Saturday News: “Face of Fox News” Endorses “White Nationalist Conspiracy Theory”; “Republicans’ Fake War Against ‘Woke Capital’”; “The Simple Facts of Derek Chauvin’s Trial”; The Inside Story on Northam’s Endorsement of McAuliffe

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, April 10.

• How Bolsonaro Seized Trump’s Crown as the World’s Worst COVID Leader (And worst leader in general.)
• U.S. warns Iran it won’t lift all Trump-era sanctions to return to nuclear deal (“Indirect talks between the United States and Iran on restoring the 2015 deal are expected to resume next week.”)
• COP26: Greta Thunberg says Glasgow summit should be postponed
• Putin is slowly murdering Alexei Navalny. Here’s how the U.S. can save him.
• Joe Biden Wants to Put the World’s Corporate Tax Havens Out of Business (Good, do it.)
• China fines Alibaba record $2.75 billion for anti-monopoly violations
• Could Prince Philip’s Death Lead the Queen to Give Up the Throne? (“With Philip gone and unabated family tensions, the future of the monarchy could now be in question as the Queen reaches the age of 95. But dramatic change seems unlikely.”)
• The Queen has lost her ‘strength and stay’
• As U.K. Mourns Prince Philip, Some Hope Royals’ Rift Will Heal (“Will Prince Harry come home? Will Meghan join him? The patriarch’s death on Friday opens an uncertain chapter for the House of Windsor.”)
• Jordan’s Royal Rift Underlines Its Need For Reform
• Why ‘Peak Oil’ Won’t Mean the End of Drilling
• What a fair climate target looks like for the US, the largest historical carbon emitter (“Biden is about to announce a new 2030 climate target. Will it go far enough?”)
• Exclusive-U.S. considering cash payments to Central America to stem migration
• Loneliness, Anxiety and Loss: the Covid Pandemic’s Terrible Toll on Kids
• The economy is on the cusp of a major boom. Economists believe it could last
• Incarcerated and Infected: How the Virus Tore Through U.S. Prisons
• CDC ramps up scrutiny of rare post-vaccination ‘breakthrough infections’
• When to Reopen (“America has entered a confusing stage of the pandemic. It is vaccinating its citizens at an impressively fast clip. COVID-19 cases have come down precipitously since the start of the year. The daily number of new infections is less than a quarter of what it was at its peak in mid-January.”)
• Half of vaccine rejectors believe it is safe to travel now, compared to 29% of vaccinated adults (The vaccine rejectors are a classic example of the “Dunning-Kruger Effect,” which is “a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability.”)
• America may be close to hitting a vaccine wall (“There are growing signs that parts of the country may be close to meeting demand for the coronavirus vaccine — well before the U.S. has reached herd immunity”)
• States have been slow to order allotted vaccine doses even as infections climb
• Biden Creating Commission to Study Expanding the Supreme Court
• McConnell, GOP slam Biden’s executive order on SCOTUS (Of course they do; they’re the ones who stole two Supreme Court seats.)
• By 5-4 Vote, Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on Prayer Meetings in Homes
• Five takeaways from Biden’s first budget proposal
• Biden has options beyond a corporate tax hike to pay for infrastructure as negotiations get underway
• The GOP Is Voting Against Its Base (“Republicans are making a risky bet by opposing Biden’s infrastructure plan.”)
• To be taken seriously, Republicans need a serious bill
• The filibuster gives Joe Manchin cover to do nothing (“Holding senators accountable is impossible with the filibuster.”)
• Republicans draft veteran candidates to reclaim House majority (“Jen Kiggans, a former Navy pilot who now serves as a Virginia state senator and nurse practitioner, is expected to formally launch a run next week against Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria in the Tidewater region.”)
• White House Border Coordinator to Step Down
• Preview: John Boehner on “political terrorists” in Congress
• Pentagon orders new screening procedures to weed out extremists
• National Review Comes Out Against Democracy, Explicitly (The conservative movement at this point has completely lost its way, if it ever had it…)
• Is Democrats’ voting rights bill too big and doomed to fail? Even some who support it think so (“Even backers of the whopping bill are sounding the alarm on ‘unrealistic’ timelines and inflexible provisions”)
• Migrant boy found wandering alone in Texas had been deported and kidnapped
• This isn’t just voter suppression. It’s a war on local control. (“When Democrat-run cities try to run things their way, Republican-run legislatures move to stop them.”)
• Mitch McConnell Learns It Isn’t Personal—It’s Strictly Business (“The long marriage between Republicans and big business hits a rough patch.”)
• Scientists alarmed after four gray whales found dead in San Francisco Bay (“Deaths discovered over a course of nine days are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ for the species, says expert”)
• The Bessemer Vote Is a Miserable Defeat for Organized Labor
• Analysis-Amazon’s win in union fight shows harsh realities facing labor movement
• Alabama Vote Is the Latest in a Long String of Labor Defeats in the South
• It’s A No: Amazon Warehouse Workers Vote Against Unionizing In Historic Election
• Latino Voters Aren’t A Monolith, But The GOP Made Gains With Them Just About Everywhere In 2020
• Josh Hawley’s ugly rant unmasks the fraudulence of the anti-‘wokeness’ crusade (“Republicans who claim to stand for ‘election integrity’ are treating their voters like idiots.”)
• Republicans’ Fake War Against ‘Woke Capital’
• ‘Woke’ to Republican hypocrisy on corporations
• Four Members Of Militia Group Identifying With “Boogaloo” Movement Charged With Conspiracy To Obstruct Justice By Destroying Records And Destruction Of Records
• Proud Boys and other far-right groups raise millions via Christian funding site
• The Simple Facts of Derek Chauvin’s Trial (“In the case of the police officer who killed George Floyd, the defense’s best hope is to instill doubt about what jurors can plainly see.” It’s blatantly obvious that Chauvin intentionally and brutally murdered Floyd. The only question should be how long he spends in prison.)
• Medical examiner says police restraint, neck compression ‘more than Mr. Floyd could take’ (More than anyone could take.)
• Derek Chauvin’s dope-fiend defense is part of an old playbook. But it’s outdated.
• Cops Caught on Video Holding a Black Army Lieutenant at Gunpoint, Then Pepper-Spraying Him
• How an online ‘Lego’ gamer infiltrated the White House press corps
• Tucker Carlson, the face of Fox News, just gave his full endorsement to the white nationalist conspiracy theory that has motivated mass shootings
• Every Fox News advertiser bears responsibility for Tucker Carlson’s bigoted replacement theory rant
• Tucker Carlson Endorses White Supremacist Theory by Name
• Jewish Groups Blast Carlson for Openly Endorsing White Supremacist Theory: ‘Tucker Must Go’
• How do the immigrants who run Fox feel about Tucker Carlson’s anti-immigrant rants?
• ADL calls on Fox News to fire Tucker Carlson over racist comments about ‘replacement’ theory
• White nationalists praise Tucker Carlson’s full embrace of their “replacement” conspiracy theory
• Texas GOP chairman Allen West falsely says Texas could secede from the US: ‘We could go back to being our own Republic’
• Rapper And Actor DMX Dead At 50
• WI Supreme Court Rules Against Voter Purging
• Facing New Ethics Investigation, Matt Gaetz Declares He’s ‘Not Going Anywhere’ (Hopefully he’s going to…prison.)
• House opens ethics investigation into Florida Republican Matt Gaetz
• Matt Gaetz shows Donald Trump’s defiant style is here to stay
• Trump looms large over GOP donor retreat in Florida (The GOP is FUBAR.)
• ‘A Tremendous Complication’: G.O.P. Dances Around Trump’s Lingering Presence (“A gathering of Republican leaders and top donors in Florida this weekend is less a reset of priorities and more a reminder of the tensions that Donald J. Trump instills in his party.”)
• Sen. Tim Kaine tours Lee County Hospital, introduces bill to protect rural hospitals
• Rep. Jennifer Wexton tours vaccination clinic at LFCC
• Brownies, revenge and a doctor’s touch: inside the close vote to legalize marijuana in Virginia
• Former Rep. Denver Riggleman is still thinking about running for governor (“…he has been speaking with friends and supporters who are urging him to run, and said that if he decided to jump in, he would announce it on June 7, a day before the Democratic primary.”)
• Many Democrats said it was time for a Black woman to lead Virginia. But the party establishment is lining up behind Terry McAuliffe. (“Two years after race- and sex-tinged scandals rocked Richmond, Democratic leaders wrestle with that legacy in choosing a nominee for governor.”)
• Virginia governor candidate boosts down-ballot Republicans with PAC money, says state ‘ready for a new day’
• Filler-Corn reports raising more than $580K in first quarter, with record $1.75M on hand
• Schapiro: Nod is valuable because it was once worthless (“Northam regarded McAuliffe and McClellan as logical successors, representing the next step in a continuum of Democrats more practical than philosophical. The three share centrist tendencies, an emblem of which is their varying support for the right-to-work law. It keeps Democrat-friendly unions weak by banning union membership as a condition for a job. Carroll Foy’s pledge to repeal right to work — she’s backed by several politically active unions — is among numerous left-leaning proposals synonymous with her candidacy that led Northam and his advisers to believe a Carroll Foy governorship would be more destructive than constructive…That said, in Northamworld, confidence in McClellan endures. There’s continuing chatter that Dick Saslaw of Fairfax could soon give up the Democratic floor leader’s post. With several already angling, McClellan could be a compromise pick.”)
• GOP Week in Review: One Month Until the GOP Convention; How Bad Can This Get?
• As VA Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment (R) Endorses Kirk Cox (R) For Governor, Here’s a Reminder Who Norment Is…
• Audio: Leading VA GOP Lt. Gov. Candidate Tim Hugo Wildly Fearmongers on “Defund the Police,” Immigrants and COVID, Crime, etc.; Falsely Claims Democrats a “Threat to All of Us”
• Va. Senate rejects Northam’s push to include part-time workers in retirement savings program
• Twitter, Facebook Followers For Virginia 2021 Gubernatorial, LG and AG Candidates
• Editorial: Virginia Republicans embrace ranked-choice voting (at least for now)
• Gov. Northam visits VB vaccine clinic, says mission to vaccinate Virginia is making progress
• Friday (4/9) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,542 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 632,625), +87 Hospitalizations (to 27,099), +15 Deaths (to 10,451)
• Johnson & Johnson Shipment ‘About a Tenth’ Of What Virginia Expected
• Avula: Johnson & Johnson vaccine shortage delays Virginia college dose rollout, upcoming appointments (“The state’s weekly vaccine allocation is dwindling because of manufacturing woes with Johnson & Johnson. This past week, Virginia received 124,000 J&J doses, next week will it only be 14,800 shots, Avula said.”)
• Ruling challenges Va.’s tradition of judges, police officers prosecuting misdemeanor cases (“A Fairfax County judge found the practice deprived a defendant of basic safeguards to a fair trial.”)
• Candy darter fish gets critical habitat designation, but remains in the path of a pipeline
• Richmond area begins Phase 2 of vaccinations, making every person 16 and up eligible for a dose
• After a long COVID-19 winter, a spring thaw may be coming for travel and leisure businesses in Richmond area
• 2 Windsor police officers threatened and assaulted a man during an illegal stop, lawsuit claims. And it’s all on video.
• Williams: The debate at UR is about more than the names of buildings. The school’s reputation is at stake.
• Right-wing Students Sue Virginia Tech Over Anti-Discrimination Policies (“A conservative group has sued Virginia Tech claiming its policies stifle right-wing speech. This comes a week after the university condemned a student club’s leaked group chats, described as ‘homophobic, racist, ableist, and misogynistic.'”
• D.C.-area forecast: Turning warmer today, with rain chances tonight and late Sunday