Friday News: “No, Not Trump, Not Ever;” “General Assembly Republicans do that thing they do”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, March 18. Also check out the video of Rep. Gerry Connolly speaking at last night’s St. Patrick’s Day party at the Kena Temple in Fairfax. Among other things, Connolly noted the huge difference between the two parties, as exemplified by the Flint, Michigan lead poisoning scandal/disgrace. Connolly also predicted that this year could be a great year for Democrats if Republicans nominate Donald Trump, with the potential to hold the White House and to take back the Congress.

• Democrats plan push to force hearings on Supreme Court nominee
• Republicans are surrendering to Donald Trump (If they do so, it will officially make the GOP a neo-fascist party of bigots.)
• The GOP’s stop-Trump ‘movement’ is a pathetic joke (“The GOP appears not to have the backbone to stop a man who is clearly unfit for the presidency.” I mean, Trump isn’t even slightly qualified to be president. Is this a sick joke or what?)
• Budowsky: Hillary, Bernie must unite to beat Trump (I couldn’t agree more.)
• Rubio nears Cruz endorsement (Cruz, in his own ways – extremist, theocratic, nasty, oily, etc. – is as bad as Trump.)
• The right’s shocking admission: Stunned by Trump’s dominance, some GOP pundits concede that Dems have been right about Republicans all along (I mean, duh, the racist “Southern Strategy,” Lee Atwater, Willie Horton, science denial, crazy “trickle-down” economics, etc, etc. wasn’t enough all these years???)
• The gangster candidate: Donald Trump and his supporters behave like the mafia, with veiled threats and acting above the law
• The 5 craziest things about Ted Cruz’s extremist, neo-McCarthyist, anti-Muslim foreign policy adviser Frank Gaffney
• A Trump Presidency Could Leave The World’s Economy In Shambles, Analysts Warn (And our democracy. And our civil liberties. And a lot more than that.)
• Marco Rubio Returns To Senate, Says He’d Oppose Garland Nomination Under Any Circumstances (Just amazing that anyone ever referred to Rubio as “moderate” in any way. He’s not.)
• Paul Krugman: Republican Elite’s Reign of Disdain (“But the Republican elite can’t handle the truth. It’s too committed to an Ayn Rand story line about heroic job creators versus moochers to admit either that trickle-down economics can fail to deliver good jobs, or that sometimes government aid is a crucial lifeline. So it ends up lashing out at its own voters when they refuse to buy into that story line.”)
• David Brooks: No, Not Trump, Not Ever (Trump “is a threat to the long and glorious experiment of American self-government. He is precisely the kind of scapegoating, promise-making, fear-driving and deceiving demagogue they feared. Trump’s supporters deserve respect. They are left out of this economy. But Trump himself? No, not Trump, not ever.”)
• Power play: General Assembly Republicans do that thing they do (“But one thing is certain: With their reckless disregard of precedent and destructive desire to win at all costs, the assembly’s elephants have once again shown that they are more than happy to trample their opponents—and the very idea of bipartisan cooperation—to get their way. After all, that’s the new Virginia way.”)
• Religious exemptions bill marches toward a McAuliffe veto
• Gov. McAuliffe: Va. Prisoners to be Eligible For College Credit Classes
• Coach Tony Bennett provides only drama in Virginia’s blowout of Hampton
• FBI enters investigation of Va. stun gun incident
• Our view: Political scorecard (“Both sides”-ism at its finest. Blech.)
• Editorial: Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones was asking for it
• Blacks more likely to get prison time in plea deals, Hampton Roads court data show (Inexcusable.)
• Portsmouth grapples with $3.5M budget deficit, but didn’t collect $2.1M in state, federal reimbursements
• Virginia man captured by Kurds claims in video he escaped Islamic State
• Prince William court rescinds ‘no documents for reporters’ policy during Sunshine Week (WTF???)
• Weather madness as today’s warmth turns wintry this weekend, just in time for spring