a Path to Crushing Covid-19”; “Jamie Raskin derides Trump lawyers’ tactics as ‘explosive and deranged'”; “Biden’s presidency gets going”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, February 16.

• Can the world’s democracies really take part in the Beijing Olympics — while genocide is taking place?
• Anthony Fauci wins Israel’s Dan David $1m prize for ‘defending science’
• Global Bonds Are Suffering the Worst Start to a Year Since 2013
• Myanmar Shuts Internet Again as Protest Crackdown Continues
• Myanmar coup: UN warns Myanmar junta of ‘severe consequences’
• France identifies Russia-linked hackers in large cyberattack
• Okonjo-Iweala is 1st woman, African to lead world trade body
• Myanmar military guarantees new election (“Myanmar’s military has guaranteed that it would hold an election and hand power to the winner, denying that its ouster of an elected government was a coup and denouncing protesters for inciting violence and intimidating civil servants.” Riiiight.)
• Global shares hit record high on COVID recovery bet
• Big Oil Invests in Startup That Drills for Clean Energy
• Mexico Blames U.S. as Energy Crisis Spills Across the Border
• Millions Without Power In Texas, Northern Mexico As Blackouts And Bitter Cold Continue
• U.S. Energy Crisis Deepens With Nearly 5 Million in the Dark
• Natural Gas Skyrockets Again to $500 as Blackouts Spread in U.S.
• The needless clash between teachers’ unions and science is harming America’s kids
• Child care workers are getting left behind in the vaccine rollout
• Plummeting Cases in U.S. Show a Path to Crushing Covid-19 (“Measures to interrupt transmission appear to be working, at least for now.”)
• U.S. seven-day average of daily new cases drops below 90,000 — first time since early November
• Biden faces questions as pandemic reaches potentially decisive stage (“The President’s responsibilities go far beyond the Covid rescue plan or vaccines, as Americans want to know how much of normal life can resume in months ahead”)
• Biden, Hill Democrats plan to unveil immigration reform bill this week
• Biden’s presidency gets going
• Pelosi says there will be a 9/11-style commission to examine Capitol riot
• Pelosi announces independent 9/11-style commission on deadly Capitol riot
• GOP tries to weaponize pandemic-exhausted parents against Biden (“Aware of this emerging voter demo, the White House is hoping its agenda and relief bill will inoculate it against frustrations.”)
• Biden and the Fed Leave 1970s Inflation Fears Behind
• The Founders Were Wrong About Democracy (“The authors of the Constitution feared mass participation would unsettle government, but it’s the privileged minority that has proved destabilizing.”)
• McConnell has basically written the Senate’s censure resolution already (“He flinched at conviction. But who could argue with his denunciation of the former president?”)
• Impeachment’s Over. Bring On the Criminal Investigations.
• Jamie Raskin derides Trump lawyers’ tactics as ‘explosive and deranged’
• A conversation with Jamie Raskin
• Could Trump be disqualified through other means?
• DHS can finally investigate far-right extremism after Trump blocked it for years
• There’s an invisible climate threat seeping from grocery store freezers. Biden wants to change that.
• McConnell Doesn’t Care About Trump Brand in 2022, He Just Wants Electable Candidates
• Far-right extremists went mainstream under Trump. The Capitol attack cements his legacy.
• New radio and video footage from Capitol riot shows a coordinated attack and officers’ restraint
• Lack of witnesses at Trump’s trial is not the problem. Witness intimidation is.
• Donations for a voter fraud probe shed light on how baseless claims led to hundreds of millions in gifts (They’re STILL using the ridiculous word “baseless” instead of “false,” “lies,” etc?)
• The FBI Wants You To Make These Photos Of Capitol Insurrectionists Go Viral
• Debate rages as Facebook prepares to say whether Trump can return (Why is this even a debate?)
• Interior Secretary Nominee on Collision Course With Oil Industry
• Acquittal Vindicated the Constitution, Not Trump (Mitch McConnell will just say anything.)
• Mitch McConnell Proved He’s Even More Craven Than Ted Cruz (Yep, McConnell is utter slime.)
• McConnell should know you can’t split the difference between the law and the mob
• GOPers Think Trump’s Too Damaged to Run in ’24? Riiiight. (“Republican conventional wisdom right now: Nah, Trump can’t possibly win. Let’s see… where have I heard that before?” Same thing with everyone saying the GOP is supposedly dead?)
• Wall Street Journal warns Republicans: ‘Trump won’t win another election’ (“Half of Republicans want Trump to remain as head of their party while half of American voters want him banished from politics”)
• 3 Out Of 4 Republicans Want To See Trump Play A Big Role In GOP,
• The Trumpiest Republicans Are At The State And Local Levels — Not In D.C.
• A GOP donor gave $2.5 million for a voter fraud investigation. Now he wants his money back.
• Cuomo Accepts Some Blame in Nursing Home Scandal but Denies Cover-Up
• Adam Kinzinger’s Lonely Mission
• GOP Rep. Kinzinger Receives Stunning Letter from Relatives Over His Trump Opposition: ‘You Have Lost the Respect of Lou Dobbs…’
• Mitt Romney accused of being ‘deep state’ agent in proposed censure motion
• Pat Toomey is facing a Republican backlash in Pennsylvania for voting to convict Donald Trump
• Maine GOP could censure Susan Collins for vote to convict Trump
• Burr censured by North Carolina GOP for voting to convict Trump
• Ron Johnson on Jan. 6 Capitol attack: ‘This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me’ (Ron Johnson is completely unhinged; how on earth did he get elected?!?)
• Perdue explores Senate comeback bid against Warnock in 2022
• 2 million Texas households without power as massive winter storm drives demand for electricity
• How the Pennsylvania GOP is Trying to Increase Their Control of State Courts (Disturbing.)
• Social media site Parler is back online, more than a month after tangle with Amazon knocked it offline
• Sen. Mark Warner visits Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank to discuss food insecurity
• Republican 2021 Governor Candidate Glenn Youngkin Goes All-In On Voter Suppression, Even As “Virginia has some of the best-run elections in the country”
• VA GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Kirk Cox Gets Mocked For Whiny Post Bemoaning Supposed “Cancel Culture”
• AG Mark Herring Files Motion To Dismiss In Sen. Chase Lawsuit (“The Senate acted entirely consistently with its own rules when considering and approving the resolution of censure”)
• Veronica Coleman: Why Jennifer Carroll Foy Is the Candidate I Support for Governor for Virginia.
• Governor Northam Announces Additional General Fund Resources from Mid-Session Reforecast
• Northam gives assembly additional $730.2 million to work with in budget
• Virginia reports $730 million budget windfall as economy weathers the pandemic better than expected
• In Biennial Budget, House Majority Whip Alfonso Lopez and Dem Leadership Secure Critical Funding for the Commonwealth
• BREAKING: Dominion-stacked Senate committee kills overdue electricity rate reform
• Electric utility rate reform efforts quashed by Senate committee (Yep, the slimy “Virginia Way” still lives…)
• Va. Senate committee kills bills aimed at Dominion Energy over-earnings
• A bipartisan bill to mandate an in-person learning option is facing pushback from Republican leadership in the House
• How Long Should Police Be Able To Store License Plate Data?
• Editorial: Fuel-efficiency goals require substantial shifts in infrastructure
• Wendy Philleo column: Now is the time to help more Virginians drive electric
• General Assembly passes bill to move all spring municipal elections to November
• Voting Rights Act of Virginia Bill Passes House of Delegates
• Differing bills on expungement of criminal records making their way through General Assembly
• Electric School Buses Would Be Good For Virginia, But It Has To Be Done Right
• Monday (2/15) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,539 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 551,538), +39 Hospitalizations (to 22,944), +4 Deaths (to 7,016)
• Hospitals have gotten the lion’s share of Virginia’s early vaccine shipments — raising concerns over equity
• Va. records lowest daily increase in COVID cases since November, but officials warn of letting guard down
• Editorial: Does Virginia need a Secretary of Science?
• Virginia might stop seeking child support payments from parents of incarcerated youth
• Governor Northam Highlights Progress of Capitol Square Construction, Renovation
• Levar M. Stoney column: Legalize marijuana now and reinvest in Virginia’s children
• Fairfax County residents report problems with vaccine registration as county opts out of state system (“The county health department said it has addressed some glitches that have come up since the dashboard was launched Friday.
• Virginia prison staff, officials sued over dog mauling allegations
• Dominion expects to restore power to most by Tuesday. Hopewell’s water pressure is rebuilding.
• Opinion: ODU should remove Godwin’s name from campus building
• Rain ending this morning, but next storm’s wintry weather arrives by Thursday