Sunday News: Trump Suddenly the “Due Process” Dude; GOP “Squirms” But Does NOTHING; We Need Full Medicaid Expansion, and We Need It Now; Kill the Dominion Bill

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, February 11.

• Israel confirms downed jet was hit by Syrian antiaircraft fire (“Israel has not lost a plane in combat since 1982, when one of its jets was also brought down by the Syrians. After the jet was downed on Saturday, Israel embarked on its most extensive bombing campaign inside the country since that year, when it moved to destroy Syria’s antiaircraft capacity.”)
• North Korea keeps mum on summit invite as its delegation winds up South visit
• Trump says Democratic memo on Russia is ‘very political,’ needs redactions (F*** off.)
• The Republicans Have Become the Party of Debt (They have been since Reagan exploded the deficits/debt in the 1980s.)
• As domestic abuse claims roil White House, Trump decries lack of ‘due process’ for accused (Trump, of course, is a sexual predator himself who has ZERO business being in the White House.)
• Pence’s Anti-North Korea PR Campaign Bombs (Duhhh…)
• President Who Loves Making False Accusations Suddenly Pleads ‘Due Process’ (Have I mentioned yet today that Trump is scum? Can’t mention it enough times.)
• White House under John Kelly is not so calm and competent after all (Beltway media shocked?)
• G.O.P. Squirms as Trump Veers Off Script With Abuse Remarks (Don’t just squirm, speak up!)
• Trump Tweets About “False Allegations” After Domestic Abuse Allegations Against White House Aide (“The president seemingly questions victims of domestic violence.” Trump is scum.)
• Here’s what war with North Korea would look like (“A full-blown war with North Korea wouldn’t be as bad as you think. It would be much, much worse.”)
• Gillibrand: If Trump wants due process, we’ll have hearings on allegations against him
• Rob Porter Is a National Security Scandal, Too (“A morally compromised White House staffer may have had access to America’s top secrets. Chief of Staff John Kelly has some explaining to do.” The same people who screamed about Hillary’s emails are notably quiet now, despite FAR worse, more damaging crap by the Trumpsters.)
• The Democrats’ secret weapon to take back statehouses (“The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is pumping money and infrastructure into an array of legislative races. Special election results suggest it’s paying off.”
  It’s about friggin’ time.)
• EPA chief’s questions about climate science draw new scrutiny (Pruitt is a disgrace not just to America, but to science and to humanity.)
• I Am the Very Model of a New York Times Contrarian (“I am the very model of a New York Times contrarian, My intellect is polished but my soul’s authoritarian, From Allen down to Exxon, bullies’ water I am carrying, Except for Donald Trump’s, because I find him a vulgarian.”)
• The ‘Ivanka Trump of North Korea’ captivates people in the South at the Olympics
• Fox News host Jeanine Pirro blames Barack Obama for Rob Porter wife-beating scandal (Just when you think these people can’t get more demented, racist, etc…)
• ‘Obstruction of justice’: Trump faces heavy criticism for breaking promise to release Dem memo (Definitely nail Trump on obstruction of justice.)
• Northam: Medicaid expansion is key to rural economic development (“Fortunately, there are things we can do to improve opportunity in rural Virginia. We can invest in workforce development training. We can expand Medicaid and improve access to broadband internet; improve the quality of our schools and ensure Virginia kids can access our best universities; make Virginia a place people want to build businesses; upgrade our infrastructure, like our roads and bridges; and address the opioid epidemic head on.”)
• Will Sessoms: Offshore drilling would be bad for Virginia (“…the Department of Defense has performed a very clear and compelling analysis of the adverse impact to any oil and gas development activities in the vast majority of the area off the coast of Virginia and in the entire mid-Atlantic.”)
• Virginia takes one small step toward fairer justice (“We can’t help, though, but be a bit disappointed that a better bargain wasn’t reached. A threshold of $500 would still keep Virginia behind most states and still doesn’t account for inflation. Many states, including neighboring Maryland and North Carolina, have a threshold of $1,000, and some have thresholds as high as $2,500.”)
• After November’s tumult, Va.’s new speaker seeks footing in remade House (The newspaper headline euphemism for “wipeout” now is “tumult?” LOL)
• Editorial: Bipartisanship makes a comeback in Richmond (If they expand Medicaid, that would be awesome, but let’s not get carried away and let’s also stay focused on winning back the House of Delegates and State Senate in 2019!)
• The return of compromise in Virginia politics (I guess newspaper editorial boards want to appeal to both Republicans and Democrats, because they love pounding on the bipartisanship drum.)
• The quiet hints about expanding Medicaid in Virginia (We need full expansion – and we needed it yesterday.)
• Schapiro: A month in, the hard work begins (“Stripped of a lopsided majority in the House that allowed Republicans to ram through social legislation prized by conservatives — and boast about it — the GOP now plays a largely defensive game, blocking these highly symbolic Democratic measures in committee, an often-less visible setting.”)
• Divided by party, united by desperation, lawmakers seek help for poorest areas (Republicans like Morefield should vote to expand Medicaid coverage, then.)
• Editorial: Another billionaire squares off against Dominion (Another mindless, knee-jerk, faithful servant pro-Dominion editorial by the right-wing Republican Times-Disgrace editorial board.)
• A victory for we the people (“We scored a win in Richmond on Friday. Not this Editorial Board, though we certainly take satisfaction. But the victory is for all citizens of Virginia. Bills passed through both the House of Delegates and the state Senate that make our Freedom of Information Act stronger and more vibrant.”)
• On the quiet Eastern Shore of Virginia, residents think they have a chicken problem (“Regardless of what’s behind it, two years into the buildup, the environmental threats from the houses still aren’t getting the attention they deserve, [Jay] Ford and others say.”)
• Virginia Tech rallies late to stun No. 2 Virginia in overtime
• Agee and Treacy: Transforming Southwest Virginia: Higher education must lead (“Nancy Howell Agee and Dennis Treacy Agee is President and CEO of the Carilion Clinic. Treacy is immediate Past Chairman of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.”)
• Editorial: Reappraising the Burcham era in Roanoke city government
• Atlantic Coast Pipeline files access suit against Nelson County family
• Soggy Sunday turns milder by afternoon; trending colder again tomorrow into Tuesday