Tuesday News: Dems +14 in New Poll; Kavanaugh Hearings Begin; Tim Kaine Speaks at Buena Vista

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, for Tuesday, September 4.

• Trump’s anti-Palestinian agenda will ultimately hurt Israel (Agreed.)
• As crisis envelops Catholic Church, is Pope Francis facing a ‘watershed moment’?
• Poll: Democrats regain clear advantage in midterms shaping up as referendum on President Trump
• Energized against Donald Trump, Democrats reach +14 in the midterms (“Rebounding from a tighter contest in the spring, Democratic House candidates now lead their Republican opponents nationally by 52-38 percent among registered voters in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll – a lead that holds up across a range of likely voter models.”)
• Taliban Announce: Founder Of Much-Feared Haqqani Network Dies At 72 (Good riddance.)
• Democrats vow ‘sparks will fly’ over Trump’s Supreme Court pick
• In California, Facts and Science Still Matter (“Jerry Brown’s California is moving toward carbon-free electricity as President Trump’s Washington beds down with the fossil fuel lobby. We stand with California.”)
• As a Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh will present an immediate threat to women’s rights
• The Fights Democrats Will Pick During the Kavanaugh Hearings (“This is Democrats’ last chance to make a scene. What will they do?”)
• Why Aren’t Democrats Waging an All-Out War to Stop Kavanaugh’s Confirmation? (They don’t have the votes, unfortunately, to stop Kavanaugh, unless all-talk-no-action Republicans like Jeff Flake actually DO something for a change.)
• Stakes are high for Kavanaugh, Supreme Court, as confirmation hearings begin
• Why Trump is so frantic right now (“Scrutiny is his kryptonite.”)
• Congressional Republicans Don’t Even Pretend to Stand up to Trump Anymore
• New Yorker Festival Pulls Steve Bannon as Headliner Following High-Profile Dropouts
• Trump’s plan to freeze federal pay is nothing but government-bashing (“Obama had to resort to austerity measures, but it was during a severe economic downturn.” And Obama was wrong about this, actually.)
• 5 topics likely to come up as Kavanaugh hearing begins
• Senate given 42,000 pages of Kavanaugh documents, Schumer says (“The White House said Friday that it would not be releasing 100,000 Kavanaugh’s records from the Bush White House on the basis of presidential privilege.” What a pathetic joke.)
• Trump’s Top TV Advisers Keep Telling Him: Fire the ‘Shill’ Jeff Sessions Now (“The drumbeat has become deafening and, unfortunately for the beleaguered attorney general, it’s Trump’s favorite pundits making all the noise.”)
• Trump Could ‘Flip’ the Supreme Court. His
  Impact on the Lower Courts Is Less Clear. (“So far, he has filled 60 seats on the federal district courts, the courts of appeals and the Supreme Court…He has strengthened the existing conservative majorities on four courts, but eight courts still count a majority of judges who were appointed by Democratic presidents. The 11th Circuit is now an even split.”)
• Hello, Justice Kavanaugh. Farewell, Roe. (“While a majority of Democratic senators have already voiced their hostility to Kavanaugh, their base has utterly failed to mount a vigorous, sustained opposition to his nomination. If, today, liberals could channel a fraction of the outrage they will feel after Kavanaugh overturns Roe, they would have a shot at keeping him off the court. Instead, their relative apathy toward his impending confirmation has likely doomed reproductive rights for at least a generation.” I hate to say it, but the liberal/progressive “base” really doesn’t understand how important the courts are. The right-wing base DOES.)
• GOP leaders scramble to avoid pre-Election Day shutdown (“The president’s unpredictability could sabotage Republicans’ best efforts to keep the government open.”)
• Republican senator slams Trump’s DOJ attack: US ‘not some banana republic’ (It WILL BE a “banana republic” unless Republicans like Sasse stand up to Trump.)
• Trump blasts Sessions over criminal charges against GOP lawmakers (Translation: Trump blasts the rule of law.)
• Fox News’ Brit Hume to Trump: Sessions’s job ‘is not to play goalie for a president’
• Mourning McCain, and America (“The bipartisan establishment is gone. Is it O.K. to miss it?”)
• Election 2018: See the 12 Democratic and 90 Republican House Seats in Play
• It’s Time for the Press to Stop Complaining—And to Start Fighting Back (“A nearly 50-year campaign of vilification, inspired by Fox News’s Roger Ailes, has left many Americans distrustful of media outlets. Now, journalists need to speak up for their work.”)
• The Empty Right-Wing Hysteria Over Colin Kaepernick’s Nike Ad Campaign (“Nike has marked the 30th anniversary of ‘Just Do It’ with a huge ad campaign around exiled NFL player-activist Colin Kaepernick. Those on the right have not taken it well.”)
• Trump retweets GOP Senate candidate upset by federal pay freeze (Basically, if for some crazy reason you loooove Trump, then Corey Stewart’s your guy. If not, then vote Kaine!)
• ‘Every ad makes me like Beto more’: Ted Cruz’s latest attack on Beto O’Rourke for swearing massively backfires
• The gaping dental gap: As Virginia prepares to expand Medicaid, thousands still lack access to dental care
• In Va., Kaine and Stewart offer differing views on the opioid crisis (“Stewart, chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, says Medicaid is to blame…But he offers flimsy evidence to support his claims.” Corey’s completely bonkers.)
• Candidates put politics on parade in Buena Vista on Labor Day
• Photos: Buena Vista’s annual Labor Day parade and political speeches
• Buena Vista Labor Day parade marks the beginning of Virginia campaign season (Actually, the campaign has been going on for months.)
• 24/7 vigilance, a live-in lawyer and embracing activism: two months of claiming sanctuary in a Richmond church’s basement
• Rep. Bobby Scott hosts 42nd Labor Day cookout
• Editorial: Greater caution needed on Virginia Beach conflicts
• Hot and humid week, some relief by Friday and weekend