Tuesday News: “A Dangerous Double Standard”; “The media has been breathlessly attacking Biden. What about Trump?”; “The Supreme Incompetents”; “JD Vance is a rightwing troll disguised as a populist. He could be our next vice-president”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, July 9.

• Hurricane Beryl supercharged by ‘crazy’ ocean temperatures, experts say (“Warning after intensification of storm aided by unusually hot ocean waters in much of Beryl’s path”)
• Devastation as world’s biggest wetland burns: ‘those that cannot run don’t stand a chance’ (“Blackened trees, dead animals and scorched earth – early wildfires have already devastated Brazil’s Pantanal and local people worry they may lose the battle to save them”)
• Another year of heat and floods spurs China’s climate-change awakening
• The Climate Is Falling Apart. Prepare for the Push Alerts. (“In our era of extreme weather, this is how we’ll watch the world change.”)
• Modi bear hugs Putin in Moscow, marking deep ties between Russia and India (Beyond disgusting – hugging a vicious war criminal.)
• ‘Huge disappointment’: Zelensky blasts Modi meeting with Putin the same day Russian attack devastates Ukraine hospital (Modi is a f’ing disgrace.)
• Kyiv mourns as rescuers make last-ditch efforts at children’s hospital hit by Russian missile
• U.S. Officials Say Russia Is Unlikely to Take Much More Ukrainian Territory (“Russian forces are inflicting pain, but NATO leaders gathering in Washington can say that their efforts to strengthen Ukraine are working.”)
• Russia-Ukraine war live: Kyiv children’s hospital likely took direct hit from Russian missile, UN says (Putin is a war criminal of the worst order.)
• Nato will announce ‘historic’ Ukraine aid package – but hospital attack shows it’s not enough
• Before Biden can save Ukraine, he must use the NATO summit to save himself
• Biden and Macron’s Domestic Turmoil May Overshadow NATO Summit
• This Nato summit could save or sink Biden’s candidacy
• Biden condemns ‘Russian brutality’ after deadly Ukraine strikes
• Israel-Gaza war live: US says ‘gaps’ remain between Israel and Hamas on ceasefire deal (Sound familiar?)
• Elections in Europe and Iran show authoritarian march may have slowed, not halted
• Macron Leaves France and Markets in an Unholy Mess
• Jean-Luc Melenchon: Star of France’s hard-left poses problem for election victors (Yuck.)
• The real lesson for America in the French and British elections (“The European elections tell us little about Biden’s chances — but a lot about his choices.”)
• Lessons from the French and British elections for bolstering U.S. democracy
• What to Watch Ahead of Powell’s Congress Address
• America Finally Has an Answer to the Biggest Problem With EVs (“Used electric cars are not just cheap—they are cheaper than similar gas cars.”)
• The Supreme Incompetents — All of the United States’ most important governing institutions are failing at once. (“The justices are awful at their jobs, and they don’t know that they are awful at their jobs.”)
• Trump’s Next Supreme Court Picks Would Be So Much Worse
• After Supreme Court Immunity Ruling, Judge Faces Tough Calls on Trump
• What the Supreme Court Immunity Decision Means for All Four Trump Trials
• Trump plans to block hearings in January 6 case before 2024 election (Our justice system has massively and disastrously failed, sad to say.)
• The Enormous Risks a Second Trump Term Poses to Our Economy
• Suddenly Everyone’s Talking About Project 2025. Good. We Should Be. (“Now that the Democrats have an easy way to boil down the collapse of democracy into a brand name, it’s time to use it.”)
• Project 2025 partner lays foundation for Trump to ignore congressional spending in major power grab (“Some close observers worry that a second Trump administration could use the “impoundment” power to defund the Dept. of Education and other conservative targets”)
• The media has been breathlessly attacking Biden. What about Trump?
• A Dangerous Double Standard (“All our energies must go to defeating Trump”)
• The Democratic Party Must Speak the Plain Truth to the President (The NY Times STILL hasn’t written an editorial calling on Trump to drop out. Fascinating, huh?)
• Trump’s platform changed the GOP’s position on abortion. Not everyone is happy. (Of course, the media isn’t clearly reporting that if Trump god fobid comes to power, Republicans absolutely will move to ban abortion, various methods of contraception, etc. Regardless of what the GOP’s official platform dishonestly claims.)
• After Killing Roe v. Wade, Trump Pretends to Be a Moderate on Abortion
• Trump Is Running On The Extreme, Ultra-MAGA Project 2025 Agenda (“Undermining our democracy with dangerous election denialism and threats of political violence — all while pledging to be a dictator on ‘day one'”)
• Biden Tells Congressional Democrats He’s Not Going Anywhere
• President Joe Biden Appears on “Morning Joe,” Sends Letter to Dems in Congress, Arguing He Can/Will Beat Trump and Is NOT Dropping Out (Also, Virginia Democrats – Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, etc. – are weighing in, while Mark Warner’s “huddle” is postponed (for now?))
• Joe Biden Is Fighting Back—but Not Against Trump, Really (“In his efforts to demonstrate vigor, is the President finding his voice, or losing his way?”)
• Biden assails Democratic elites as he fights to remain in the race
• Biden has a new outsider strategy. Can he pull it off? (“The president’s new approach could work — if he can manage not to prove the “elites” right.”)
• Biden Counterattack Undercut by Biden’s Inability to Complete Sentences
• What do Democrats do now?
• Biden is seeing a different world than other Democrats
• Defiant Biden tells donors: ‘We’re done talking about the debate’
• Read the letter President Biden sent to House Democrats telling them to support him in the election
• ‘No one is picking up the phone’: Joe Biden’s fundraising confronts new hurdles after debate
• Hill Dems brace for party reckoning over Biden
• Biden Gets Unexpected Boost From ‘Squad’ Members He Once Battled
• In the Aging Senate, Nobody Wants to Be the One to Nudge Biden Aside
• Black lawmakers are a key line of support for Biden as he fights to save his campaign
• Behind the Curtain: Dems who could decide Biden fate
• Ahead Of Key Meeting, Many House Democrats Still Ridin’ With Biden
• Biden says he won’t step aside. But if he does, here’s why Harris is the favorite to replace him
• Poll finds Biden damaged by debate; with Harris and Clinton best positioned to win
• Trump-appointed judge resigns after report on ‘sexualized relationship’ with law clerk and hostile work environment
• JD Vance is a rightwing troll disguised as a populist. He could be our next vice-president
• Peter Baker Argues Joe Biden Is Unfit because Peter Baker Is Too Lazy to Read the Homework (Peter Baker has been a disgrace to journalism for a long time.)
• White House doctor offers explanation for Parkinson’s expert’s visits (“Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, [Cannard] has held regular Neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations…Many military personnel experience neurological issues related to their service, and Dr. Canard regularly visits the WHMU as part of this General Neurology Practice.”)
• Gov. Whitmer shuts down 2024 presidential talk but doesn’t hide her ambitions in timely book launch
• Texas Governor Greg Abbott Jets Off to Asia as Hurricane Beryl Lashes His State
• Beryl unleashes high winds and heavy rains, stranding Texas residents and leaving 2M without power
• Official Kristi Noem social media accounts appear to have been deleted
• House Freedom Caucus ousts Warren Davidson (“Members of the House Freedom Caucus ousted Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) on Monday night — less than a month after he started a firestorm within the group by endorsing Chair Bob Good’s primary challenger.”)
• Sen. Mark Warner: “With so much at stake in the upcoming election, now is the time for conversations about the strongest path forward.” (President Biden needs to “hear directly from a broader group of voices about how to best prevent Trump’s lawlessness from returning to the White House”)
• Here’s what Warner and Kaine are saying about calls for Biden to withdraw
• Sen. Tim Kaine shares his thoughts on President Biden’s re-election and what he’s hearing from Virginia voters
• ‘I just have a fundamental belief in his patriotic ability to put country first’: Kaine weighs in on whether Biden should drop out of Presidential race
• Virginia’s congressional Democrats hedge on Biden 2024
• As Project 2025 Chief Calls For “Second American Revolution,” Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) Falls Silent (Kiggans “should be disqualified for allowing this rhetoric to be common-place in our politics.”)
• Virginia Legislative Black Caucus Statement in Support of the Biden/Harris Campaign (Of course, many Dems’ concerns aren’t about a second Biden term’s policies, they’re about whether he can win in November)
• Virginia Legislative Black Caucus expresses support for Biden’s continued candidacy
• Data: Virginia Medicaid’s managed care failing to connect patients with prenatal care
• The “summer slump” is a real worry for Virginia teachers and lawmakers
• Federal government awards pollution cleanup funding to Dublin, Dumfries
• Dominion to purchase second offshore wind lease area off coast of North Carolina
• CASEY: About those big pay raises for the Roanoke City Council
• Franklin County School Board approves parent survey to review book policy
• Residents endure two weeks without air conditioning at Fairfax County apartment building (That’s completely unacceptable.)
• D.C.-area forecast: Humid heat on repeat, before storm chances rise later in week