Thursday News: Jen Psaki on What Joe Biden’s 100% Focused On; “Biden commits to waiving vaccine patents”; “Republicans are not in “disarray”: They’re united in their assault on American democracy”; “The Problem Is Facebook”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, May 6.

‘The door to the Oval Office is open’ — White House press sec Jen Psaki on the Biden admin working with Republicans to bring relief to the American people pic.twitter.com/klrvCofhps

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 6, 2021

• Facebook’s battle with errant world leaders has only just begun
• China’s Emissions Now Exceed All the Developed World’s Combined
• India breaks its own records again with 412,000 new cases and nearly 4,000 deaths in 24 hours
• U.S. Support for Vaccine Patent Waiver Shifts to WTO Debate
• EU Ready to Discuss U.S. Plan to Waive Vaccine Patent Protection
• Chelsea Clinton: Biden Has the Power to Vaccinate the World
• Blinken: US ‘will respond’ if Russia ‘acts recklessly’ (“US Secretary of State said the country is less focused on President Putin and more on Russia’s actions as a country.”)
• Protests Explode in Colombia, Leaving At Least 24 Dead
• The Chip Shortage Keeps Getting Worse. Why Can’t We Just Make More?
• Chinese rocket debris is expected to crash into Earth soon. It’s not the first time. (“The large Chinese rocket that is out of control and set to reenter Earth’s atmosphere this weekend has brought about an alarming but not unprecedented situation.”)
• UK sends patrol vessels as 80 French protest boats gather off Jersey (“Downing Street dispatches armed boats to ‘monitor situation’ amid row over post-Brexit rules on fishing rights”)
• American students found guilty in Italian police officer’s death
• Covid-19 Live Updates: Studies Indicate Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Protects Against the Most Severe Outcomes of Some Virus Variants
• A Trump Judge Just Reversed One of the Few Helpful Things Trump Did in Response to the Pandemic
• CDC says coronavirus could be under control this summer in U.S. if people get vaccinated and are careful
• ‘Turning the Corner’: U.S. Covid Outlook Reaches Most Hopeful Point Yet (“Cases and deaths have dipped, and vaccinations have made scientists hopeful, even as more transmissible variants are spreading. Public health experts remain cautious, but said that they do not think future surges will be as widespread or reach past peak”)
• Companies Warn of U.S. Labor Shortages Economists Call Temporary
• Biden commits to waiving vaccine patents, driving wedge with pharmaceutical companies
• Taking ‘Extraordinary Measures,’ Biden Backs Suspending Vaccine Patents (“The Biden administration, joining with other world leaders, came out in favor of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.”)
• Lloyd J. Austin III: The Pentagon must prepare for a much bigger theater of war
• Covid-19 Vaccines Vs. Infections, in One Chart (“Vaccination rates in some states have reached levels that appear to be a factor in tamping down the virus”)
• Deepening Drought Holds ‘Ominous’ Signs For Wildfire Threat In The West
• Can the Biden Agenda Fix Middle America’s Deepest Problem? (“One key economic goal is to create the virtuous cycles of innovation and jobs that already occur in many coastal cities.”)
• Biden Leans Into Plans to Tax the Rich
• Judge blasts Barr, Justice Dept. for ‘disingenuous’ handling of secret Trump obstruction memo
• Liz Cheney Wants to Save America From Trump’s Next Coup (“A Republican who seems to have read ‘How Democracies Die'”)
• The Memo: The GOP’s war is already over — Trump won
• Liz Cheney – The GOP is at a turning point. History is watching us.
• Trump, GOP Leaders, and Even Liz Cheney Allies Say She Is a ‘Dead Woman Walking’
• From Paul Ryan acolyte to Trump disciple: Elise Stefanik sets out to replace Liz Cheney in GOP leadership
• Cheney’s downfall sends an unmistakable message (“Trump’s orchestration of Liz Cheney’s exit shows that his power in the GOP is so broad that he may not need to tweet or post to work his will”)
• Ernst defends fellow Republican leader Cheney — but calls for intra-GOP peace
• CNN’s Jamie Gangel: Kevin McCarthy ‘Very Concerned’ Jan 6. Commission Could Force Him to Testify About Call With Trump During Riot
• Liz Cheney, We Have a Memory. You’re No Hero.
• Republicans are not in “disarray”: They’re united in their assault on American democracy
• Federal judge vacates CDC’s nationwide eviction moratorium
• Conservatives have one remaining redoubt of power. And they’re going to use it. (“Democrats control the federal government, most cities and popular culture. But Republicans still own the states.”)
• Stephen Miller’s ‘America First Legal’ wants courts to endorse white supremacy
• Finish the thought, Mitt Romney (“If you want to defend Liz Cheney, leave the GOP.”)
• How GOP rage at Liz Cheney makes a future stolen election more likely
• Can Democrats fix their big 2020 polling errors? A lot depends on it.
• McConnell Says ‘100%’ of His Focus Is on Blocking Biden Agenda (“Moscow Mitch” has done more damage to America than almost anyone in our history.)
• Biden dismisses McConnell’s pledge to focus ‘on stopping this new administration’
• Will Democrats break the GOP’s deficit doom loop?
• The Republican Party has latched on to ‘woke’ — because it has nothing else
• Hoping For More Support, Senate Democrats Amend Big Voting Rights Bill (“Most of the changes to the bill are in response to complaints from rural jurisdictions about election administration reforms.”)
• Fix the filibuster, save democracy (“We are heading for a filibuster face-off.”)
• Laws banning transgender student athletes splinter GOP
• Bill To Combat Sexual Assault In Military Finally Has Votes To Pass, Senators Say
• Time has only weakened the argument that the Russia probe was a victory for Trump
• The inside story of how we reached the Facebook-Trump verdict
• Facebook is finally going to have to make some hard decisions
• Facebook must decide Trump’s fate. He shouldn’t be allowed to return.
• Why Facebook’s Decision On Trump Could Be ‘Make Or Break’ For His Political Future
• Trumpland thought he’d get back on Facebook. Now, they’re anxious and scrambling.
• Facebook Oversight Board Is “an Elaborate Public Relations Stunt”
• Trump Remains Banned, for Now, but the Problem with Facebook Is Still Facebook
• Trump and legal team approached about Giuliani legal costs
• FBI raid exposes Giuliani and signals widening criminal search, experts say (“High-profile nature of search highlights inquiry’s seriousness and suggests officials may have new Ukraine-related leads to follow”)
• Analysis: Facebook confronts human rights dilemma on political speech
• The Facebook Oversight Board proved it’s not Mark Zuckerberg’s puppet — now it’s his move
• The Problem Is Facebook (“Facebook’s ‘Supreme Court’ might have upheld Donald Trump’s suspension, but that doesn’t make it a real court.”)
• They’re Hunting Satan Amongst the Ballots in AZ
• Arizona’s Republican-Run Election Audit Is Now Looking for Bamboo-Laced “China Ballots” (These people are completely unhinged.)
• Daylight Attack on 2 Asian Women in San Francisco Increases Fears
• By delaying a special election, Ron DeSantis owns the libs one more time (“Hurting some of his own constituents to please the Fox News audience? What could be better?”)
• South Carolina House adds firing squad to execution methods
• Eric Adams edges out Yang for first time in public poll
• Protest by cake: Special deliveries to Sen. Mark R. Warner urge him to back the Pro Act (“Labor rights activists bring the cakes to the Virginia Democrat’s home in Alexandria, rain or shine.”)
• Interview: Elaine Luria Says Navy Needs to Build ‘Battle Force 2025’ Instead of Divesting to Prepare for a 2045 Fight
• With Days To Go Until Their Convention Of Chaos, Virginia GOP Is In Shambles (“But it has been successful in one sense: it’s shown Virginians the GOP’s true colors”)
• Virginia’s gubernatorial race is winnable for Republicans — if they pick someone electable (Agreed.)
• Daily Kos Elections Analysis Finds Joe Biden Won 60/100 Virginia House of Delegates Districts. But Remember, Dems Will Only Win Those This November if They Turn Out and Vote in Big Numbers!
• Wason Center Poll: Virginia Voters “largely support Democratic policy proposals”
• Jennifer Carroll Foy Releases Plan to Uplift Rural Communities Across Virginia
• AG Mark Herring Releases Office of Attorney General Annual Report
• Sen. Ted Cruz joins Glenn Youngkin at a rally in Lynchburg days before convention (Disgusting.)
• Glenn Youngkin and Ted Cruz: Right for Trump, Wrong for Virginia (“Youngkin campaigning with Ted Cruz is just another demonstration of how out-of-touch and committed to Donald Trump’s extremism he truly is”)
• Jones hits Herring over ‘no empathy’ blackface admission in first Democratic AG debate (“‘I am very sorry for what I did one time at age 19,’ Herring said in response. ‘It was over forty years ago, and I’m very sorry for that. It does not at all reflect the person I’ve matured into, let alone the public servant I became decades later.'”)
• Democratic AG Candidates Herring, Jones Debate Ahead of Primary (It shouldn’t have been on Sinclair-owned WJLA.)
• Jones goes after incumbent Herring over police reform in Democratic attorney general debate
• Wednesday (5/5) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds 1-Day COVID Cases Up Just 842; Lowest 10-day New COVID Cases Since 10/9/20
• Virginia officials ask to delay lawsuit over unemployment insurance delays
• ‘This … demands immediate attention’: Judge calls time on VEC response to suit over jobless claims
• Virginia Beach changes body cam procedures, purchases holsters that will activate cameras when guns are drawn
• Video: Governor Northam Announces Agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway to Expand Passenger Rail to Southwest Virginia(“Service will return to the New River Valley for the first time since 1979”)
• Passenger rail service on track to return to the New River Valley
• Virginia Beach law enforcement could get 8.5% raises — first responders, too — under city budget proposal
• Should Virginia Offer Mass Pardons For Marijuana Convictions?
• Hampton Roads businesses adjust as Virginia’s minimum wage increases (“Virginia’s minimum wage increased for the first time in about 12 years from the federally mandated minimum of $7.25 to $9.50 an hour Saturday, and employers are bracing for another increase to $11 an hour Jan. 1.”)
• Editorial: May 31 commission must be free from conflicts (“It should be common sense, but the panel investigating the 2019 Virginia Beach shooting should have members without conflicts of interest.”)
• Pipeline opponents sentenced to spend day in jail for each day in tree-sit protest
• Ex-priest accused of sexually abusing a minor 4 decades ago being extradited back to Virginia for trial
• Prince William County School Board weighs equity statement
• Richmond Opens Walk-up COVID-19 Vaccination Site
• ‘We’re just tired of having our communities destroyed’: Hanover NAACP and Protect Hanover file lawsuit in Wegmans distribution battle
• Cooler through the weekend with chances of showers on Friday and Sunday