Friday News: “Biden excels at his first news conference. The media embarrass themselves.”; “200 Million Shots In 100 Days”; “Georgia State Rep. Arrested While Protesting Restrictive Voting Law, Video Shows”; “Yes, the filibuster is intrinsically linked to racism.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, March 26.

This is insane: Georgia Dem rep @Cannonfor58 was arrested for trying to watch Brian Kemp sign new voter suppression bill. Look at how she is treated by police. This is straight out of Jim Crow pic.twitter.com/zRpMWumbkQ

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) March 25, 2021

• Now in Russian prison, Alexei Navalny is facing new threats to his life. It’s unacceptable.
• Uighurs: China bans UK MPs after abuse sanctions
• EU Backs Export Curbs; Global Cases Jump: Virus Update
• AstraZeneca Got Its Vaccine Right. The Rollout Has Been a Mess. (“Drugmaker has tangled with U.S. government over data about efficacy; production delays draw criticism in Europe”)
• Dislodging the Suez Canal Ship Said to Need at Least a Week
• Suez Canal blockage is delaying an estimated $400 million an hour in goods
• U.N. says global vaccine deliveries delayed due to virus surge in India
• Biden faces the world’s most dangerous problems in North Korea and Taiwan (Actually, the world’s most dangerous problem is environmental destruction, including the climate crisis – by far.)
• Dangerous Covid-19 variants could mean all bets are off on the road to normalcy, expert warns
• India to Double Down on Coal Projects Amid Climate Warnings (Absolutely insane.)
• Why Companies’ ‘Net-Zero’ Emissions Pledges Should Trigger a Healthy Dose of Skepticism
• Finally, Under Biden, America Is Catching Up to New Zealand (“While you-know-who was talking up Clorox injections, the Kiwis relied on science. And it worked. Finally so are we. Better late than never.”)
• Oil Lobby Backs Climate Action Plan (“‘Climate change is real,’ American Petroleum Institute head Mike Sommers says”)
• ‘The art of the possible’: Biden lays out pragmatic vision for his presidency
• Liberals think Biden just made getting rid of the filibuster easier
• Republicans’ big lie about the filibuster (“Yes, the filibuster is intrinsically linked to racism.”)
• Biden prioritizes infrastructure and pandemic ahead of guns and immigration (Correct priorities for sure.)
• Five takeaways from Biden’s first presser
• Biden holds first press conference and pledges 200m vaccine shots in 100 days
• Biden excels at his first news conference. The media embarrass themselves.
• At Biden’s presser, bad questions adopt a right-wing frame
• The Presidential Press Conference in the Biden Era Is as Awful as Ever (Worthless. Get rid of them?)
• Not a single reporter at Biden’s first presidential news conference asked about the pandemic (Embarrassing.)
• At his first news conference, Biden showed his passion for democracy — starting at home (And the media showed its utter ineptitude.)
• 3 losers and 2 winners from Biden’s first press conference (“Winner: A return to normalcy. Loser: Americans still worried about the Covid-19 pandemic.”)
• At Biden’s first news conference, it wasn’t the president who was out of touch (The White House press corps just sucks.)
• Biden meets the press and the pandemic disappears (The political media seems to be irremediably broken.)
• CNN Uses First Biden Press Conference to Ask Urgent Question About 2024 Election (Complete joke.)
• What Biden’s First Press Conference Revealed (“The president invoked an unexpected source of inspiration.”)
• Mitch McConnell Sounds a Bit on Edge
• Harris has been in the room. Now, she will increasingly be out in front. (“The vice president has been given a challenging portfolio.”)
• Big tech CEOs face lawmakers in House hearing on social media’s role in extremism, misinformation (Time to crack down on and/or break up these companies.)
• Frustration shows through as Congress grills social media CEOs yet again (Because the tech CEOs are full of crap?)
• Scoop: House chamber hardened with bulletproof doors (“The House chamber is being transformed into a massive safe room for members with the addition of bulletproof doors.”)
• Amazon Called Out for Denying Workers Go to Bathroom in Bottles
• Supreme Court sides with woman shot by police
• Want to shrink deficits or fund Biden’s spending plans? Give the IRS more money.
• We know what is killing 40,000 Americans a year. So why don’t we act? (First of all, it’s not really “we”)
• These Mega-Businesses Are Already Back to Bankrolling Insurrectionists (“They said they wouldn’t be giving to Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election. They’re already donating again.”)
• The January 6 Prosecutions Will Put the Entire System on Trial
• Donald Trump says some of Capitol rioters posed ‘zero threat’ (“Former president says rioters ‘shouldn’t have done it’ but they are now being ‘persecuted’” Trump is evil, part infinity.)
• Delusional Trump Makes Bizarre ‘Hugging And Kissing’ Claim About Capitol Riot (Trump badly needs psychological help)
• Meeting between Trump, Ohio Senate candidates turns tense: report
• Stop telling this stupid lie, Republicans. It’s insulting to your voters.
• Fox News laments that Peter Doocy didn’t get to ask President Biden about a Fox News conspiracy theory
• QAnon Has Become The Cult That Cries Wolf (Most cults do that.)
• Georgia activists call for Coca-Cola boycott over ‘deafening silence’ on voting rights
• Georgia State Rep. Arrested While Protesting Restrictive Voting Law, Video Shows
• Warnock visits Georgia state Rep. Cannon at jail after arrest: ‘She did not deserve this’
• Georgia Republicans Take Revenge on Voting Rights
• After Trump Failed, Georgia Republicans Pass Bill to Make It Easier to Overturn Elections
• Georgia G.O.P. Passes Major Law to Limit Voting Amid Nationwide Push (Totally unacceptable.)
• Sweeping changes to Georgia elections signed into law
• Georgia bans giving water to voters in line under sweeping restrictions (OK, U.S. Senate, time to abolish the filibuster and act.)
• Georgia representative arrested after governor signs elections bill (F’ing disgraceful.)
• Georgia Lawmaker Charged With Felony For Knocking On Gov. Brian Kemp’s Office Door (“State Rep. Park Cannon, a Black woman, was arrested and accused of obstruction after protesting a bill that makes it harder for Georgians to vote.” Back to “Jim Crow” in Georgia?!?)
• Georgia’s new law suppressing the vote is a victory for Trump
• Tennessee GOP bill would ban textbooks with LGBTQ content (Are they going to ban books with heterosexual content too? If not, why not?)
• Cuomo’s Top Aide Defends Her Boss and Herself: ‘I’m a Human Being’
• Kristi Noem provokes conservative ire by not being intolerant enough (“If you have 2024 ambitions, you’d better stand in the schoolhouse door to stop a trans girl from joining the softball team.”)
• Meghan McCain Isn’t Contrarian—She’s Just Racist and Ignorant
• Video: Senator Mark Warner Argues “there is no doubt at all that our tax system does not rank…on the more progressive side” (Sen. Tim Kaine: “why not have a tax code that basically treats income as income and applies the same tax rate to all kinds of income?”)
• Elaine Luria endorses McAuliffe for governor in Virginia Democratic primary
• Jennifer Carroll Foy, Lee Carter, Terry McAuliffe, and Jennifer McClellan Jointly Condemn “unhinged extremism on the GOP side”, Argue “every one of these Republicans is completely unfit to lead Virginia”
• This Latest Email From Right-Wing Sen. Amanda Chase Is VERY Revealing About VA GOP Priorities (Chase’s top policy priorities are fighting against “forcing schools to accept biological boys onto girls’ sports teams”, getting out of the Paris Climate Accords and ditching masks.)
• Pete Snyder Endorsed For VA Governor by Sarah Huckabee Sander, Trump’s Press Secretary Who Lied Constantly and Defended Anything/Everything Trump Did (The scary thing is, in today’s batshit-crazy Trump GOP(Q), this will probably give Snyder a nice boost towards the nomination…)
• Report: Transforming D.C.-area rails could lead to economic growth, jobs, fewer cars on road
• Terry McAuliffe Releases New Plan “to Tackle Climate Change and Secure Virginia’s Clean Energy Future by 2035” (That’s certainly better than the absurdly long timeframe in the VCEA, but we still need to do what Greta Thunberg says and treat the climate crisis AS A CRISIS)
• McAuliffe announces climate plan, McClellan says it is being built on her work
• Saxman: Virginia’s Silly Season Gets Real – Real Quick. Filing Deadline Could Cull the Herd
• Two new COVID-19 variants reported in Virginia after emerging in California
• VDH course-corrects after out-of-town residents flock to vaccination sites in hard-hit neighborhoods
• Vaccine tourists flocked to Danville as Virginia struggles to match supply to demand
• Northam Looks to Move Up Marijuana Legalization to July 1
• Before lawmakers abolished the death penalty, expert public defenders had quietly defeated it themselves
• Editorial: Let localities lead and implement solutions — when and where they can
• After Blackjewel settlement, Virginia has coal mining permits no one wants
• At least six ships will be late getting to Virginia because of the Suez Canal blockage
• Editorial: Graduates will get the celebrations they deserve (“Eased guidelines mean that schools across Virginia can hold in-person commencements, though schools could have found creative ways to do something special for grads.”)
• After back-and-forth about address, no bond for Montgomery tree-top protester (“A judge said he could not trust that tree-sitter Claire Marian Fiocco would not try again to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline.”)
• Two Virginia Beach brothers charged with entering U.S. Capitol during riot (“Eric Von Bernewitz and Paul Von Bernewitz were arrested Wednesday and were released on personal recognizance bond afterwards.”)
• Henrico County Public Schools changes some safety measures, opts to stick with 6 feet of distance between students
• Rachel Levy Officially Launches Campaign for the 55th Virginia House of Delegates District (The district is currently (mis)represented by right-wing Republican Del. Buddy Fowler.)
• Washington & Lee University Considers Dropping Lee From Name
• Virginia Beach must change the way it elects local leaders after Northam signs law
• Loudoun Co. leaders, Va. Senator discuss uses of American Rescue Plan funding
• Asian student verbally harassed, spat at outside Fairfax middle school (“The incident took place on the campus of Longfellow Middle School in Fairfax around 6:20 p.m. Monday, according to the father of the Asian teen, who asked that he not be named to protect his family’s privacy. The father reported the incident to Fairfax County police and to officials with Fairfax County Public Schools, where his son is enrolled.”)
• Black leader in Va. Beach says Democrats should back off endorsement of former Republican
• Fairfax approves new flagpole height regulation
• Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef Announces “Historic” Pick of New Superintendent, LaTanya McDade
• Virginia State University will rename four buildings named for people with ties to racism
• Virginia Republicans slam Charlottesville mayor after obscene poem about city: ‘Step aside’
• D.C.-area forecast: Wind advisory accompanies today’s warmth. Tomorrow’s a gem. (“Mainly 70s into this weekend. Saturday’s probably the best for getting outdoors.”)