by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, February 16. And yes, as the brilliant Jamelle Bouie put it yesterday, Trump yesterday said “the single most un-american and anti-constitutional statement ever uttered by an american president.” Also, as Don Moynihan explained, “Attributed to Napoleon, who ended democracy in French, this quote [used yesterday by Trump] was also used by Anders Breivik, the far-right anti-immigrant terrorist who murdered 77 people.” In short, we are in deep, deep, deep trouble…yet do we see millions of Americans fighting for our democracy, standing up for our values, our allies, our constitution, the rule of law and our government, etc.? If not, why not?
- This Solar-Powered Reactor Sucks CO2 From the Air and Turns It Into Fuel (“Researchers have created a solar-powered reactor that collects CO2 by night and turns it into a useful gas by day.”)
- How Trump’s One-for-One Tariff Plan Threatens the Global Economy
- US presented Ukraine with a document to access its minerals but offered almost nothing in return
- Putin Has Long Wanted More Power in Europe. Trump Could Grant It.
- European leaders to hold emergency summit on Ukraine as Trump-Putin call strains ties (Europe needs to get its sh** together ASAP, including massively ramping up its own military efforts, aid to Ukraine, etc. Because no, they can NOT count on a United States led by Trump and his merry band of Putin lovers/democracy haters…)
- Starmer to join Macron-led European crisis summit on Trump’s Ukraine plan
- Trump Is Rushing Toward a Deal With Putin, Leaving Europe in the Dust
- How Elon Musk is boosting far-right politics across the globe (Heinous.)
- Ukrainians are fearful any Trump-brokered ceasefire will be full of concessions and false promises
- ‘They may be Russian some day’: was this the week that changed the war in Ukraine? (“As Donald Trump and his officials rip up three years of US rhetoric on supporting Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is walking an unenviable diplomatic tightrope”)
- Russia’s Advance in Ukraine Is Slowing. Here’s What’s Happening and Why.
- Zelensky warns days of guaranteed US support for Europe are over, as Kellogg says Europeans won’t be at table for peace talks
- Ukraine rejects Trump bid to take rights to half its mineral reserves (Very mafia-like by Trump, and an eternal disgrace to our country.)
- Trump Officials Attack a German Consensus on Nazis and Speech
- German chancellor slams Vance’s call for Europe to be inclusive of far-right parties (Of course, in Germany, the far-right, fascistic, white supremacist, etc. elements within the Republican Party would be shunned as well – for good reason!)
- JD Vance’s Munich speech laid bare the collapse of the transatlantic alliance
- Trump strangles Europe
- As the US walks away, Europe needs to step up for Ukraine. But does it have the will? (It had better!)
- Trump promises to treat VAT systems like Europe’s like a tariff
- Israel receives shipment of heavy bombs cleared by Trump (Anyone who protested DEMOCRATS and ONLY Democrats during 2024 is now “finding out” what was going to happen if Trump won and Harris lost. This was both 100% predictable AND predicted many times! Meanwhile, where are those protesters now???)
- Tensions over Palestinians at heart of Trump’s Middle East gambit
- Rubio kicks off Mideast trip in Israel as Arab leaders reel from Trump’s Gaza proposal
- Rubio expected to push Trump plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza on trip to Israel (HELL NO.)
- Three Israelis and 369 Palestinians released after week of ceasefire tensions
- ICE struggles to boost arrest numbers despite infusion of resources
- Home Builders Say Trump Tariffs Are Raising Construction Costs
- RFK Jr. Goes After Widely Used Antidepressants, Claiming They Could Be A Threat To Americans (RFK Jr. is a menace to Americans’ health. It’s absolutely unforgivable that he was confirmed by Republican U.S. Senators.)
- Climate and Environmental Justice Programs Stalled by Trump Freeze, Despite Court Orders (“EPA’s chief is also trying to claw back $20 billion, implying wrongdoing. Attorneys call it an evidence-free tactic to get around judges’ orders.”)
- Trump Ends Climate Work Inside Agency That Responds to Disasters
- An Unchecked Trump Rapidly Remakes U.S. Government and Foreign Policy (A vindictive, angry Trump without checks and balances is EXTREMELY dangerous. That really can’t be overstated.)
- Trump Suggests No Laws Are Broken if He’s ‘Saving His Country’
- Trump Publicly Admits He Thinks He Can Break Any Law He Wants
- Don’t Say “Chaotic” or “Transactional” (“Trump 2.0 has been anything but chaotic. He is executing a deliberate strategy for implementing policies he promised on issues like immigration and tariffs. While he may be bluffing tactically, imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico and then delaying them, this is part of a bargaining strategy. Similarly, the personnel actions undertake by Musk, DOGE, and OMB Director Russ Vaught are based on the Project 2025 playbook that has been in the making for four years”)
- Who Will Stand Up To Trump at High Noon?
- Musk, Trump Establish New Era of Kleptocracy in America
- Not Quite a Unified Theory of Trumpism, but Still an Alarming Pattern (“When authoritarians covet power, they pursue several common strategies. First, they go after checks and balances within the government…”)
- ‘The greatest propaganda op in history’: Trump’s reshaping of US culture evokes past antidemocratic regimes
- Trump Official Destroying USAID Secretly Met With Christian Nationalists Abroad in Defiance of U.S. Policy
- Democrats confront their powerlessness as Trump flexes authority (Terrible headline – “Trump flexes authority” is such a vague, whitewashed way of saying that Trump goes 100% lawless, unconstitutional, authoritarian, etc.)
- A Top Democrat Speaks Out on How the Party Will Fight Trump (“Rep. Jamie Raskin is still optimistic about defeating Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s agenda.”)
- IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season
- Justice Department fires multiple immigration judges amid case backlog
- Trump administration fires 20 immigration judges with no explanation
- As Trump shakes Justice Department, deeply conservative prosecutors head for exits
- US Forest Service and National Park Service to fire thousands of workers (“Agencies say Trump’s latest push to trim government could impede firefighting efforts and create crises at national parks”)
- Ed Department: DEI Violates Civil Rights Law (Very Orwellian, where encouraging diversity is defined as discrimination, while white supremacy is approved of…)
- NAACP lists companies that dump DEI in its tactical spending guide for Black Americans
- Musk accused Reuters of ‘social deception.’ The deception was his.
- Trump administration wants to un-fire nuclear safety workers but can’t figure out how to reach them (Wildly incompetent, reckless, irresponsible, dangerous, etc.)
- House GOP budget resolution in jeopardy amid concerns from moderates (It’s a flat-out lie to say that there are Republican “moderates” in the US House. In fact, there are far-right extremist, conservative Republicans, and…???)
- Top state Democrat calls on Adams to resign as party leaders convene for caucus weekend (“Pressure is mounting on Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Adams as thousands of Democrats gather in Albany for annual convention.” No brainer, really.)
- Ramaswamy files campaign paperwork for anticipated Ohio governor bid
- Unemployment spikes in Washington, D.C., as Trump and Musk begin efforts to shrink the government
- Senator Warner: Democrats’ ‘brand is really bad’ (“I think the majority of the party realizes that the ideological purity of some of the groups is a recipe for disaster and that candidly the attack on over-the-top wokeism was a valid attack…Trump also has a ‘reinforcing’ social media army, Warner noted.”)
- Tim Kaine sees parallel between Trump’s Gaza plan, Vietnam: ‘Massive mistake’
- Editorial: As legislature winds down, insulating Virginians from harm is priority one (“In the waning days of the General Assembly session, lawmakers should do what they can to guard against White House actions that harm Virginia.” Agreed, although in the end there’s not a ton they can really do on this.)
- Bipartisan effort looks to expand breast cancer treatment access
- Schapiro: The cocktail that is Virginia politics (This column starts off by claiming that Sen. Mark Warner is “center-left,” which is really silly. The rest is a somewhat interesting history lesson on “a long string of data points that illustrates the enduring intersection in Virginia of politics and whiskey.”)
- Williams: As chaos flows from D.C., RVA must come together
- CWG Live updates: Storms and powerful winds today, then calmer before midweek snow
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