“Super Tuesday” News: “The Supreme Court Just Erased Part of the Constitution”; Trump’s Many “Weekend Verbal Gaffes”; “As [MAGA] threats amass, Virginia elections officials face a daunting path”; Sen. Lucas “keeps everyone guessing as clock ticks on arena”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for “Super Tuesday,” March 5.

• Financial toll of climate crisis hitting women harder, UN says (“Rural households led by women lose about 8% more income to heat stress than male-led families, data shows”)
• A new satellite will track climate-warming pollution. Here’s why that’s a big deal
• Democracy is imperiled globally. Republicans are on the wrong side.
• A Shift in Russian Tactics Intensifies the Air War in Ukraine
• Ukraine claims it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using high-tech sea drones (“The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said a special operations unit destroyed the large patrol ship Sergey Kotov overnight with Magura V5 uncrewed vessels that are designed and built in Ukraine and laden with explosives. The patrol ship, which Ukraine said was hit near the Kerch Strait, reportedly can carry cruise missiles and around 60 crew.”)
• Gaza ceasefire talks end with no breakthrough as Ramadan deadline looms (“A source told Reuters earlier that Israel was staying away because Hamas had rejected its demand to furnish a list of all hostages who are still alive. “)
• UN finds ‘convincing information’ of sexual violence against hostages (Hamas definitely has got to be eliminated; the problem is, the destruction of Gaza – and deaths of Gazans – in the process is just horrific.)
• U.N. builds case alleging sexual violence during initial Hamas attack (Hamas is absolute evil, on the level of ISIS, no question about it.)
• UN finds ‘convincing information’ that Hamas raped and tortured Israeli hostages
• Kamala Harris Meets Israeli Cabinet Official Despite Netanyahu’s Rebuke (“Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party said Benny Gantz did not have approval from the prime minister for his meetings in Washington.”)
• China sets ambitious economic target for 2024 (“The announcement comes as the ruling Communist Party tries to reinvigorate the Chinese economy.” Good luck.)
• Forty-Three Mexican Students Went Missing. What Really Happened to Them? (“One night in 2014, a group of young men from a rural teachers’ college vanished. Since then, their families have fought for answers.”)
• What led to the Haiti jailbreak – and can democracy be restored? (“A state of emergency has been declared after gangs stormed two prisons and freed thousands of inmates. What will it take to restore order?”)
• Biden announces ‘strike force’ to crack down on ‘unfair and illegal’ prices
• Supreme Court temporarily blocks new Texas immigration enforcement law
• Immigration Rage Drowns Out the US Labor Market’s Need for Workers
• Trump compares migrants to Hannibal Lecter in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (Trump continues to dangerous demonize migrants, the VAST majority of whom just want to find a better life for themselves and their families in the United States, where they are willing to do jobs most native-born Americans aren’t willing to do.)
• Trump’s apologists say it doesn’t matter if he’s guilty of insurrection. That’s not true
• The Supreme Court just crushed any hope that Trump could be removed from the ballot (“This is the second major victory the Supreme Court handed Trump in less than one week.”)
• Trump Is Running on Dystopian Fantasies
• This Supreme Court Decision On The Colorado Ballot Is A Death Threat To The 14th Amendment
• US supreme court ‘erred badly’ with Trump ruling, leading US historian says
• The Supreme Court Can’t Stop Doing Solids for Donald Trump (“And aspiring insurrectionists.”)
• The Supreme Court Once Again Reveals the Fraud of Originalism (It always has been a complete fraud, and should always have been treated as such.)
• The institutions of government aren’t going to protect democracy (Nope.)
• It’s Past Time to Quit Hoping the Courts Are Going to Stop Trump
• The Supreme Court’s “Unanimous” Trump Ballot Ruling Is Actually a 5-4 Disaster
• Supreme Court ballot ruling darkens critics’ hopes for a judicial curb on Trump (The WaPo sees people who are pro-democracy as Trump “critics.” VERY telling.)
• The Supreme Court Went Out of Its Way to Protect Trump (“In helping Trump, five conservative justices turned their own jurisprudence upside down.” Yep, these people are completely illegitimate.)
• The Supreme Court Just Erased Part of the Constitution
• Despite win, Supreme Court strikes blow to Trump’s central campaign theme (“He claims the legal system is corrupt, conflicted and rigged against him.” Quite the contrary!)
• Amy Coney Barrett disagreed with the majority over Trump, but admonished the liberals instead
• Takeaways from Trump’s Supreme Court win: He stays on ballot, but his legal peril is just starting
• Lost Track of Trump’s Weekend Verbal Gaffes? Here’s a Full List.
• Spending bill roils Senate GOP leadership battle
• Biden thinks Trump won’t concede if he loses election: ‘He’ll do anything to try to win’ (Correct.)
• “They frankly laugh behind the backs of their own voters”: How Republicans bamboozle rural whites (“Waldman and Schaller believe that rural white people are functioning adults who have agency and are not the childlike ciphers of Fox News. As such, the book refreshingly holds rural white voters to account for their choices, and for willfully gobbling down right-wing propaganda. It calls on rural Americans to take responsibility for themselves, by asking harder question of what it would actually take to improve their communities.”)
• Super Tuesday is the first test of what next year’s House GOP will look like (“Two super PACs bankrolled by Republican megadonors have reported spending over $6 million to block troublesome candidates.”)
• Nikki Haley Suggests She Won’t Endorse Trump, but She’s a Shameless Republican, So Who Knows (Yep, she’s super slimy; definitely do NOT trust anything she says.)
• Moms for Liberty Had a Chance to Explain Themselves. It Didn’t Go Well. (Pathetic.)
• Nevada fake electors won’t stand trial until January 2025 under judge’s new schedule (Our “justice” system is taking waaaaaayyyyy too long on these 2020 election/insurrection cases. We’re in 2024, for god’s sake!)
• Wisconsin fake elector settlement offers new details on the strategy by Trump lawyers
• Super Tuesday may underline Trump’s transformation of the GOP
• The Most Intriguing Races of Super Tuesday 2024
• Coast-to-coast Super Tuesday contests poised to move Biden and Trump closer to November rematch
• Mark Cuban Backs Biden in 2024, Urging More Action on Drug Costs
• Florida’s response to its measles outbreak is outrageous and dangerous (DeSantis is a DeSgrace!)
• Virginians join voters in 15 other states casting presidential ballots on Super Tuesday
• It’s Super Tuesday in Virginia. Here’s how to vote in the presidential primaries.
• Editorial: As threats amass, Virginia elections officials face a daunting path (“As Virginians head to the polls Tuesday, federal law enforcement warns about election threats heading into November.” The VAST majority of which are coming from the MAGA/far right.)
• Video: VA House, Senate Dems Call on Youngkin to Sign “7-Day Bills,” Including Those “raising the minimum wage, protecting women’s health, and banning assault weapons” (Another bill that Youngkin *should* sign would “reinstate Virginia’s ERIC membership”)
• With Just a Few Days Left in 2024 General Assembly Session, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Provide “Update on Reproductive Health Care Legislation Headed to Governor Glenn Youngkin” (“We strongly encourage [Youngkin] to embrace this moment”)
• Va. Democrats fast-track marriage equality, gun bills headed to Youngkin
• Rees Shearer: “Urge your legislators today, stop sending us down a costly, useless SMR rabbit hole” (Shearer: “These [small modular nuclear reactor] dogs won’t hunt, but they sure do bite!”)
• Powerful Va. senator keeps everyone guessing as clock ticks on arena (“Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) has power in the legislature and grave doubts about the $2 billion arena plan for Alexandria.”)
• Senate Finance sends surveillance definition bill to floor
• Spanberger and Stoney are quietly making political moves more than a year before the primary
• Restoring democracy and ensuring every vote counts in Virginia (“As a person whose right to vote was revoked based on a wrongful conviction, I know that voting is not a privilege; it is a fundamental aspect of citizenship, writes guest columnist Sheba Williams”)
• CASEY: ‘Larry the Logperch,’ the Mountain Valley Pipeline & the 11th Commandment
• Judge removes environmental group from Mountain Valley Pipeline lawsuit
• Democrats sent Youngkin an entire slate of cannabis bills. Here’s what’s in them. (“Only two Republicans voted in favor of legislation that would create an adult-use marketplace for marijuana products in Virginia — Del. Chris Obenshain and state Sen. Christie New Craig.”)
• Legislature puts off Hashmi bill on assisted suicide until 2025 (Why???)
• State investigation of a Carilion hospital found risk to patient safety due to improper cleaning of surgical instruments
• Jury decides 29 of 100 Natural Bridge Zoo animals should return to property
• Evans Spring plan approved on final reading by split Roanoke City Council
• Second dead humpback whale washes ashore in Virginia Beach (Horrible.)
• Vashti Harrison wins Caldecott Medal (“The Eastern Shore native is the first Black woman to win the picture book award.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Rain ends by midday, but much more to come this week