Virginia GOP Chair, John "Anti-Semitic 'Joke' Dude" Whitbeck, Completely Wrong (As Usual) on AG Mark Herring's "Concealed Carry" Announcement

The statement by Republican Party of Virginia Chair John "Anti-Semitic 'Joke' Dude" Whitbeck (see image; click to "embiggen") to Virginia Attorney General's actions today on "concealed carry" "reciprocity" with other states is, not surprisingly, 100% absurd. It's hard to know where to even start, but let's just list two huge, gaping problems with Whitbeck's "argument" (so to speak).

1. The Second Amendment does not allow for anyone to carry any weapon, anywhere, under any circumstances -- even under the current, right-wing Supreme Court. As this summary of the Heller decision by Cornell University Law School explains:

Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Miller’s holding that the sorts of weapons protected are those “in common use at the time” finds support in the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons. Pp. 54–56.

2. What Attorney General Herring announced to day was simply to ensure that other states' "standards for issuance of a concealed handgun permit or for recognition of such permits" meet Virginia's standards. For instance, Virginia disqualifies people from carrying concealed firearms if: they a) "been adjudicated legally incompetent, mentally incapacitated, or not guilty by reason of insanity;" b) are "subject to a restraining order, or to a protective order;" c) have "been convicted of stalking or has pending stalking charges;" d) have "been convicted of any assault, assault and battery, sexual battery, discharging of a firearm or brandishing of a firearm within the three-year period immediately preceding the application, or has pending charges for any of the above;" e) have "been convicted of a felony or has felony charges pending;" f) have "been convicted of two or more misdemeanors within the five-year period immediately preceding the application;" g) are "addicted to, or is an unlawful user or distributor of, marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids, or any controlled substance;" h) are an "alien other than an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence"; i) are an "individual who is a fugitive from justice;" j) are an "individual who has been discharged from the armed forces of the United States under dishonorable conditions."

So, seriously, the Chair of the Virginia GOP really wants to override Virginia law and permit people who are mentally incompetent, subject to restraining orders, convicted of stalking, felons, drug addicts and dealers, people they refer to as "illegal aliens," etc. to carry a concealed firearm? Why? What constructive public policy purpose would that serve?

Unless, of course, Whitbeck et al don't care about serving constructive policy purposes, but instead are simply doing whatever the NRA and other gun absolutists tell them to do. Either way, the only ones waging any kind of "war" are Whitbeck and his allies, who are busy doing just that to the citizens of Virginia with regard to the ongoing scourge of gun violence in this country. It would be one thing if Whitbeck et al supported ANY reasonable, commonsense gun control measures, even ones supported by 80%, 90% of Virginians. But they don't, which basically tells you everything you need to know...

"Extremist" Anti-LGBT Group Files Suit Against Fairfax County School Board to Force It To Discriminate

by Lowell

When I read stuff like this, my first reactions are often a combination of incredulity (no way anyone would do that!), derisive laughter (these people MUST be joking!) and anger (f*** these people!).  In this case, we're talking about an organization - the Orwellian "Liberty Counsel" - that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has labeled an anti-LGBT "extremist group" which "advocat[es] for anti-LGBT discrimination under the guise of religious liberty." Here's some more background from the SPLC on the "Liberty Counsel."

• "The Liberty Counsel shares a close affiliation with Liberty University (founded by the late Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Va.)"
• "With the expansion of equal rights for LGBT people, especially, the Liberty Counsel has come into their own, working to attempt to ensure that Christians can continue to engage in anti-LGBT discrimination in places of business under the guise of 'religious liberty.'"
• "[Liberty Counsel Chair and Founder Mat] Staver...went so far as to call for a new revolutionary war as marriage equality advanced. In March of 2015, Staver stated that he would personally advocate disobedience to any U.S. Supreme Court ruling that favored marriage equality, and that 'collectively, we cannot accept that as the rule of law.' During the 2015 brouhaha over Indiana’s religious freedom law, Staver likened “the homosexual lobby” to terrorists, claiming that 'it’s hard to negotiated with people who are irrational and who are inventing things that simply don’t exist.'”
• "He has also supported the criminalization of homosexuality both in the U.S. and in other countries, stating in one instance that Malawi’s anti-homosexuality laws were in its 'own best interests' after the U.S. reportedly withheld monetary aid to the country because of its efforts to outlaw homosexuality..."

So, what are these anti-LGBT bigots up to now? Today, they announced that they had filed a lawsuit against the Fairfax County School Board "for illegally changing its nondiscrimination policy so that it conflicts with the state’s policy" by adding "'sexual orientation' on November 6, 2014, and again added 'gender identity' on May 7, 2015." The first question will be whether this group can claim legal standing or injury in court. That should be, uh, "interesting." If they do manage to gain standing, it seems crazy that a court will enjoin the Fairfax County School Board from NOT discriminating, essentially forcing the Board TO discriminate.

Of course, you never know what a court will do, so stay tuned, but the broader point here is more "what the hell is WRONG with people like the 'Liberty Counsel'" (and their fellow anti-LGBT "extremist group," the "Traditional Values Coalition")? Do these people really not have anything better to do with their lives than to spend time, energy and money fighting to make gay, lesbian and transgender kids' lives miserable? Just disgusting.

P.S. h/t to my friend Josh Israel (see him speak about this issue in the above video) for alerting me to this disgraceful lawsuit.

Tuesday News: Trump Goes Wildly Sexist; SpaceX Makes History

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 22. Also, very cool - and historic - landing by SpaceX!

• It’s Official: None Of The Remaining Major GOP Candidates Accept Climate Science (Which should be an automatic disqualifier for holding public office in America. Period.)
• Grand Jury Declines to Indict Anyone in Death of Sandra Bland (Argh!)
• Poll: Cruz closing the gap with Trump (It's really hard to decide who's more frightening and horrible, Trump or Cruz. I guess each in his own, uniquely godawful way.)
• The Dirty Truth Behind Trump’s Success? ("What if Trump is winning because of his racism and bigotry, not despite it?" Exactly.)
• Elon Musk’s SpaceX returns to flight and pulls off dramatic, historic landing ("The landing of an orbital rocket booster at Cape Canaveral is a first and part of a bold quest to open the cosmos to the masses. It’s also the company’s first launch since a June explosion.")
• The GOP turns ‘political correctness’ into the mother of all straw men ("Once a pejorative term applied to liberals’ determination not to offend any ethnic or other identity group, it now is used lazily by some conservatives to label everything classified under 'that with which I disagree.'" Or, "I feel like being a bigot and/or super nasty, so I'll just call it being 'politically incorrect'")
• ‘Schlonged’: Watch Trump’s Astonishingly Sexist Attack On Hillary (Trump is a bizarre, warped, disgusting excuse for a human being.)
• Donald Trump says Clinton’s bathroom break during the debate is ‘too disgusting’ to talk about (Repeat previous comment.)
• Cuccinelli and Cruz: A matched set (I can't believe I'm linking to right wingnut Jennifer Rubin, but she's right about Cooch and Cruz.)
• Lion Subspecies Listed as Endangered, Threatened (Great, but first of all it's sad the lion is endangered; second, it should have been listed as endangered a long time ago; third, other species need to be on this list; fourth, anyone who hunts endangered species is evil.)
• That Time When Donald Trump Said Jeb Bush Would Make a Great President (Trump also used to be for universal health care, abortion rights, etc, etc.)
• Marco Rubio’s “lazy” campaign: His weak ground game might haunt him
• Obama Discusses Challenge Of Being The First Black President, Fox News Outraged (Fox is a bunch of racists.)
• Media Fixate On Clinton "Video" Remark, Ignore That ISIS Does Reportedly Recruit Using Trump's Islamophobia ("...experts say that ISIS and other terrorist groups are using Trump's remarks to attract recruits on social media")
• Virginia to end concealed carry reciprocity with other states
• Three Va. lawmakers propose changes in pre-approval of hospital expansions ("'Certificate of public need' laws have become an issue across the nation. Critics say they curb competition.")
• McAuliffe sets solar energy goal for Va. government ("Dominion Virginia Power will generate most of the power for the project.")
• Editorial: A tale of two budgets (Yet another incoherent editorial by the Virgnian-Pilot.)
• House Republicans to push for competition in Virginia health care ("The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association opposes elimination of the laws.")
• Roanoke City Council passes resolution saying city is welcoming
• New U.S. Attorney John Fishwick sworn in during private courthouse ceremony
• Editorial: Budget bill is a 'gift' for region's economy
• Forecast: Morning showers, then warming temperatures

Long Past Time for Senators Kaine and Warner, Governor McAuliffe to LEAD Opposition to Offshore Oil Drilling

by Lowell

I was very happy this morning to read As decision nears, opposition builds to offshore drilling along Atlantic Coast by Joby Warrick in the Washington Post.

The Virginia Beach council’s reversal is the latest blow to a plan that could bring offshore drilling to the Southeast Atlantic coast as early as 2017.

In recent months, at least 93 coastal communities — from small beach towns on the Delmarva Peninsula to the wealthy and politically powerful cities of Charleston and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and Savannah, Ga. — have joined a revolt against a pro-drilling movement that once seemed unstoppable in the Republican-dominated South.

The Obama administration is expected to finalize by early spring a plan that could allow limited oil and gas development off the coasts of four Southeastern states — Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. All four have heavily supported drilling in the past. But lately, resistance to the plan appears to be growing, particularly in coastal towns where politicians and business leaders are expressing doubts about whether oil and gas can deliver the economic benefits the industry’s backers claim.

The growing opposition is, of course, 100% correct: as a recent report found that the supposed benefits of offshore oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast (including here in Virginia) have been wildly OVERstated, while the potential damages to a thriving coastal economy have been wildly UNDERstated. If that's not enough reason for Virginia leaders - Senators Kaine and Warner, Governor McAuliffe, etc. - to oppose the crazy idea of oil drilling off Virginia's beautiful, fragile coast, here's another reason: offshore oil drilling makes less sense than ever strictly from both economic and broader environmental points of view. Why?

1. Oil prices have collapsed and show no signs of recovering anytime soon. At the same time, offshore oil drilling remains expensive. Combine those two factors, and the economics of this proposition - especially given that it's not even clear that there are large, recoverable oil reserves off the Atlantic Coast - are highly dubious at best. (No wonder the offshore rig count in the U.S. is down nearly 60% from last year at this same time)
2. If it's not clear yet, given record warm months coming fast and furious, glaciers melting, bizarre/extreme weather becoming more frequent and damaging, seas rising (and acidifying; an even more pressing concern), etc,, etc. - that we need to get OFF of fossil fuels and switch to clean energy as rapidly as possible, you'd think that the Paris climate summit would have focused everyone's minds on that subject. Given all THE LAST THING we want to do is to lock in new fossil fuel infrastructure, let alone the worst of the worst -- coal mining, tar sands, offshore oil drilling. It's beyond stupid, trending into reckless.

So, why are we even still talking about this? Very simple: the political power of the oil industry and their paid "think tanks," media flacks and dutiful (to the oil industry) politicians. The question is whether Democrats like Governor McAuliffe and Senators Kaine and Warner will continue supporting an industry whose days are numbered, which is under investigation for potentially being the tobacco industry of the 21st century, and which needs to be quickly replaced by energy efficiency, solar, wind, and other forms of clean, renewable energy? Will our leaders choose to be on the right side of history, or will historians look back and shake their heads at their failure to lead? Let's hope the former, but let's not take any chances: call them and let them know where you want to them to be on this issue. Your planet, and more locally your coastal communities, thank you!

Monday News: Republicans Reject Modern America; Trump Says Putin's "Innocent Until Proven Guilty" in Killing of Journalists

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, December 21. Also, check out President Obama's interview with NPR.

• Democrats embrace modern America as Republicans reject it ("...a deeper unease and even rage characterize the response of many in the GOP ranks to what the country has become. This can cross into a loathing that Trump exploits")
• Krugman: The Donald and the Decider ("Bluster and belligerence as substitutes for analysis, disdain for any kind of measured response, dismissal of inconvenient facts reported by the 'liberal media' didn’t suddenly arrive on the Republican scene last summer. On the contrary, they have long been key elements of the party brand.")
• President Obama Says Donald Trump Is 'Exploiting' Americans' Fears
• Donald Trump’s got Putin fever: The GOP frontrunner is stumping for a Russian strongman
• Why Dictators Don’t Bring Stability To The Middle East (Agreed; Bernie Sanders is totally wrong about this one. In fact, often corrupt and brutal dictators create tremendous anger, resentment, etc. among the population, and cause at least some people to be attracted to radical, violent alternatives.)
• Donald Trump: No Proof That Putin Kills Journalists ("In 2012, The Guardian’s Peter Preston catalogued the deaths of journalists since Putin came to power, many of them dying by gunshot wounds. In addition to journalists, many political critics of Putin, including human rights activist Natalia Estemirova and Sergei Yushenkov, co-chairman of the Liberal Russia movement, have died since he became president. Earlier this year, Boris Nemtsov was shot in central Moscow while walking with his girlfriend after dining out.")
• Will the GOP Mount a Third-Party Challenge to Trump ("Experts—and history—suggest it's an increasingly plausible scenario. And could end in disaster.")
• American Muslims are spreading a message: We are not a threat
• A recipe for housing disaster ("Tucked into the massive measure was a provision, co-sponsored by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), that would prohibit the Treasury from divesting its stake in Fannie and Freddie for two years. )
• Editorial: Another legal attack on the Chesapeake
• As decision nears, opposition builds to offshore drilling along Atlantic Coast
• Editorial: Confederate sympathizers fight another lost cause ("When you preface your remarks with 'I’m not a racist, but...' you have already lost the debate. The point seems to have escaped Republican state Sen. Charles Carrico, who said just that on Wednesday. He has filed a bill that would return the Confederate battle-flag logo to the vanity license plate of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.")
• Washington region reaps the benefits of new congressional spending plan
• Seeking new uses for old spaces
• Muslims, Christians and Jews take an interfaith walk to show that ‘love is stronger than hate’
• Lynchburg schools' superintendent weighs in on McAuliffe's budget proposal
• Five Richmond shootings in 24 hours leaves three dead, including 12-year-old girl (Another day of gun violence in America...ugh.)
• Projections for James River power line challenged
• D.C. area forecast: Big warm-up this week, chance of record highs Christmas Eve; Lots of rain chances

The Right Wing's Need for Enemies and the Danger to Our Nation

by Andy Schmookler

A train of thought I’d like to share:

In a biography of Montaigne I’ve lately been reading (How to Live, by Sarah Bakewell), I came across a passage which read: “French forces had been regularly attacking and conquering states on the [Iberian] peninsula since 1494, and would continue doing so until 1559, when the Peace of Cateau Cambresis stopped France’s foreign invasions and thus opened the way to its real sixteenth-century catastrophe: the civil wars.”

The idea that the end of one kind of conflict would open the way not to peace but to another kind of conflict reminded me of a discussion I participated in during the late 1980s. I was then part of a group, composed of diplomats and experts in political psychology, who were working to help the Cold War come to a peaceful end. The question arose whether -- when the United States ceased to have Soviet communism as an enemy – many Americans would have a need to find another enemy.

Time would tell.

Almost immediately after recalling that discussion, I happened upon a paragraph in the news magazine, THE WEEK, about how the supporters of our two main political parties feel about each other. “In 1960,” this paragraph said, in summarizing a piece by Ezra Klein and Alvin Chang on Vox.com, “only 5 percent of Republicans and 4 percent of Democrats said they would be upset if their son or daughter married someone affiliated with the other party.” But those numbers have changed drastically: “Five decades later, 49 percent of Republicans and 33 percent of Democrats said they’d be distressed by a politically mixed marriage.”

Although those numbers (49 percent to 33 percent) show a degree of asymmetry between the two sides, my experience over the past decade suggests that they understate the difference in the role of the two sides in creating this kind of antagonism and polarization.

Until recently, people on the liberal side expressed mostly sadness and regret about the increasing divide between our political sides, and a yearning for a way that we might again be able to deal with each other in a spirit of more cooperation and mutual respect.

I have almost never heard such regret and such desire from people on the right/Republican side of the divide. Only lately have I found feelings of anger and repulsion among Democrats to begin to match the similar feelings being directed against them by their counterparts on the Republican side.

That difference corresponds with how this polarization began. It began with the rise of an inflammatory kind of rhetoric on the right, a quarter century ago, around the time the Cold War was peacefully ending. That’s when Newt Gingrich rose to prominence, using propaganda techniques to get his followers to associate “liberal” with ideas of “abnormal” and “immoral.” And that was when Rush Limbaugh ascended to become “the Godzilla of talk radio,” daily teaching his millions of self-described “ditto-heads” to regard Democrats as anti-American enemies worthy of contempt.

And now we see -- in the success thus far of Donald Trump’s quest for the Republican nomination for president -- the ripened fruits of this cultivation of enmity. As I argued in two recent op/ed pieces – “Trump is But the Mirror” and “People Who Go for Trump’s ‘Hate Thy Neighbor’ Posture” – Trump is gaining his power by harnessing the passions of people who – needing enemies -- are predisposed to regard those different from “us” (Mexican immigrants, blacks, Muslims, liberals) with hostility.

Sunday News: ABC Moderators Fail, but Democratic Candidates Succeed; Bob Goodlatte Wants to Kill the Chesapeake Bay

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 20.

• ABC Moderators Ignore Climate Change And Planned Parenthood, But Find Time For Presidential Spouse Questions (David Muir and Martha Raddatz were truly abysmal last night. Fortunately, the Democratic candidates were all-around excellent, despite the idiot "moderators.")
• The ABC News Moderators Didn’t Ask a Single Question About Climate Change (Meh, I mean it's only the future of life on our planet and BY FAR the #1 issue facing us, but whatever!)
• Key Moments From the Democratic Debate ("From Bernie Sanders' apology to Hillary Clinton's empty-podium moment.")
• Hillary and Bernie Each Had a Pretty Strong Debate. That Means Hillary Won. (Agreed; Sanders did well, but so did Clinton, who was on her "A game" last night.)
• Clinton: Trump ‘Is Becoming ISIS’ Best Recruiter’
• For Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, a bond of power-hungriness, vulgarity and cynicism ("The American tycoon sees his doppelgänger in Russia’s autocratic leader.")
• Here are 7 things from the #DemDebate that will win Democrats the election next November ("By far the biggest loser in tonight’s Democratic debate was ABC. If you thought CNBC’s moderators in the Republican debate were bad, ABC beat them by a mile.")
• Sanders apologizes to Clinton for breach ("Sanders said his staff had acted improperly. 'This is not the type of campaign that we run.'"/li>
• Here’s what happened with NGP VAN, the Sanders Campaign, and the Clinton Campaign ("With the correction of the glitch and further audits by NGP VAN, we are confident now that the data within the system is secure.")
• An Explanation of What Bernie Sanders Staffers Actually Did and Why It Matters ("As it turns out the ethical breach by Sanders operatives was massive, but the actual data discovery was limited. So it made sense and was fairly obvious that the DNC would quickly end up giving the campaign back its NGPVAN access—particularly since failing to do so would be a death sentence for the campaign and a gigantic black eye to the party.")
• Watch Bernie Sanders’ Shrewd, Spirited Takedown of Donald Trump’s Bigotry (That was a GREAT answer by Sanders!)
• No budging by Virginia Republicans on Medicaid expansion ("Lawmakers still won’t extend health insurance to thousands of poor, even if hospitals spare taxpayers the cost.")
• Ralph Northam: Clean Power for a Healthy Virginia (Good to hear; the key is taking the Clean Power Plan as a bare minimum and going way further!)
• Schapiro: Va. corporate cops urged to man up - by one of their own ("A rare, little-noticed dissent by a powerful Virginia regulator could trigger anew - perhaps in the state Supreme Court - the debate over Dominion's controversial power grab." We should just break up Dominion, it's an anachronism and a corrupt one at that.))
• Editorial: The saboteurs of the Chesapeake ("U.S. Rep. Goodlatte’s fealty to the farmers of the Shenandoah Valley won’t surprise anyone. It explains his choice to value their freedom to pollute creeks and rivers over the rights of everyone else to a Chesapeake Bay not fouled with animal waste." Goodlatte is truly BADlatte.)
• Casey: Presenting the 2015 Dano Awards ("The dumb, and dumber and dumbest of the year")
• Virginia's scant opposition to offshore drilling stands out (Crank it up, guys!)
• Amid spike in heroin deaths, Virginia Beach police to carry lifesaving drug
• Arlington mourns the loss of a top schools administrator who died in diving accident
• D.C. area forecast: Winter chill stays today, spring-like warmth is on its way

Bipartisan Bill Would Dramatically Change (For the Better!) the Way Redistricting is Done in Virginia

by Lowell

Kudos to State Senators Janet Howell (D) and Jill Holtzman Vogel (R) for introducing SB 59, which lays out strict criteria for how redistricting can be done in Virginia. A few key requirements, which are most certainly NOT the case now, would be:

A Few Thoughts from Atif Qarni and Me on Augusta County's Freakout Over Arabic Calligraphy, the Koran, etc.

by Lowell

You've undoubtedly heard by now of this story, in which "[a] high school geography teacher in rural Augusta County asked students to try their hand at writing the shahada, an Islamic declaration of faith, in Arabic calligraphy," leading to "a sudden influx of outrage from around the country — including angry emails, phone calls and threats to put the teacher’s head on a stake" and the school district opting to "close rather than risk disruption or violence."

Disgusting, I know. Anyway, here's some reaction, from a Muslim (Atif Qarni) and a person (me) who was raised Jewish but has basically been an agnostic or atheist when it comes to religion for many years. Bolding added by me for emphasis.

First, Atif Qarni on Facebook a few minutes ago:

Saturday News: "Trump brings bigots out of hiding," His Voters Want to Bomb "Agrabah"

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, December 19. Also check out President Obama's top 10 things that happened in 2015.

• UN security council adopts resolution on Syrian peace process
• Trump brings bigots out of hiding (What's disturbing is how man bigots there are -- not the majority, but not a small minority either.)
• Trump Lead Grows Nationally; 41% of His Voters Want to Bomb Country From Aladdin; Clinton Maintains Big Lead (The "Agrabah" question is highly revealing...)
• Accord reached after Sanders sues the DNC over suspended access to critical voter list (Seems like the following screwups occurred: 1) the Clinton campaign's data was somehow made available to the Sanders campaign; 2) Sanders staffers apparently looked at and/or downloaded some of this data; 3) the DNC mishandled this. It's now resolved, but c'mon guys...we need this crap like a hole in the head.)
• Obama is a rationalist president in the age of anxiety ("Obama has a year left to pull his message together and reassure a frightened country.")
• Leader McConnell warns GOP voters: We need candidates 'who can win' ("It was a veiled shot at the GOP presidential front-runners: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson.")
• Republicans continue their assault on the voting rights of minorities, and the Supreme Court is helping them do it (This Supreme Court has been, and continues to be, uttelry abysmal.)
• The Surprising Winner Of Congress’ Budget Deal (Yep, clean energy!)
• How old-fashioned logrolling produced Congress' massive budget deal ("There was no showdown this time between GOP leaders and the right. But Democrats still exploited the GOP's ideological rift." Great job by Dems on this one!)
• GOP gobsmacked by Trump's warm embrace of Putin (Not sure why anything Trump does would "gobsmack" - great word, btw - anyone; I mean, Putin and Trump are both authoritarian, anti-democracy thugs, after all.)
• CNN's Peter Beinart: Trump's Relationship With Putin "Underscores The Degree To Which Trump Has Authoritarian Tendencies Himself"
• Virginia's jobless rate falls to 4.2 percent in November, reflecting a healthy labor market
• Virginia's former attorney general Cuccinelli endorses Ted Cruz (They are both theocratic extremitss who deny climate science, want to criminalize stem cell research and many forms of contraception, and favor discrimination against gay people. Any further questions?)
• In Virginia's Bible Belt, an Arabic Lesson Ignites Anger (Just pitiful.)
• Judge rules Virginia voter ID challenge can proceed
• VHSL: Some schools threatening Liberty boycott over Falwell remarks (No doubt, the Orwellian-named "Liberty" should be a pariah.)
• Working for Trump is a bad idea ("Stewart sees the surge in Trump’s poll numbers as an opportunity to become a household name across the commonwealth, especially among blue-collar, rural Virginians." True, but I disagree with the categorical statement that Stewart isn't a bigot; of course, we can't know what's in his heart, but his ACTIONS since 2007 have, at a minimum, indicated a willingness - eagerness, even - to pander to bigots.)
• Levar Stoney, member of McAuliffe cabinet, visits Norfolk to endorse Sen. Alexander for mayor
• Washington budget deal is a boost for Hampton Roads
• Fairfax opens door to renaming schools that honor a racist legacy (No brainer; why would we want public buildings, streets, etc. named after racists?!?)
• Loudoun deputy who body-slammed handcuffed man is convicted of assault
• State delegate tells Norfolk Airport to make deal on fees with Uber
• Breezy and chilly this weekend, then a warmer week ahead