Saturday News: RIP George HW Bush; “A Kindler, Gentler Republican President Is Dead”; “Strongmen strut their stuff on G20 stage”; “Northam stumbles over the details – but at what cost?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Viriginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, December 1.

• President who led U.S. as Cold War ended dies at 94 (George HW Bush was the kind of Republican president we got when we still had a relatively sane Republican Party. Although remember that part of the reason he lost in 1992 was due to his heresy of – gasp! – raising taxes to help balance the budget. You know, actual fiscal conservatism, as opposed to the current Republican Party’s fake kind. Anyway, RIP George HW Bush.)
• George H.W. Bush, Who Steered Nation Through Turbulent Era, Dies at 94 (“Mr. Bush, a Republican, was the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd. He was the last of the World War II generation to occupy the Oval Office. His one-term presidency during the tumultuous period at the end of the Cold War capped four decades in public service.”)
• ‘A Man of the Highest Character:’ Praise Pours In for George H.W. Bush
• At G-20, Trump sees ‘some good signs’ for cease-fire in tariff war with China
• Mexico leftist takes power torn between principles and pragmatism
• Strongmen strut their stuff on G20 stage (“Russian leader and Saudi crown prince set tone with jovial greeting.” Appalling.)
• The two-syllable word that summed up George H.W. Bush — in the best way (“Prudent”)
• George H.W. Bush, embodiment of an older Republican Party, is dead. RIP.
• A Kindler, Gentler Republican President Is Dead (“And so is everything he represented about the office.” There’s certainly nothing kindler or gentler – or prudent – about today’s extreme Republican Party.)
• The Overlooked President (“We should thank George H.W. Bush for many of the successes attributed to Reagan and Clinton.”)
• Devin Nunes protected Roger Stone and Donald Trump Jr. from Mueller probe: Democrats won’t (“Outgoing House Intelligence chair, loyal Trump lackey and less-than-lovable buffoon is finally irrelevant”)
• Trump sure likes our clean air and water. I wonder how it got that way. (“Hint: Previous administrations didn’t ignore environmental science.”)
• Trump’s racist policies have been even worse than we feared (“Trump’s racial animosity can’t get any more obvious than his choice of Thomas Farr to be a District Court judge in North Carolina.”)
• Flake: Mueller bill has votes to pass Senate (Anyone who opposes this is fundamentally opposed to the rule of law in America.)
• Zinke responds to ethics criticism by calling Democratic lawmaker a drunk (Zinke is utterly corrupt.)
• Bernie Sanders is right: TV networks need to do a much better job of covering climate change
• Cohen believed Trump would pardon him, but then things changed
• Trump Fund-Raiser Received Laundered Foreign Money, Prosecutors Say
• Trump desperately tries to spin damning revelations of his Russian business ties (“‘I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA,’ he tweeted last year.”)
• Pence posts photo with law enforcement officer wearing patch associated with QAnon (F’ed up.)
• This North Carolina Election Stinks to High Heaven (“It’s more evidence we need a national system of elections.”
• North Carolina Race Roiled by Claims Voter Fraud — But Not the Kind the GOP Worries About (As usual, Republicans do the bad/illegal crap they falsely claim Democrats of doing. Psychological “projection” anyone?)
• Here’s a timeline of Trump denying doing the thing he just admitted to doing (“I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away.”)
• Kevin McCarthy Rises to Power at the Expense of His Defeated California Colleagues
• Climate denier Darrell Issa’s successor in Congress supports Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal (“Rep.-elect Mike Levin’s backing of bold climate action illustrates impact of midterm elections.”)
• Rep. Goodlatte: Comey’s Need For Public Hearing Is A “Farce” (Actually, it’s Bob BADlatte who’s the “farce.” Good riddance.)
• New Virginia Reps Get Crash Course in Congress
• Spanberger voted ‘no’ on Pelosi in caucus vote, as she pledged (OK, but now the choice is – as Mark Shields pointed out last night on the PBS NewsHour – between a) Nancy Pelosi; b) Kevin McCarthy for Speaker. This is a no brainer.)
• Dominion Energy’s dominion over Virginia goes beyond Ralph Northam (Excellent LTE by Stacy Lovelace of Midlothian.)
• Northam’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline interference disappointing, but not really surprising (“There just aren’t enough people to make Northam or others in the state government care about them more than they care about Dominion. Dominion’s influence is pervasive, and it’s people like Northam who reliably do their bidding.”)
• Governor won’t ‘seat’ new air board members, but still plans to swear them in, precluding participation of former members (Can Northam et al be any more blatant in trying to force the Air Board to do Dominion’s bidding???)
• Schapiro: Northam stumbles over the details – but at what cost? (A typical Jeff Schapiro column – some good analysis/insights, but also some weird stuff, like calling environmentalists the “deep-pocketed, high-decibel clean air-water-and-soil crowd.” Uh, alrighty. It’s also not true, apparently, that the Virginia NAACP president is “now friendlier to the project.” And it’s definitely not true anymore that “the new members won’t be sworn in until after the vote on the permit.” On that latter point, see the previous news item.)
• Rep. Don Beyer Calls For Swift Action On Legislation To Block Seismic Airgun Blasting
• Federal permits issued for Atlantic seismic testing, including along Virginia coast (Absolutely inexcusable to harm sea creatures – whales, dolphins, etc. – to explore for yet MORE fossil fuels, at a time when the science tells us we need to get OFF of fossil fuels on an emergency basis.)
• Editorial: Virginia’s entitlement spending ramps up (This must be a Jim Bacon editorial at the Republican Times-Disgrace, as he’s always railing against Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.)
• Dominion Energy Tried to Use the Virginia NAACP as a Pawn. We’re Not Having It.
• BREAKING: NAACP President Kevin Chandler Reaffirms Opposition to Mountain Valley & Atlantic Coast Pipelines, Union Hill Compressor Station, Southside Connector
• Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League Requests Investigation of Gov. Northam by VA Inspector General Re: Air Board Firings, Threats to Advisory Council on Environmental Justice
• Rep.-Elect Ben Cline Wins Raucous Office Lottery
• Liberty University students create independent news outlet
• UPDATED: Photographer who captured moment of Charlottesville crash, survivors testify at James Fields’ murder trial
• Our View: Moving USDA, other federal offices to SW Va. makes sense (I’d keep federal agencies like the Economic Research Service in the heart of the nation’s capitol.)
• Norfolk man gets 10 years for killing man who said he was gay
• Redskins’ Doug Williams apologizes for radio interview about Reuben Foster (This is a reeking cesspool of a franchise, starting with Dan Snyder, continuing on down with Bruce Allen, and including one potential player who’s a domestic abuser and another actual player who beats his kid.)
• Occasional rain today and tonight; warmer tomorrow into early next weekfau