Saturday News: “Trump says white nationalism is not a rising threat”; The “extreme anti-immigrant, white supremacist ideology of the suspected Australian gunman is not new”; “The New Zealand shooter called immigrants “invaders.” Hours later, so did Trump.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, March 16.

• Students ‘strike for climate’ across the United States
• Global Climate Strike: Students around the world protest climate inaction
• Students Lead a Worldwide Climate Strike. Will Adults Listen?
• Trump says white nationalism is not a rising threat after New Zealand attacks: ‘It’s a small group of people’
• The Roots of the Christchurch Massacre (“All those who have helped to spread the worldwide myth that Muslims are a threat have blood on their hands.”)
• Trump sends the wrong message on New Zealand. World leaders must denounce the attack. (“Trump, who could not bring himself to criticize the white nationalists in Charlottesville who chanted that minorities (Jews, in that case) would ‘not replace us,’ on Friday said he doesn’t regard white nationalism as a problem. That’s the wrong message. Instead, he ought to state unambiguously that the New Zealand suspect’s ‘replacement’ ideology is an unacceptable trope in civilized discourse.” Yep, except that Trump himself is a white nationalist who believes this racist, dangerous crap about immigrant “invasions” and whatever.)
• The New Zealand shooter called immigrants “invaders.” Hours later, so did Trump. (“The alleged shooter rambled about immigrants in his manifesto. Trump mentioned it during a veto ceremony.”)
• A short history of President Trump’s anti-Muslim bigotry
• Fewer Than 1 In 5 FBI Terror Cases Target White Supremacists, Stats Show (“Law enforcement veterans say the slaughter in Christchurch highlights the discrepancy between how the west treats violence committed by Muslims and violence committed by whites.”)
• The New Zealand shooter’s manifesto shows how white nationalist rhetoric spreads (“The same language featured in the alleged gunman’s manifesto is seen in white nationalist writings and outlets around the world.” And coming from Donald Trump.)
• The dark history of the New Zealand killer’s ‘great replacement’ (“You’ve heard this terrorist’s words before, right from the mouths of influential right-wing figures.”)
• How the Suspected New Zealand Gunman Weaponized the Internet (“Social media giants became conduits for white nationalist recruitment.”)
• After New Zealand Attacks, Muslim-Americans Call For Action Against Rising Bigotry
• After a far-right gunman massacres Muslims in Christchurch, a Fox analyst warns of “extremists on all sides” (“Walid Phares: ‘New Zealand now has joined the community of probably 100 countries … that are fighting terrorism from any side and all sides. Mosques, churches have been attacked by extremists on all sides.'”)
• The New Zealand Attack Is Proof That White Supremacy Is an International Terrorist Threat (“It stretches from Christchurch to Pittsburgh and extends out in every direction.”)
• U.S. sees steady rise in violence by white supremacists
• ‘Our Gun Laws Will Change’ After 49 Die In Shootings At Mosques, New Zealand PM Says
• A Mass Murder of, and for, the Internet
• The Memo: Questions sharpen for Trump after New Zealand massacre
• GOP congressman releases statement that appears sympathetic to the New Zealand shooter’s motives (“Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) suggests the New Zealand shooter had reasonable concerns about immigrants.” Gohmert is one of the stupidest and nastiest of all the stupid, nasty Republicans in Congress.)
• New Evidence in Ethiopian 737 Crash Points to Connection to Earlier Disaster
• Trump just used his first-ever veto to save his national emergency (“The fight over the emergency now heads to the courts.”)
• Dems prepare next steps after Trump’s veto (“Democrats are planning a vote that aims to override President Trump’s veto of legislation blocking his emergency declaration, an effort that’s all but certain to fail.”)
• Senate Republicans stand up to Trump? Hardly — they capitulated to the right (“It may appear that GOP senators stood up against Trump this week. In reality, they’re trying to save their skins”)
• The Senate’s Vote Against Trump Exposes the Fault Lines for 2020
• Joaquin Castro “All But Certain” to Challenge John Cornyn for U.S. Senate, Source Says (“The move would profoundly change the dynamics of the 2020 campaign and put Texas squarely on center stage, with two Texans already in the Democratic primary race and Joaquin taking on a longtime Republican senator who many see as vulnerable, especially during a presidential election year.”)
• Republicans really hate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There’s a lesson there for 2020. (“…conservative media are almost obsessed with Ocasio-Cortez and what a villain she is…The lesson in that story is that it doesn’t matter which of the Democratic candidates for president now looks as though they might be able to appeal to Republicans, because none of them will. It won’t matter who they are or where they come from or what kind of talent they have. Once they’re run through the conservative media wringer, everyone on the right will despise them.”)
• Beto O’Rourke apologizes for jokes about wife, says he has benefited from ‘white privilege’
• O’Rourke ‘not … proud’ of teenage murder fantasy writing (Fake “controversy”)
• ‘Not one woman got that kind of coverage’: Beto backlash begins (That’s not Beto O’Rourke’s fault.)
• One year in, Facebook’s big algorithm change has spurred an angry, Fox News-dominated — and very engaged! — News Feed (In short, Facebook has massively failed.)
• Trump’s Beto Fixation (“In goading O’Rourke, Trump appears yet again to be operating more by instinct than any general-election math. He sees in the 46-year-old Texan a fellow creation of social media—and a rival in need of elimination.”)
• Zuckerberg’s Bad Week Gets Worse With Live-Streamed Shooting (“Facebook video of New Zealand killings adds fuel to critics. Service outage, executive departures, criminal probe pile up”)
• Chris Wallace: No Way Trump Will Win In 2020 With Just His Base (“And that seems to be all the president cares about now, Wallace tells Fox News’ Shepard Smith.”)
• Amy Klobuchar: Hell Yes, I’m a Tough Boss—and I’ll Abuse Putin, Too (Uh…no.)
• Bernie Sanders’ staffers unionize in first for presidential campaign
• Political Analysis for Friday, March 15, 2019
• Where Do The Rape Allegations Against Corey Maggette And Justin Fairfax Go From Here? (“…in the weeks since Watson’s accusations were made public, the case has reached a strange standstill. It’s unclear what, if anything, happens next.”)
• Virginia Dems Need to Stop Going on Right-Wing Shows, Using Right-Wing Framing Like “Tax Relief” (“We have a fundamental problem when we allow Republicans to frame every debate.”)
• Students Strike Because Politicians Fail Climate Math (“Governor Ralph Northam is a prime example of a cheater on his climate math exam”)
• The Chesapeake Bay is thriving. Trump’s proposal to slash funding would bring a dramatic backslide, experts say. (Trump is evil and must be stopped, part infinity.)
• After four years of litigation, Virginia racial gerrymandering case heads to Supreme Court for one more battle
• Schapiro: Another casualty of Northam exposure – Va. presidential race
• Amazon HQ2 Runs Into Community Activists in Virginia, Too (“Unlike in New York, protesters aren’t expected to derail the deal that has been smooth sailing in Crystal City”)
• Open-records activists question Amazon-Arlington disclosure clause
• Video, Photos: Rep. Gerry Connolly’s St. Patrick’s Day Fete 2019; Speeches by County Board Chair Candidates; Straw Poll Results (“Joe Biden #1, Kamala Harris #2, Beto O’Rourke #3 in 2020 straw poll; Jeff McKay #1, Alicia Plerhoples #2 in Fairfax County Board Chair straw poll”)
• Muslims in Richmond region focus on prayer, security concerns after New Zealand attack
• Welcome Back to the VAPLAN Legislative Scorecard!
• Federal judge denies Shaun Brown a new trial in fraud case
• Northam signs legislation amending student privacy law
• Editorial: Northam’s reading list, part 3 (Is there any indication that Northam is reading any of these books?)
• Virginia Department of Elections offers campaign finance training on Peninsula
• Endorsement: Rachna Sizemore Heizer for Fairfax County Public School Board (At-Large)
• CNU season ends in Final Four (“Swarthmore knocked out the Captains 70-63 in the NCAA Division III semifinals.” Still, great season for the team, where my nephew is a coach.)
• Cooler temperatures plus a chilly breeze today, and we’re still watching for some Sunday night snowflakes