Monday News: French “reject the far right – again” (now it’s OUR turn!); Timothy Snyder on “Fascism and Fear”; “Hill Democrats deeply torn about Biden’s fate as they return to Washington”; Sen. Mark Warner’s “Huddle” Called Off for Now

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, July 8.

• Temperatures 1.5C above pre-industrial era average for 12 months, data shows (Disastrous.)
• Russian daytime attack on Ukraine kills at least 20, hits children’s hospital in Kyiv (Putin = Pure Evil)
• Russian missiles hit a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital and kill at least 20 elsewhere (War crimes after war crimes after…)
• Russian attack on Kyiv one of worst in two years of war, says mayor, as death toll rises to seven (“Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, says Ohmatdyt children’s hospital was seriously damaged and urges residents to go to shelters”)
• Putin’s multipolar world takes shape with Orban in Beijing, Modi in Moscow
• Biden hosts NATO summit with dual tasks: Unite the alliance behind Ukraine and his party behind his candidacy (“Biden faces pressure over NATO from Russia and over his bid for re-election from within his own party after a dismal debate performance against Donald Trump.”)
• Modi to Meet Putin in Moscow as India Sets Its Own Foreign Policy (Appalling.)
• French left beats Le Pen’s far right in election shock
• France’s elections end up with no clear majority. This is what could happen next
• Analysis: French people reject the far right – again
• ‘Victims of a dishonest alliance’: French far right disappointed but defiant (It wasn’t “dishonest”; they just hate the far right, as everyone should!)
• French elections: Left-wing alliance comes out on top in unprecedented political landscape (“Having won the most seats, the Nouveau Front Populaire now faces the challenge of negotiating with other political forces in order to convert its first place into a governing majority.”)
• France election 2024 live: Emmanuel Macron asks Gabriel Attal to stay on as as prime minister for the time being (“No obvious candidate to replace Attal after leftwing NFP alliance becomes biggest force in French parliament but fails to win outright majority”)
• France’s progressives keep out the far right, but what could happen next?
• Le Pen has been defeated by the left, but who will govern France? Our panel responds
• France’s far-right firewall holds, but with signs of cracks
• Far right’s rise in France suffers unexpected blow as left surges
• Beryl makes landfall on Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane, National Weather Service says
• Israel-Gaza war live: ceasefire deal would be ‘senseless folly’, says Israel’s finance minister (Nobody should listen to extremists like Smotrich.)
• Israeli Troops Return to Gaza City Months After Leaving (“Military is returning to areas it previously withdrew from, causing fresh destruction and displacement for Palestinians” It seems endless…)
• Fascism and Fear (“Mainstream media have treated President Biden with prejudice and arrogance. Quite a few Democrats, reacting to this, treat any mention of President Biden’s fitness as disloyalty. This is mistaken, if understandable…There are three tests of good faith for those who are proposing that President Biden step down. The first is recognition that Biden’s first term has been one of extraordinary achievement. The second is a plan for what the Democrats would do, should Biden withdraw, to select a nominee and win the election. The third is recognition that the threat of regime change is what might justify changing the nominee.” – Timothy Snyder)
• An America that you won’t recognize’: Legal scholar Kermit Roosevelt III on SCOTUS and Project 2025
• When They Flood the Zone with Sh*t, Flush It Out with the Cold Water of Truth (“Never despair and never surrender – people have gotten through much worse in history, against much greater odds, and come out the other end triumphant.”)
• Behind the Curtain: Trump’s dream regime (This would be a NIGHTMARE.)
• “Some folks need killing!”: It’s time to take MAGA threats of violence literally and seriously (“A leader of Project 2025 declares the authoritarian ‘revolution” will be “bloodless’ only ‘if the left allows it'”)
• What Republicans haven’t figured out about Kamala Harris (“Don’t underestimate her again.”)
• The Kamala Harris calculus: What do Democrats gain or lose?
• Biden’s fate is on the line in the most critical days of his 50-year political career
• Biden’s Strategy to Make the Race About Trump Is Suddenly in Doubt
• Hill Democrats deeply torn about Biden’s fate as they return to Washington
• Schiff, Murphy Express Alarm Over Biden: He Should Be “Mopping the Floor With Donald Trump” (“It should not be even close.”)
• Several senior House Democrats, in private call, say Biden should step aside
• Inside a despondent White House: Aides gripped by unease as Biden’s political future remains uncertain
• Biden’s uncertain political future divides Democrats as they return to Capitol Hill
• Scoop: Dem senators’ Biden huddle called off
• 4 more senior Dems call on Biden to stand down from reelection bid
• ‘Blitz primary’ could open up Democratic race if Biden drops out (That’s ridiculous.)
• Democrats to face pressure of revealing if they back Biden as Congress reconvenes (“Senate and House back in session for first time since debate, giving those who want him to quit a chance to rally support”)
• Biden is leading Democrats toward their worst-case scenario (“The president appears too frail to defeat Trump and too delusional to drop out.”)
• Democratic power players are circulating a proposal for Biden to exit, launch ‘blitz primary’
• Biden’s Survival Plan: Decry ‘Elite’ Critics, Appeal to His Base (“Black voters and organized labor have been the president’s key backers and they’re going to have to carry him now.”)
• Behind the Curtain: Unbendable Biden vs. breaking-point Dems
• Biden turns to Pennsylvania to try to save his campaign
• The words about Joe Biden I never wanted to write (By EJ Dionne, a diehard Democrat and Biden fan.)
• 2024 RNC platform could alter the GOP’s abortion position for the first time in decades
• Radio Host Resigns After Asking Biden Questions His Campaign Had Provided
• Video: On CNN, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Says “I hope Joe Biden didn’t really mean [the ‘God Almighty’ line] and “I will have given it my goodest” Was “not an adequate answer…not a reassurance that Democrats want to hear” (Connolly adds that Biden “has to be open to the fact that at 81, he is showing his age” and “that he can’t win the election in November”)
• Top Dem Quickly Reaffirms Support For Biden After Reports He Called President ‘Very Very Fragile’ (That’s referring to Rep. Don Beyer, D-VA08)
• Louise Lucas upset by statement Missy Cotter Smasal made online. The GOP is pouncing on the division it’s created.
• Don Beyer: ‘I support President Biden. I support the Biden-Harris ticket’
• Migrant children in Virginia: Where are they and are they getting an education?
• Central Virginia bus riders reap benefits of zero fare and new services
• Counties and states are ending single-family zoning. Homeowners are suing. (“A trial over Arlington’s ‘missing middle’ policy in Northern Virginia shows how the fiery debate over American suburbs is moving from city halls to courthouses.”)
• Danville’s growth has outpaced its comprehensive plan. Here’s how the city is dealing with it.
• D.C.-area forecast: Brutally hot and humid through midweek