by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, September 14.
- ‘Mr. President. SHUT UP’: Florida Republicans pan Trump’s Puerto Rico conspiracy
- Republicans who never investigated Puerto Rico deaths are now trying to look serious on the issue (“The GOP has been so busy feeding the base by chasing conspiracy theories, they couldn’t bother to check into why 3,000 Americans died.”)
- Media’s coverage of Trump’s Puerto Rico conspiracy theory was a failure (“Lies are not ‘both sides’ issues.”)
- Trump says Florence is just ‘Mother Nature.’ A stunning new climate study says he’s wrong. (“Climate change to supercharge Florence’s worst rainfall by more than 50 percent, researchers find.”)
- Trump’s Negligence Is Intent When It Comes to Puerto Rico (“Another remarkable day for the American presidency.”)
- Trump creates political storm with false claim on Puerto Rico hurricane death toll
- Trump Obsessed With Avoiding His Own ‘Katrina Moment’ (“From planning for Florence to post-spinning Maria, the president deeply fears looking like Bush.”)
- Ocasio-Cortez slams Trump’s Puerto Rico comments: ‘My own grandfather died’
- As a New Hurricane Roars In, Trump Quarrels Over the Last One (How demented is Trump – and anyone who still defends him? Try this: “While delivering forceful messages of warning and reassurance, Mr. Trump has also been busy awarding himself good grades for past hurricanes and even accusing opponents of inventing a death toll ‘to make me look as bad as possible.'”
- Hurricane Florence nears landfall as it slams North Carolina with ‘life-threatening’ rainfall, flooding and structural damage
- Gas Explosions Erupt at Dozens of Homes in Andover and Lawrence, Mass. (Ah yes, “clean,” “safe” natural gas. Note that energy efficiency, solar and wind don’t blow up houses.)
- Bitter Senate fight to confirm Kavanaugh plunges deeper into chaos over letter
- Dianne Feinstein Refers a Kavanaugh Matter to Federal Investigators
- Brett Kavanaugh misled the Senate under oath. I cannot support his nomination.
- “None of Them Is Where the President Is”: It’s Trump vs. Trumpworld Over North Korea (“Is this what today’s ‘resistance’ looks like inside the Trump Administration?”)
- Forecasting the race for the Senate (Right now, 538 gives Dems a 32% chance of taking back the US Senate, with another 17% shot at a 50/50 Senate, adding up to a 49% chance of 50/50 or better.)
- Trump’s Approval Rating Is Down. Mueller’s Is Up. Is There A Connection?
- Michael Avenatti: The Case for Indicting the President (“Justice Department lawyers have said a sitting president cannot be indicted. It’s time to test that proposition by bringing an indictment that can be reviewed by the Supreme Court.”)
- Everyone Knows What Brett Kavanaugh Means By ‘Abortion-Inducing Drugs’ (“More skeletons are emerging from his closet.
- Days of Fear, Years of Obstruction (“Why did the slump last so long? Cynical, bad-faith Republican politics.”)
- 17 Bipartisan Governors Vow to Fight Climate Change—and President Trump (“The group, whose states represent half of U.S. GDP, pledged $1.4 billion to support electric cars, plus a new set of policies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.”)
- Obama blasts ‘demagogues’ at Ohio political rally (“None of this is normal.”)
- Barack Obama Says Not Voting in the 2018 Midterm Elections Is ‘Dangerous’
- Congress dares Trump to shut down the government in new spending deal (“Spending leaders from both parties detailed the strategy for the first time Thursday, just 17 days before government spending runs out. The Senate is expected to easily approve the package next week.”)
- Paul Manafort and special counsel reach tentative plea deal: Sources
- Manafort reaches ‘tentative’ plea deal with Mueller: report
- The biggest threat to the GOP majority no one’s talking about (“Forty-four House Republicans are heading for the exits, and almost half of their seats have become top Democratic targets.”)
- Cuomo sails to primary victory, with eyes to the White House (“Now as Cuomo positions himself for a possible 2020 presidential run, he’ll do so as the head of New York’s sizable Democratic majority in a state that fashions itself as a leader in challenging Trump’s actions to push the country to the right.”)
- The Establishment Strikes Back in New York (“Governor Andrew Cuomo brought the full weight of his incumbency to bear in his campaign against activist Cynthia Nixon. In the end, he got the blowout he wanted.”)
- Gov. Andrew Cuomo Easily Defeats Cynthia Nixon in New York Primary
- Andrew Cuomo has won himself another term, but his presidential aspirations are dead (“He zigged right when the party was zagging left.”)
- Democratic Insurgents Topple 6 New York Senate Incumbents (“Years of anger at a group of Democratic state senators who had collaborated with Republicans boiled over on Thursday, as primary voters ousted nearly all of them in favor of challengers who had called them traitors and sham progressives.” We need to do some of this in Virginia, with people like Dick Saslaw, who I’ve heard literally checks first with Republican leader Tommy Norment to see how the Democratic caucus should vote on certain issues.)
- Cynthia Nixon camp partially blames high turnout for loss (WTF??? Also, a double WTF for “Moments after she castigated spending leading to high voter turnout, Nixon’s campaign also blamed New York election laws for low voter turnout.”)
- Letitia James Wins Attorney General Primary, Defeating 3 Rivals
- New York Primaries Show Elections Are Still Won on the Ground, Not Online
- Oops! Potential illegal coordination between NRA and Republican candidate caught on tape (“Matt Rosendale claimed he was promised NRA support. Then the NRA spent over $400,000.”)
- Florida GOP officials are running a private conspiracy theory Facebook group (“The group ‘Florida Republicans United’ has trafficked in conspiracy theories about the Parkland, FL, school shooting and the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA “)
- Stephen Colbert Goes Off on Trump’s ‘Sickening’ Hurricane Maria Tweets (“The ‘Late Show’ host said it was ‘hard to imagine anything more horrible’ than the Puerto Rican death toll—until he saw Trump’s tweets about it.”)
- A 2019 Pay Raise Appears Likely, But Isn’t a Done Deal
- Sen. Warner on Russia report: “I thought we would be done before this”
- Top Intel Dem Mark Warner expects bipartisan support for social media regulations
- Cockburn, Riggleman to debate at U.Va. later this month (“Batten professors will moderate the debate between candidates, who are running in an increasingly-competitive district”)
- Shaun Brown loses bid to stay on congressional ballot, but she’ll keep fighting (Just go away.)
- Sen. Tim Kaine visits FEMA HQ, warns of Hurricane Florence’s threat
- Editorial: Trouble from rising seas, no matter the weather (Right, which means the absolute LAST thing we want to be doing in Virginia is building NEW fossil fuel infrastructure, like the ACP and MVP. That is bonkers.)
- Amid protests and construction, lawyer for Rockwool factory threatens lawsuit
- ABC and Va. Lottery, which delivered more than $1 billion in revenue last year, have never gotten a full review by legislative commission
- VRS awards $5.5 million in bonuses to investment staff, ponders changes in policy
- Virginia officials make final preparations for Hurricane Florence and begin diverting aid to Carolinas
- Hampton Roads remains under coastal flood warning; Gov. Northam advises Virginians to stay off the road as Hurricane Florence approaches landfall
- Sun Gazette endorsement: Don Beyer in the 8th District (Even the Chamber of Commerce Republicans at the Sun Gazette are going with Beyer, although of course they have to throw in right-wing concern trolling like “Should Democrats find themselves in control of the House of Representatives in 2019, he may find himself part of a majority that, despite his own seriousness of purpose, is aggressively leftist and out of step with real-life concerns of the public – which could make it a very short run as the majority, indeed.”)
- Richmond councilwoman proposes real estate tax deferral program for homeowners whose assessments soar
- Williams: Richmond’s tax incentive program is promoting housing inequity
- Stolen: Two-and-a-half tons of grapes from the vines of a Virginia vineyard
- Periodic showers or a storm today, lower rain chances this weekend
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