Tuesday News: “Obama backs Manchin’s voting rights compromise before crucial Senate vote”; Sinema’s “Pathetic” Op-Ed Backing Filibuster; “The Day of Reckoning Has Arrived for the NCAA”; “Ranked-Choice Voting Gets A Prime-Time Shot Under New York City’s Bright Lights”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, June 22.

• Unesco: Great Barrier Reef should be listed as in danger
• Iran president-elect takes hard line, refuses to meet Biden
• Iran Stops Pretending (“The rigged ‘election’ of Ebrahim Raisi as Iran’s next president has the potential to be a turning point for the country. But its significance will be fully understood only in hindsight…Raisi’s subdued personality and criminal record bring to life Hannah Arendt’s observation about the banal nature of evil. “)
• Iran’s election reveals a weakening but ruthless regime
• Ecocide: How a fast-growing movement plans to put environmental destruction on a par with war crimes (Absolutely do this – and then start prosecuting.)
• Egyptian intelligence chief to face questioning over alleged involvement in Khashoggi killing
• China’s ambassador to the US to leave after eight years (“Longest-serving envoy Cui Tiankai says relations between the countries ‘at a crossroads’”)
• EU opens antitrust probe into Google’s advertising unit
• Kim Jong-un’s sister dismisses hopes of US-North Korea nuclear talks
• Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying work: ‘My life isn’t worth a dead-end job’
• US could slow Afghanistan withdrawal amid Taliban gains
• China Crypto Clampdown Sends Bitcoin Closer to Key $30,000 Level
• ‘French democracy is sick.’ Low election turnout sparks grave concern (“Turnout in regional elections slumped as voters struggle to find a party to believe in.”)
• Even after Biden tax hike, US firms would pay less than foreign rivals
• Rising Inflation Looks Less Severe Using Pre-Pandemic Comparisons (Obviously the comparison should be to PRE-COVID, as the COVID pandemic initially caused a collapse in demand and prices, so comparing to that period is wildly skewed.)
• New Drug Could Cost the Government as Much as It Spends on NASA (That’s completely FUBAR, given that “There’s little evidence that the drug, Aduhelm, slows the progression of dementia”)
• Delta Variant Of The Coronavirus Could Dominate In U.S. Within Weeks
• US hits encouraging milestones on virus deaths and shots
• Medicaid Enrollment Surpassed 80 Million, a Record, During the Pandemic
• We should keep expanding Medicaid as far as we can (“President Biden’s public option may never come to pass. But Medicaid expansion could do the same thing, and more.”)
• The pandemic wrought a new America (“The country is heading into a best of times, worst of times summer as deliverance from Covid is tempered by crime, economic false starts and obstacles”)
• What Will Become of the Pandemic Pets?
• Democrats Unite Behind Voting Rights Bill as It Faces Senate Roadblock (“With Republicans set to filibuster, Democrats are focusing on staying unified in the face of defeat. But the path ahead for the bill is murky at best.”)
• The Democrats’ big voting reform bill is in real trouble. Here’s what’s next. (“Requiring bipartisan support as the unalterable precondition for acting in defense of democracy cedes control over its future to the increasingly anti-democracy party. That doesn’t seem like a tenable position, does it?”)
• The White House Says Democrats Might Revisit Filibuster Rules If The Voting Rights Bill Fails
• If Republicans block a compromise voting-rights bill, reform the filibuster
• Senate to vote Tuesday on Democrats’ big voting bill. GOP promises a filibuster.
• Progressives fear nightmare scenario over voting rights assault
• Obama backs Manchin’s voting rights compromise before crucial Senate vote (“Former president calls Democrats’ proposal a ‘product of compromise’ and says the future of the country is at stake”)
• Obama: Voting rights bill must pass before next election
• Democrats To Introduce Bill To Combat Election Subversion As Part Of Voting Rights Push
• Schumer unloads on GOP over elections bill: ‘How despicable of a man is Donald Trump?’
• Is This the Dumbest Filibuster Defense Ever Written? (“I cannot believe this column was published in a national newspaper.”)
• We have more to lose than gain by ending the filibuster (Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is 100% wrong.)
• Kyrsten Sinema’s Filibuster Stand: If Democrats Pass Bills, GOP Can Just Overturn Them Later (“The Arizona Democrat argued in an op-ed that preserving the Senate minority rights is more important than passing legislation amid threats to democracy.” She’s a hot mess.)
• Things are about to get much harder for Biden and Democrats
• Supreme Court battle could wreak havoc with Biden’s 2020 agenda (Still, we need Breyer to retire.)
• Public Supports Both Early Voting And Requiring Photo ID to Vote
• A bipartisan infrastructure bill proves our democracy can still work
• Democrats can’t let Republican bad faith set the agenda (“Democrats should guarantee that a reconciliation bill will pass later, even if it makes Republicans mad.”)
• Will Trump Supporters’ Election Denialism Cause Another January 6?
• I’m a conservative who believes systemic racism is real
• Newt Gingrich tries to prop up Kevin McCarthy’s speaker campaign — against the Trumpers (Yuuuuuuuuck.)
• If the Justice Department won’t investigate itself, Congress should
• Trump Organization sues New York City for wrongful termination of contracts
• Donald Trump’s Former Bodyguard Under Scrutiny in New York Probe
• Pressure mounts on Trump Organization CFO to cooperate against Donald Trump
• The winner of Tuesday’s Manhattan DA primary is poised to take over Trump investigation
• Federal judge tosses most claims against Trump, Barr and U.S. officials in clearing of Lafayette Square (Trump-appointed judge.)
• Trump Election Pressure Caused Senior Justice Official to Weigh Resigning (“John Demers led the Justice Department’s national security division as it focused on threats of Chinese espionage and influence”)
• Biden to address high crime rates, a political peril for Democrats
• Democratic Group Will Pour $20 Million Into Voting Rights Efforts (“Priorities USA, one of the largest liberal super PACs, is hoping to counteract Republican-driven voting restrictions through both digital ad campaigns and legal efforts.”)
• How Democrats can defy history in 2022 (“That risk still looms over Democrats, but the party has a unique, rarely discussed, asset in trying to avoid that fate in 2022: the unusually large pool of voters who have backed its candidates in recent elections.”)
• Poll: Most Americans reject validity of 2020 election audits (The media should be putting “audits” in air quotes, because obviously they are not real audits.)
• The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision on paying NCAA student-athletes, explained (“It’s a narrow win for the athletes, but it could foreshadow a much bigger victory.”)
• The Day of Reckoning Has Arrived for the NCAA (Let’s hope!)
• NCAA’s Era of Exploiting College Athletes Is Ending
• The NCAA Is Running an Illegal Cartel (“And the Supreme Court knows it.”)
• The NCAA Looks Like a Dead Organization Walking (Good.)
• ‘Proud of you’: NFL players welcome Carl Nassib’s decision to come out (“Defensive end is league’s first active player to come out as gay; Stars including JJ Watt and Julian Edelman welcome decision”)
• Behind the Video of Cops Brutalizing Kids for Vaping Is a History of Racial Exclusion, Force, and Profit (“Who do the Ocean City police protect?”)
• The Authoritarian Instincts of Police Unions (“They condition their members to see themselves as soldiers at war with the public they are meant to serve, and above the laws they are meant to enforce.”)
• New Yorkers Vote for Mayor in Race Tinged With Acrimony and Uncertainty
• N.Y.C. Mayor Live Updates: Wiley and Garcia Pre-Emptively Defend Election as Adams Sows Doubts
• Ranked-Choice Voting Gets A Prime-Time Shot Under New York City’s Bright Lights
• Here’s How New Yorkers Feel About Ranked-Choice Voting (“New Yorkers are using a new voting system citywide for the first time, but in interviews, many seemed characteristically unfazed: ‘It’s real easy if people just learn how to read.'”)
• New Yorkers cast ballots in mayoral primary, using ranked-choice voting for 1st time
• Only the Women Can Save Us Now, New York (“Both men leading the Democratic mayoral primary are disasters.”)
• The Berserk End of the Campaign Yang and Garcia team up. Adams cries victim. Wiley goes after them all.
• Student challenges Florida Gov. DeSantis over critical race theory ban
• Sen. Whitehouse defends family’s membership in private beach club amid questions about whether it is all-White (Not cool at all.)
• New York Times’ scribe Maggie Haberman can’t quit Trump, largely ignores Biden
• Remember Who Tucker Carlson Is (“When a flagrantly unreliable narrator narrated his own story, people across the media spectrum responded as if he could be trusted. Why?”)
• Appeals Court Blocks Ruling That Overturned California’s Assault Weapons Ban
• Anti-Government Extremist Ammon Bundy Joins Wild Governor’s Race in Idaho (“Bundy and Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin could compete for the militia vote in a 2022 gubernatorial race that may not have an incumbent.”)
• Qasim Rashid: “Pro-Insurrection GOP Rep @RobWittman just sent this horribly racist poll where he lies about Critical Race Theory”
• 6th CD Republican Chair: “Only race pimps spend their time focusing on skin color or ethnicity”; “the average black or Hispanic or Asian child liked the portrait inside the School of the flamboyant [J.E.B.] Stuart”
• Advocates pressure Warner and Kaine to pass immigration reform with or without bipartisan support (There’s a small problem called the “filibuster” you might have heard of…)
• Glenn Youngkin’s Opposition to COVID-19 Recovery Proves He is Wrong for Virginia
• Youngkin pushes back against a Democratic talking point (All you need to know is that if Youngkin’s lips are moving, it’s highly probable that he’s lying.)
• In New Op-Ed, Former UVA Prof. Michael Mann, One of World’s Leading Climate Scientists, Argues Biden Administration Should Kill Polluting, Economically Nonsensical Mountain Valley Pipeline
• A 303-mile hole in claim new gas pipelines are critical to energy security
• Governor Northam Announces 70 Percent of Adult Virginians Have Received at Least One COVID-19 Vaccine Dose (“Virginia reaches key vaccination milestone two weeks ahead of July 4 goal set by President Biden”)
• Virginia reaches new vaccine milestone even as gaps continue across the state
• Monday (6/21) Virginia Data on COVID-19: Hospitalizations, New COVID Cases At Lowest Points Since March 2020
• Two weeks ahead of Biden’s goal, 70% of adult Virginians are vaccinated. But coverage gaps remain
• Va. officer accused of unnecessarily using Taser contends prosecutors are withholding evidence
• Editorial: Virginia’s space program poised for growth
• Former NASCAR driver files lawsuit against Virginia’s slated skill games ban
• Clarifying Virginia’s new marijuana laws
• Delay removal of Richmond’s Confederate pedestals, urge Northam’s chief of staff, community members (“Gov. Ralph Northam and several community organizations want Richmond officials to wait for more public input and a comprehensive plan before any of the empty statue pedestals on Monument Avenue are removed.”)
• City Planners Don’t Endorse Monument Ave Pedestal Removal Plans
• Virginia Beach officer said nothing to Donovon Lynch before shooting and killing him, witness says
• Delegate agrees to pay full costs of primary-season mailer sent on House letterhead (“Virginia Del. Mark Levine has agreed to cover the full costs of a political mailer critics said crossed the line separating campaign messaging and official House of Delegates business. As a perk of office, House members have access to up to $750 of taxpayer-funded postage to send mail keeping their constituents up to speed on state policy issues and how they’re being represented in Richmond.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Showers today lead the way to a fantastic Wednesday and Thursday