Wednesday News: Kerry “Likens Global Inaction to a ‘Suicide Pact’”; “US Capitol rioters ‘came prepared for war’, Senate hears in testimony”; “Joe Biden Wants to Repair America. Will Joe Manchin Let Him?”; “Republican-backed voting curbs set for U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 24.

• Big Shipments to Africa Ramp Up Global Vaccine Drive
• Europe Seeks Stronger Protection for Economy From Climate Risks
• Coup in Myanmar: growing protest movement defies the military
• UK’s leader warns climate change threatens world security (Big time.)
• Scoop: Biden will call Saudi king ahead of damning report
• Facebook’s Tussle With Australia Over News Is Just the Beginning (“Other nations have expressed frustration with Facebook’s tradition of not paying for news posted to its platform”)
• Justin Trudeau says US leadership has been ‘sorely missed’ during first meeting with Biden (“Canadian PM congratulates US president on rejoining Paris accord, saying ‘it’s nice when the Americans are not pulling out all the references to climate change’”)
• Georgian opposition leader arrested, deepening the political crisis in the South Caucasus country
• Brazil’s Bolsonaro Starts a Populist Death Spiral
• “Tidal wave” of new wind and solar will force early coal plant closures
• Biden’s Climate Envoy, at U.N., Likens Global Inaction to a ‘Suicide Pact’ (Correct.)
• Biden’s Strongest Climate Allies Are Outside Washington
• CNN exclusive: A solar panel in space is collecting energy that could one day be beamed to anywhere on Earth
• Biden to Address Chip Shortages, Supply-Chain Problems With Executive Action
• A Simple Rule of Thumb for Knowing When the Pandemic Is Over
• The growing evidence that the Covid-19 vaccines can reduce transmission, explained
• California’s coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: ‘The devil is already here’
• Anthony Fauci Reveals What Still Baffles Him About The COVID-19 Pandemic
• Powell says inflation is still ‘soft’ and the Fed is committed to current policy
• ‘Bad politics for them’: GOP sneers at Dem Covid bill (“If there’s any risk of political blowback for lining up against Covid aid that polls well with the public, most Republicans aren’t seeing it.”)
• First on CNN: Biden’s Covid plan gets backing from more than 150 top business leaders
• FBI alert about possible ‘war’ against Congress reached D.C. and Capitol Police on eve of attack, deepening security questions (Something’s really f’ed up here.)
• Former Capitol security officials blame lapses in intelligence for deadly Jan. 6 riot
• ‘You can’t just push send’: 20 years after 9/11, FBI accused of intel failure before Capitol riot
• Takeaways from the Senate hearing on the US Capitol attack
• The Senate’s first hearing on the Jan. 6 riot offered good questions — and few answers
• The Justice Department is facing a tough climb trying to keep Capitol rioters locked up
• US Capitol rioters ‘came prepared for war’, Senate hears in testimony (“First congressional hearing on attack comes day after Merrick Garland said he would expand investigation into 6 January assault”)
• The Republicans Finally Face Merrick Garland—and Act as if They Were the Ones Unfairly Treated (Republicans are always the “victims,” eh?)
• Biden shifts his operation to DNC ahead of 2022 midterm elections
• Can we have unity when Republicans thrive on alienation? (“One party is checking out of the American experience.”)
• With Joe Biden, we finally have a mourner in chief again (“The president speaks the language of civic religion.”)
• US universities hit by protests over cuts, tuition, right to unionize
• Merrick Garland teaches the country about racism (“Unlike his inquisitors, Garland seems to understand what equal justice under the law means.”)
• McConnell to support Garland for attorney general
• Liz Cheney calls on Republicans to “make clear we aren’t the party of white supremacy” (The problem is, they actually ARE!)
• Life amid the ruins of QAnon: ‘I wanted my family back’ (“An epidemic of conspiracy theories, fanned by social media and self-serving politicians, is tearing families apart.”)
• NY Prosecutors Are Looking at Don Jr. in Trump Biz Probe
• ‘Climate Change’ Is Back, ‘Illegal Alien’ Is Out. New Administration Changes the Language of Government.
• Retired N.Y.P.D. Officer Who Guarded City Hall Charged in Capitol Riot
• GOP senator pushes lie that police caused Capitol insurrection (Ron Johnson is batshit.)
• Senate Republicans say Interior pick Deb Haaland has “radical views” on Big Oil (“She does — and that’s a good thing.” It’s not “radical” to call out Big Oil for destroying the planet.)
• I’m Willing to Bet No Cabinet Nominee Has Ever Begun Their Opening Statement Like Deb Haaland Did
• Vehement opposition to Deb Haaland ‘motivated by something other than her record’
• Exclusive: Bernie ready to roll on roads
• The opposition to confirming Neera Tanden is based on a lie
• The people concerned about Neera Tanden’s incivility sure didn’t seem to mind the Trump era’s
• Why state legislatures are still very white — and very male (Virginia House Dems – and Senate Dems to a lesser extent – are diverse. Virginia House and Senate Republicans are overwhelmingly white and male.)
• Romney predicts Trump would win the 2024 G.O.P. nomination if he ran for president.
• Manchin flexes muscle in 50-50 Senate
• Joe Biden Wants to Repair America. Will Joe Manchin Let Him? (“From the filibuster to the minimum wage to cabinet nominees, Washington’s other Democratic Joe has emerged as a singular obstacle to the president’s agenda.”)
• ‘We’ve been electrified’: after success in Georgia, Black organizers look to transform the south (“Black women who powered Democrats to stunning win in Georgia have been fielding calls from other states eager to learn”)
• Pence speaks highly of Trump in meeting and plans to launch a political group (Pathetic.)
• Republican-backed voting curbs set for U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny (This is not going to be good.)
• Dominion’s latest election suit, for $1.3 billion against MyPillow’s Lindell, is ‘definitely not the last,’ CEO says
• One America News clashes again with White House correspondents over Trump-approved camera tent
• No Police Officers Are Charged in Death of Daniel Prude (Basically, it seems like police are never charged for anything.)
• DeJoy set for grilling by House Oversight panel
• The GOP’s Ayn Rand death cult: Trump’s party is literally killing the American people (“Imagining themselves as virile heroes from Ayn Rand’s terrible books, Republicans have become the pro-death party”)
• The Trump era accelerated right-wing media’s descent into a fact-free, “hoax-ified” future (“Untethered from reality, conservative media tell audiences not to trust their lying eyes”)
• Fox prime time marks the 500,000th U.S. pandemic death with the same lies that helped get us there
• It’s Bigger than Fox News: Time for Mainstream Journalism to Reckon with Monetizing Disinformation and Eroding Truth
• The Sunday Shows Are Hopelessly Broken (“They are credulous, old-fashioned, and totally unprepared to deal with a radicalized Republican Party.” They are complete crap.)
• Inside the new $65 million push from progressives to compete with conservative media (“McGowan has been a controversial figure in Democratic politics ever since news emerged of the link between Acronym and Shadow, the startup responsible for bungling the 2020 Democratic Iowa caucuses. McGowan’s new effort is sure to raise a new round of big-picture questions about the future of Democratic media — and what rules of the road progressives should heed in the post-Trump era.”)
• ERCOT board members who live outside of Texas are resigning in the aftermath of the power outage, winter storm
• Texas disaster puts Beto O’Rourke back in business(“The onetime Democratic sensation has new political life — and, perhaps, hope for the governorship.”)
• Tiger Woods had a rod inserted in his leg during emergency surgery (“The golf legend is ‘awake, responsive and recovering’ after a serious car crash that required surgery, a statement on his Twitter account says”)
• Video: In Senate Hearing on Capitol Riot, Mark Warner Highlights How Response to Violence Was Slowed By D.C. Status as a Non-State
• Video: Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner Opening Remarks at Hearing on the Hack of U.S. Networks by a Foreign Adversary
• Legislators at odds over how to extend workers’ compensation pay for Virginia’s first responders and nurses who contract COVID-19
• Tuesday (2/23) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,769 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 567,039), +168 Hospitalizations (to 23,698), +172 Deaths (to 7,658)
• Gov. Ralph Northam to give update on COVID-19 response Wednesday morning
• Federal government wants to speed up vaccinations. How they do it is out of Virginia’s control
• Audio: VA GOP Gubernatorial Frontrunner Amanda Chase Says She Will Run as Independent If 72 Members of Party Select Nominee
• After Months of Bitter Infighting and Disarray, Virginia Republicans *FINALLY* Choose Method of Nomination for 2021 Candidates – a “Drive-Up” Convention at *Liberty University*! LOL
• Republicans plan for nomination convention at Liberty University
• Virginia GOP to select gubernatorial nominee at convention in Liberty University parking lots
• State GOP leaders opt for drive-up convention at Liberty University to nominate candidates (“After months of disagreement, the Virginia Republican Party’s governing body agreed Tuesday night on a method to nominate statewide candidates for the November election. They’ll hold a drive-up convention May 8 on the campus of Liberty University.”)
• Three former GOP governors urge party to pick 2021 nominees via canvass
• BREAKING: Video – Virginia Senate Votes 36-3 To Remove Statue of “Massive Resistance” Architect Harry F. Byrd, Sr. From Capitol Square
• Legislators send Northam bill to remove segregationist Harry Byrd Sr.’s statue from Capitol Square
• BREAKING: Virginia State Senate Fails to Pass Bill Banning Personal Use of Campaign Funds (Crazy.)
• Senate Won’t Close Campaign Cash Loophole
• Northam makes late push to boost state procurement from firms owned by women and minorities
• General Assembly elects new judges, including successor to Roanoke judge who quietly left midterm
• Advanced recycling bill goes to governor after ‘Great Polystyrene Compromise of 2021’
• Jennifer Carroll Foy Announces Plan to Make Housing Affordable, Extend Eviction Moratorium, and More
• Virginia moving quickly to make expanded absentee voting permanent
• Virginia GOP Gov. Candidate Wants ‘NFL-Style Scouting Reports’ On Election Officials (“Republican Pete Snyder mimics Trump by promoting baseless fraud concerns and calling for increased election monitoring that could lead to political intimidation.” Appalling.)
• McAuliffe scores endorsement from major North American labor union (“The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) formally endorsed McAuliffe, citing his work for the labor community during his first term as a governor, according to a statement exclusively obtained by The Hill.”)
• Can Virginia’s ‘Trump in Heels’ Beat Terry McAuliffe? Nope. (“Like a lot of states, the Virginia Republican Party just keeps getting Trumpier. Unlike a lot of those states, Virginia is blue.”)
• Editorial: Recognize the General Assembly’s continued efforts to remove voting barriers
• Virginia Senate bill demands Metro change station name to include bank or lose millions in funding (Wuuut?)
• Appalachian Women of Action Serve Their Communities
• Opinion: Increase pay for Beach public defenders
• Stoney Seeking Resident Input on Richmond’s Recovery Plan
• CVEC, Sun Tribe seek permit for solar installation in southern Albemarle
• Fairfax considers lower tax rate in budget aimed at economic recovery
• No Charges Against Cville Mayor
• D.C.-area forecast: Warming up to near or past 60 today! Cooler but not too cold tomorrow into the weekend.