Thursday News: “Who is on Biden’s shortlist to replace retiring Justice Breyer?”; “Youngkin Won’t Stop Undermining Public Schools”; “How the Big Lie lives on in Virginia politics”; “Andy Parker makes his bid to oust Rep. Bob Good”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, January 27.

• Climate change: Key crops face major shifts as world warms
• John Kerry hosts world’s largest carbon emitters in first forum since UN climate summit
• ‘Word salad of nonsense’: scientists denounce Jordan Peterson’s comments on climate models
• Gas stoves leak climate-warming methane even when they’re off
• China is demanding the U.S. end its ‘interference’ in Beijing Olympics
• As it weighs action in Ukraine, Russia showcases its new military prowess
• Kremlin media: Ukraine preparing to attack, not Russia
• Ukraine crisis: US rejects Russian demand to bar Ukraine from Nato
• Russia signals resolve on key NATO demand as the West races to shore up support for Ukraine
• The West may not be able to deter Putin. But at least he knows the consequences will be devastating. (“War would be a tragedy for the West. It would be a debacle for Russia.”)
• Russia and Ukraine agree to continue ceasefire talks
• Russia pessimistic after U.S., NATO respond to Putin’s demands over Ukraine
• As Iran Nears Uranium Breakout Capacity, US Mulls Bomb-Making Scenarios
• UN Chief Seeks Humanitarian Aid For Millions Of Afghans Living In ‘A Frozen Hell’
• Stock Futures Swing as Concerns Mount Over Fed Tightening
• Robust U.S. Growth Is Expected for Late 2021, but Omicron Looms Now
• Retiring Justice Stephen Breyer’s nearly 28 years on the Supreme Court, explained
• Who is on Biden’s shortlist to replace retiring Justice Breyer?
• Breyer’s Decision to Retire Is in Keeping with His Tenure (“The Justice knows what a major crossroads the Court is at, with the conservative super-majority feeling its strength.”)
• Stephen Breyer Secures His Legacy (“His retirement means Biden has a shot at putting the first Black woman on the Court.”)
• Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from Supreme Court, paving way for Biden appointment
• Senate Democrats Plan to Move Quickly on Successor to Justice Breyer
• Breyer’s retirement gives Democrats a big political opportunity. Will they take it?
• This is not how the Supreme Court is supposed to work
• Will a new Supreme Court justice make a difference? Yes and no. (“The rational response to Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s retirement announcement is more relief than joy.”)
• Biden Expected to Nominate a Black Woman to the Supreme Court
• The Deep Irony of Stephen Breyer’s Bare-Knuckled Exit From the Supreme Court
• Stephen Breyer Couldn’t Meet the Moment (“The justice’s futile quest for compromise rendered him an ineffectual leader of the liberal bloc.”)
• The Court Loses Its Chief Pragmatist (“With the upcoming retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, the country moves into a more ideologically divided future.”)
• Biden’s Likeliest Supreme Court Pick (“If nominated, Ketanji Brown Jackson wouldn’t necessarily change the Court’s balance. But she would make history.”)
• Another testy Supreme Court battle is the last thing America needs — but it’s probably what lies ahead
• Breyer’s role on the Supreme Court and the hole he’s leaving
• Senate set for muted battle over Breyer successor
• Why Joe Manchin And Kyrsten Sinema Will Probably Vote For Biden’s Supreme Court Pick
• The Memo: Breyer delivers ‘circuit-breaker’ gift to embattled Biden
• Biden can’t let Sinema and Manchin short-circuit his Supreme Court nomination
• What would a 2024 Trump coup look like? A new paper offers a worrying answer.
• It’s time to challenge the right wing’s radical schools agenda
• Congress failed on voting rights. But we still have the Justice Department and courts. (“Voting reform advocates are making real progress in the courts.”)
• Republicans like Ron DeSantis keep kowtowing to the MAGA cult — even if it threatens lives (And Youngkin, who insanely said that DeSantis was a model governor.)
• 36 States Are Electing Governors This Year. Here Are The Races To Watch.
• Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes ordered to remain jailed pending trial on Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy charge
• Multimillionaire Sen. Ron Johnson doesn’t think child care is society’s problem
• Spotify to Take Down Neil Young’s Music After His Joe Rogan Ultimatum (Spotify has now shown everyone what it is.)
• Spotify’s Joe Rogan and guest Jordan Peterson suggest trans people are a sign of “civilizations collapsing”
• YouTube permanently bans Dan Bongino
• Plea deal for man involved in Gaetz investigation, whose attorney says he witnessed ‘sex, drugs — a whole lot of it’
• Poll: Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema Set to Be Unseated by Possible Challenger Ruben Gallego in 2024 Primary Landslide (Good riddance.)
• ‘It’s just plain unconstitutional’: Wisconsin GOP leaders again reject resolution to ‘pull back’ 2020 electoral votes
• The 59 Republicans Who Joined Electoral Voter Fraud Scheme For Trump Could Face Prison (Absolutely.)
• Why Did the Florida Surgeon General Clam Up When Asked Whether the Vaccines Work?
• The Washington Post needs to stop lionizing anti-abortion activists (“As Roe hangs by a thread, the Post is glamorizing its downfall”)
• Tennessee school board bans Holocaust graphic novel ‘Maus’ – author Art Spiegelman condemns the move as ‘Orwellian’ (Beyond appalling.)
• Amy Schneider’s historic ‘Jeopardy!’ win streak comes to an end at 40 (“Schneider, the first transgender contestant to make it to the Tournament of Champions, won close to $1.4 million in the second-longest winning streak in the quiz show’s history.”)
• EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Palin Seen Dining At NYC Restaurant TWO DAYS After Covid Diagnosis
• Warner, Kaine release statements on Breyer’s retirement from U.S. Supreme Court
• Andy Parker makes his bid to oust Rep. Bob Good (“The father of slain TV reporter Alison Parker became a nationally known gun control advocate in the aftermath of his daughter’s murder.”)
• ‘She’s with me every step of the way’: Father of slain Roanoke journalist to run for Congress in 5th District
• Audio: On Lou Dobbs’ Podcast This Morning, Donald Trump Said Youngkin Wrote Him a “Beautiful Letter”; Says Youngkin Would NOT Have Won Without Him
• How the Big Lie lives on in Virginia politics (“It’s also why Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s announcement this week that he’ll fire Chris Piper, the current state elections commissioner, when his term expires this summer is drawing concern. New governors can put in whomever they want. But Piper, who’s held other jobs in state government, has avoided problems and partisanship during his tenure.”)
• Glenn Youngkin didn’t mind if some kids got an anti-racist education: His own (“The D.C. private schools Youngkin sent his own children to have extensive anti-racist bona fides.”)
• Glenn Youngkin Won’t Stop Undermining Public Schools (“It’s ludicrous to think that parents alone should control every school decision affecting their kids.”)
• Youngkin’s tip line bumble should be a lesson to the new governor (It’s a lot more than a “bumble,” but ok…)
• ‘Snitch Line’: Virginia Educators Criticize Gov. Youngkin’s Tip Line for Parents
• Glenn Youngkin Blasted By Union for Trying To ‘Intimidate’ Teachers With Tip Line
• Lawmakers: Youngkin will support ban on Dominion campaign donations
• More than half of Virginia school districts are defying Youngkin’s mask-optional order
• Youngkin says he’s ‘having a ball,’ defends actions as living up to campaign promises (Imbecile.)
• Glenn Youngkin’s WaPo Op-Ed Getting Eviscerated in the Comments Section (e.g., “You are spreading anti-science to a loud, uninformed minority”) (Also: “Rule by the minority by executive order isn’t listening to parents, it’s appeasing vaccine denying public health menaces.”)
• Virginia Republicans Try and Fail to Undo Progress on Voting Rights
• Gov. Youngkin Budget Proposals Ignore Families with Greatest Needs, Create Retroactive Tax Giveaways for Businesses
• Youngkin pick Andrew Wheeler defends EPA record amid environmentalists’ worries, calls media coverage unfair
• Video: Del. Don Scott Tells Virginia Republicans to stop using “Critical Race Theory” and “Black folks as props in your quest to retain power”
• Video: VA Del. Marcus Simon Says Youngkin’s “Tip Line” Is “Scary to Those of Us Who Have Studied History,” Represents “Creeping Authoritarianism” Where Citizens “Rat Each Other Out”
• Video: Trump’s Former EPA Director Andrew Wheeler Slammed By Del. Alfonso Lopez, Proceeds to “Obfuscate, Obfuscate, Obfuscate, Obfuscate”
• Virginia COVID-19 Cases Up 151,702 Over the Past 10 Days…Has the Omicron Wave Finally Started to Recede?
• Some House Dems now back bill requiring school principals to report misdemeanor crimes
• Virginia Senate rejects Miyares’ bid to to expand attorney general’s prosecutorial authority
• Editorial: Bipartisan efforts to fix Virginia’s crumbling schools continue despite distractions
• Youngkin asks General Assembly for $150 Million for charter schools (Absolutely not, unless he has a way to pay for it with new revenues.)
• Democrats in the state Senate are blocking efforts to roll back gun control laws
• There’s an effort in Richmond to boost local journalism, but its price tag may be a sticking point
• Governor Youngkin faces opposition, legal questions over order to pull VA out of carbon market
• Virginia’s new attorney general does some canceling of his own
• More snow forecast for Hampton Roads — 4 to 6 inches predicted this weekend for most of region
• D.C.-area forecast: Cold today before some snow Friday afternoon and night