Tuesday News: “Monday Night Massacre”; GOP’s Deal With the Devil; Rep. McEachin Rips “Religious Test” “Travesty”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, January 31

• Trump fires acting attorney general who refused to defend immigration ban (“Replacement says he will enforce president’s directive”)
• Monday night massacre is a wake-up call to Senate Democrats (“The Democrats just need to be willing to engage in hardball tactics. Even if they can’t stop the Sessions confirmation, they should put as much pressure on every Republican before they cast that vote, and they need to make clearer at the end of this process that they will exercise their political muscle as a minority when it comes to other business.”)
• Trump’s travel ban isn’t about making America safe. It’s about kicking Muslims around. (“The refugee ban and travel restrictions may, in fact, make us less safe.”)
• Trump is recklessly reversing Americans’ progress in Iraq (“His travel ban and his talk of taking Iraqi oil undermine the fight against extremists.”)
• Republicans are alarmed to discover Trump is doing exactly what he said he would (“They said not to take him literally. Wrong!”)
• From order to disorder: How Trump’s immigration directive exposed GOP rifts
• President Bannon? (“Donald Trump’s political adviser is consolidating power, with dismal results.” Way worse than “dismal,” more like “disastrous.”)
• Cohen: The Abnormal Presidency of Trump (“Trump insisted his decision was designed to keep America safe, but the measure was rushed, uncoordinated, sloppy, arbitrary and punitive — the work of an impulsive man driven by anti-Muslim prejudice. Hatched by his inner circle in contempt of normal procedure, it has provoked a crisis. Trump has fired the acting attorney general who questioned its legality…Impetuosity allied to cruelty combined with immense power equals trouble. The current storm would cause a normal man who’s a neophyte in a big job to reflect on other approaches. But is anything about Trump normal?”
• The Republican Fausts (“But if the last 10 days have made anything clear, it’s this: The Republican Fausts are in an untenable position. The deal they’ve struck with the devil comes at too high a price. It really will cost them their soul…With most administrations you can agree sometimes and disagree other times. But this one is a danger to the party and the nation in its existential nature. And so sooner or later all will have to choose what side they are on, and live forever after with the choice.”)
• White Nationalists Praise Trump’s Muslim Ban: “God Bless You,” “Feel Like Crying” With Joy (Yep, the worst people in America are loving Trump. That’s all you need to know, really.)
• Far Right Media Cite Rumors And Fake News Outlets To Erroneously Report Canadian Mosque Attacker Was A Muslim (“Mosque Shooting Misinformation By Right-Wing Media Highlights The Plague Of Fake News”)
• Donald Trump’s dance with the devil: Did White House mean to wink at Holocaust deniers?
• Canadian mosque shooting suspect was a white man who showed support for Donald Trump on social media (Shocker, eh?)
• Crisis Mode (“What happens if Donald Trump refuses a federal court order.”)
• Report: Obamacare repeal could cost the United States 1.2 million jobs (“States that would lose the most jobs include Arizona, West Virginia, and Oregon.”)
• Hill staffers secretly worked on Trump’s immigration order (“Several House Judiciary Committee aides helped craft the controversial directive without telling Republican leaders.”)
• Trump’s early moves trigger business backlash (“The administration’s executive order hitting immigrants and recent steps toward protectionism are spurring a reversal of sentiment after excitement about cutting taxes and regulations.”)
• BETSY DEVOS WANTS TO USE AMERICA’S SCHOOLS TO BUILD “GOD’S KINGDOM” (“Trump’s education secretary pick has spent a lifetime working to end public education as we know it.” Democrats had better all vote no on this fanatic.)
• If You Liked the Inquisition, You’ll Love the House Science Committee (“Lamar Smith has some new weapons in his battle against the nation’s scientists.”)
• Trump’s order to “kill two regulations for every new one adopted” is a mess
• Furor over immigration order reveals rifts between White House, GOP
• Democrats escalate attacks on Trump as Republicans lash out (“The opposition party has all but abandoned their pledge to find common ground with the new president, pledging a protracted fight against Cabinet confirmations and Trump’s imminent pick for the Supreme Court.” Good. There is no common ground with Cheeto von Gropensnatcher.)
• How to Build an Autocracy (“The preconditions are present in the U.S. today. Here’s the playbook Donald Trump could use to set the country down a path toward illiberalism.”)
• Sam Waterston: The danger of Trump’s constant lying (“Yes, the word is lying — not negotiation, salesmanship, bluster, delusion, exaggeration, bullying, alternative facts, or any other euphemism.”)
• GOP congressman: A wall is the least effective way to secure the border (“It’s a third-century solution to a 21st-century problem.” Well, Trump and his supporters have third-century mentalities, so I guess that makes sense…)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger Weighs In on President Trump’s Immigration Ban: ‘It’s Crazy’
• Day before Trump pick, Dems talk filibuster
• Trump’s half-baked travel ban is a picture of American shame (“His executive order targets and dehumanizes some of the most vulnerable people on Earth.” That’s what the Trumps specialize in – preying on the vulnerable.)
• The White House’s soft-core Holocaust denialism (“No, ‘everyone’ did not suffer in the Holocaust. Jews were the main targets and victims.”)
• Obama, in a rare move for an ex-president, breaks silence to criticize Trump on immigration
• Obama on protests: American values are at stake (“All Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy.”)
• President Trump names Dana Boente, U.S. attorney for eastern Virginia, as acting attorney general (No excuse for accepting the job under these circumstances. Totally unethical.)
• Kaine talks with students about health care’s uncertain future
• Kaine says green card holders are subject to executive order
• “The Women Are In My Grill” – Dave Brat at a Tea Party Fundraiser
• “We Can’t Discuss That” (“At Dulles Airport, Trump’s Customs and Border Protection officers are accountable to no one.”)
• Virginia Tech community members denounce Bannon (“Members of the Virginia Tech community are denouncing alumnus Steve Bannon and calling on President Donald Trump to dismiss him from his administration.”)
• House passes bill to legalize switchblades in Virginia for work and recreational use (Great job, Republicans! Not.)
• Unions rally at Capitol to tout Atlantic Coast Pipeline as good for American jobs (“But the Dominion-led pipeline company acknowledged Monday that it is purchasing heavy-duty steel for the project from a company in South Korea.”)
• Editorial: Virginia House now has a Strangle-the-Dogs caucus (“It’s not just the bills Virginia lawmakers introduce that can make you shake your head. It’s also the bills they kill.”)
• Del. Sam Rasoul, Virginia’s only Muslim legislator, speaks out against President Trump’s executive order
• Report says Virginia state park visitors spent $225 million last year
• Virginia universities see chilling consequence to travel restrictions
• In Va., male House clerk earns nearly $19K more than female Senate clerk who has been on job 21 years longer
• Amid protests, outrage, Virginia church’s message of welcome resonates nationally
• Del. Joseph Yost pushes for mental health training for college resident advisers
• House panel kills redistricting, felon voting reforms in early-morning block vote (Charming.)
• Richmond-area police don’t pursue immigration violations, but region unlikely to see impact from Trump’s ‘sanctuary order’
• Fracking chemical recipes could be kept secret in Virginia under bill passed by House (Frack that!)
• Medical marijuana bills go down in House (Legalizing medical marijuana is a no brainer. The problem is that Republicans who voted against it have no brains.)
• Editorial: Who we’d like to see on the regional ‘Go Virginia’ board
• Hampton Roads congressional delegation split on Trump refugee ban (Scott Taylor is such a weasel…)
• General Assembly bill would allow “revenge porn” victims to sue perpetrators in civil court
• Newport News airport loan payment may lead to statewide funding change
• Morning snow showers or squalls, turning warmer in the afternoon (“Snow maybe falling as you head out on the roads, so be careful, especially in the northern and northwest suburbs.”)