Yep, this is the same Pat Robertson who has donated $733,000 to Virginia Republicans over the years, and who called Bob McDonnell his “dear friend” “Bobby”. Charming, eh?

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, August 27. Also check out video of Andy Parker, father of murdered WDBJ reporter Alison Parker, vowing that his “mission in life” will be to do “whatever it takes” to “shame legislators into doing something about closing loopholes and background checks and making sure crazy people don’t get guns.” A courageous man, glad to see Gov. McAuliffe strongly supporting him, as do 80%-90% of Virginians based on the polls.

*Republicans stay mostly silent in face of Trump’s bigotry and misogyny (“But the character of the candidates already has been revealed. Trump is acting like a sexist and a bigot – and the rest of the candidates are, with occasional exceptions, too timid to call him what he is.”)

*The Trumpification of the news (“Nowhere is the tension between financial and public imperatives more obvious than in the massive coverage of the Trump spectacular and the parsimonious attention given to anything serious any other candidate might say. But hey, how often does a serious speech about our economic troubles win ratings for anyone?”)

*Will America finally do something to stop our gun-fueled carnage? (“Congress must act. And if not Congress, then state leaders who want to finally do something about the gun-fueled carnage.”)

*McAuliffe says tragedy reinforces need for stricter gun laws

*Biden unsure if he has the ’emotional fuel’ for 2016 run

*Father Of Slain Journalist Makes Emotional Plea For Gun Control On Fox News

*We’re now averaging more than one mass shooting per day in 2015

*Dow soars more than 600 points, ending a six-day losing streak

*4 Reasons Why a Biden Run Would Help Sanders (I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while, that Sanders has to be very happy about this prospect…)

*State attorneys ask judge to dismiss Virginia Uranium suit

*Feds: McDonnell does not deserve continued freedom (“The Solicitor General urged Chief Justice John Roberts to reject the former Va. governor’s request for bail while pursuing his high court case.”)

*Virginia killings become world’s

*McAuliffe says public can’t see report on U.Va. student arrest by ABC police (“The investigation into a bloody arrest by Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control police is done and Gov. Terry McAuliffe has read it. It concluded the agents involved did not violate ABC policy, and McAuliffe said he agrees they be put back on the job.”)

*City Attorney to seek court order to remove Confederate monument

*Two Roanoke journalists killed on live television by angry former colleague

*Remembering the lives of the news crew killed in Virginia (“Reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward worked as a team at WDBJ in Roanoke, Va.”)

*Gunman in televised shootings of Roanoke journalists used Twitter, sent manifesto

*Deaths of WDBJ journalists leave region in ‘state of shock’

*Nationals’ late rally falls short, and their deficit grows (“Gonzalez is again unable to make it out of the fifth inning in 6-5 loss. Three-run rally in the seventh is not enough.” What happened to Gio?)

*PM Update: Another beautiful night and a gorgeous Thursday; Ragweed heading toward peak

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, August 26.

*China’s Stocks Close Lower as Global Markets Turn Mixed

*Anchor Jorge Ramos Thrown Out of Trump Event, Told to ‘Go Back to Univision’ (Lovely.)

*Latino Media Broadcasts Disdain of Trump

*Murray, No. 4 Senate Democrat, backs Iran deal (Looking safer and safer, despite Republican warmongers…)

*Tim Pawlenty 2.0? (“Scott Walker’s presidential campaign is flailing, and it’s not just because of Trump.”)

*Roger Ailes: Donald Trump should apologize to Megyn Kelly (Popcorn time!)

*Market chaos throws Fed rate plan into doubt

*Biden probably won’t beat Clinton. He should run anyway.

*A policy of paranoia (“The GOP’s penchant for foreign aggression.”)

*Dear Republicans: You could have avoided this whole Donald Trump disaster

*Pollster’s Legs Wobble After Fawning Donald Trump Focus Group (Ha, our old pal Frank Luntz goes wobbly when confronted with the rotten, disturbing core of his party. LOL)

*This Is What Would Happen if We Repealed Birthright Citizenship (“GOP candidates-led by Donald Trump-want to make a big change to our immigration laws. Experts warn it would lead to disaster.”)

*Leavitt to head Walker’s Virginia campaign (“Chris Leavitt, who managed Republican Ed Gillespie’s 2014 U.S. Senate campaign, will head Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 2016 presidential effort in Virginia.”)

*GOP loyalty oath proposal in Virginia may signal trouble for Donald Trump (And for the Virginia GOP!)

*Schapiro: McAuliffe’s unlikely (right-) wing man in parole debate

*Legislators’ names appear in hacked Ashley Madison data (“Customers using the names and personal information of Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment, R-James City, and state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, have made payments to the Canada-based dating service marketed to people in marriages or committed relationships, according to an analysis of the user data by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.”)

*McAuliffe hands over Fort Monroe land to Park Service

*Police must stop hiding behind laws on FOIA

*Follow both science, faith to battle climate change, Catholic bishop says (“Catholic Bishop Francis DiLorenzo told an audience in Norfolk that people must learn about the science of what is happening to the world.”)

*Schools consider regional effort to handle sexual assault

*Union on officer charged in shooting: ‘We could all be Adam Torres’

*Supervisors, public comment on Bedrosian’s fight against United Way, Planned Parenthood

*Strasburg, Zimmerman lead Nats past Padres for third straight win

*D.C. area forecast: Awesome August weather continues; warmer and more humid this weekend

A new study by researchers at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, finds yet more evidence (as if we needed any more!) that racism is far from dead in the United States of America, and certainly not in the South. Check this out:

Nationally, 1.2 million Black students were suspended from K-12 public schools in a single academic year – 55% of those suspensions occurred in 13 Southern states. Districts in the South also were responsible for 50% of Black student expulsions from public schools in the United States…

In 132 Southern school districts, Blacks were disproportionately suspended at rates five times or higher than their representation in the student population.

Here in Virginia, it’s not good either, as “Blacks were 24% of students in school districts across the state, but comprised 51% of suspensions and 41% of expulsions.” In terms of “disproportionate impact,” the report finds that “Botetourt County Public Schools, Falls Church City Public Schools, Lexington City Public Schools, Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, and Rappahannock County Public Schools are among [Virginia school] districts in which suspensions most disproportionately affected Black students.” For instance, Botetourt’s “disproportionate impact” score in the 2011-2012 school year was 4.3x, while Falls Church’s was 3.8x. Others that jumped out at me were several jurisdictions, such as Fairfax County (3.0x), Loudoun County (3.0x) and Arlington County (2.8x), which trend “blue” politically but still show an unacceptably high ratio of African-American students suspended or expelled relative to their population.

So what’s causing this disparity? According to the authors of the study, it’s exactly what you’d think:

“The findings in our report point to the residual effects of Jim Crow, slavery, and unequal schooling,” Harper said. “They are further explained by poverty trends, structural inequities in the education workforce, and a longstanding history of racial injustice that cyclically reproduces itself, especially across these 13 Southern states.”

What’s particularly unacceptable about this situation is this:

Suspensions and expulsions can carry life-changing consequences for children. They impact academic performance and disrupt pathways to college, but also how a school and community perceive a student.

“It could take years to process through the trauma and stigma of being deemed a problem-that you’re not responsible, not serious,” Smith said. “Teachers and district leaders are signaling that you’re not worthy enough for us to invest in.”

The bottom line is that this situation is sadly unsurprising, yet completely unacceptable, and it needs to change ASAP, just as the disproportionate shootings of African Americans by police needs to change ASAP, and just as the disproportionate application of severe punishments (up to and including the death penalty) towards African Americans needs to change ASAP. I’d be very interested to hear a response on this from the “blue” jurisdictions I noted above…

Excellent ad, very tough but also realistic, which is exactly what our approach towards Iran should be (in their view, the view of many intelligence and military people, a former head of the Mossad, most of our allies, etc.). Great job by Terron Sims of Arlington and his fellow Iraq War veterans on this one. Now, I’m looking at you, Sen. Warner, to announce your support for this historic agreement.

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, August 25. Also check out President Obama’s speech at the National Clean Energy Summit in Nevada.

*China is unable to stop stock market plunge (“As markets plunged for the fourth straight day, Chinese authorities stood aside. But many other markets in Asia and Europe showed signs of recovery.”)

*The Stock Market Drop Exposes The Dangers Of Privatizing Social Security

*Obama calls out fossil fuel interests, Koch brothers for fighting solar, clean energy

*Scott Walker falls flat on his face (“This is what happens when you try to trump the Donald.”)

*Walker Calls On Obama To Cancel Chinese President’s Trip Amid Market Woes (Utterly unfit to be president…or anything, really.)

*Scott Walker adds Virginia strategist

*State GOP leaders plot to tie Donald Trump’s hands (That includes Virginia’s Republican Party and its chair, John Whitbeck.)

*Top Democratic fundraisers invited to meet with Joe Biden at Naval Observatory

*Donald Trump Is Not a Populist. He’s the Voice of Aggrieved Privilege.

*Barack Obama calls opponents of Iran deal ‘the crazies’ (Some of them definitely are, but some of them simply won’t agree to anything coming from Barack Obama, whether he cured cancer or stopped a nuclear arms race or whatever.)

*Krugman: A Moveable Glut (“Whatever the precise mix of causes, what’s important now is that policy makers take seriously the possibility, I’d say probability, that excess savings and persistent global weakness is the new normal.”)

*Why Hillary Clinton’s “Emailgate” Is a Fake Scandal (“The real scandal is about journalism and the weak standards employed to manufacture headlines.”)

*Bernie Sanders is wrong about the Koch brothers: They’re even more dangerous than he thinks (“Sanders says his campaign is about a ‘political revolution.’ If so, he’ll have to take his enemies more seriously”)

*Don’t fast-track pipeline process, Kaine says

*Walker to speak at Family Foundation gala

*Brat, Warner respond to stock market plunge (The last person in the world I’d ever listen to on economic issues is supposed “economist” Dave Brat.)

*No prison for McDonnell until chief justice weighs in on bail issue

*Our view: Why Roush should say no and decline reappointment (Hmmmm…not sure I follow this but alrighty.)

*Newspaper: Police fatally shot man in Portsmouth, handcuffed him (Time for criminal charges against the officers who did this, assuming the report is accurate.)

*The crisis in state’s empty classrooms (“FINDING GOOD teachers is never easy. But years of stagnant wages and job insecurity have made it harder than ever to retain and attract talented educators. As The Pilot’s Mike Connors reported Monday, summer break this year winds down with a raft of area and state public classrooms without permanent teachers. School opens just after the Labor Day weekend.”)

*Sigma Nu Fraternity suspends ODU chapter after display of offensive banners

*Mountain Valley Pipeline may use controversial surveying law, judge rules

*Norfolk officer connects police, gay community

*D.C. area forecast: Fantastic through Friday, humidity returns by weekend