Wednesday News: “How Russia Wins an Election”; “Buck Up, Democrats, and Fight Like Republicans”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 14. Also check out Seth Myers on “Trump’s Cabinet of Plutocrats and Hardliners.”

• Aleppo evacuation deal for rebels stalls amid disagreements and renewed shelling (Utter nightmare.)
• The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.
• How Russia Wins an Election (“You don’t need a security clearance to understand how Vladimir Putin does it. Just open your eyes.”)
• ‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestant nominated to oversee the U.S. nuclear program (“Rick Perry is no nuclear physicist.”)
• How Tillerson Put Exxon’s Needs Over U.S. Interests
• Donald Trump’s Nominees Are In for a Rough Ride (“The law bars his nominees from serving until they account for conflicts of interest. So far, they haven’t.”)
• Editorial: Will Rick Perry Be the Energy Department’s Undoing?
• Buck Up, Democrats, and Fight Like Republicans (“The Democratic Party has avoided fighting the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s election. This is a mistake the Republicans would not have committed.”)
• Trump is playing a risky spy game (“He should not have slammed the CIA, an agency that will be vital to his administration and to national security.”)
• Mitt Romney is no hero: He’s a big old two-time failure, and Donald Trump is partly his fault (“Mitt Romney won’t be the next secretary of state, which means he’s failed once again to rein in Donald Trump”)
• Donald Trump has a lot to learn from Loretta Lynch
• Electoral College members expand call for intelligence briefing (“There are now 29 members — but just one Republican — backing the effort, which has drawn support from the Clinton campaign.” Key phrase: “but just one Republican.”)
• POLITICO survey: Ellison no lock for DNC chair (“The shadow of the contentious Democratic presidential primary hangs over the race.”)
• Source: Donald Trump’s campaign is threatening “political reprisal” for defecting Republican electors
• Trump’s flirtation with Bolton sends shivers through Senate (“Republicans and Democrats have pledged to battle Trump if he names the least diplomatic diplomat to a top State Department post.”)
• David Brock blasts Brooklyn, ‘animals’ in press (“The Democrats’ dark-arts master questions the Clinton campaign’s toughness, declares war on media.”)
• How Clinton lost Michigan — and blew the election (“Across battlegrounds, Democrats blame HQ’s stubborn commitment to a one-size-fits-all strategy.” This really doesn’t reflect well on the Clinton campaign’s management…)
• Exxon Mobil Is the Worst Oil Company (“Rex Tillerson doesn’t just come from any oil company. He comes from the one that knew about climate change but spent decades lying to the public about it for profit.”)
• Ohio Governor Vetoes Very Bad 6-Week Abortion Ban, Signs Slightly Less Bad 20-Week Abortion Ban (“But Kasich vetoes the fetal heartbeat bill.”)
• What Was James Comey Thinking? (“Comey’s reputation for integrity and independence led Barack Obama to make him the seventh FBI director in the nation’s history. He was sworn in on September 4, 2013. Three years later, the man known as the straightest of straight shooters shot himself in the foot. The ricocheting bullet scarred his reputation, wounded the American body politic, and lodged in the heart of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.”)
• Fed seen kicking off Trump era with rate hike
• Tim Kaine says he’s ‘optimistic’ on funding from Congress for Metro (Sure hope he’s right; I’m not sure I see much reason for optimism in a Ryan/McConnell Congress with Trump as president…)
• Schapiro: Playing the Trump card in the GOP primary (“But endorsements, especially those from Republicans with a whiff of the Establishment about them, may not count for much in the party’s contest for governor.”)
• Appeals court upholds Virginia’s voter-ID law (“The state’s election law requires photo identification for in-person voting”)
• Health care, funding an infrastructure bill divide Virginia members of Congress
• Department of Corrections says Va. has low recidivism rate
• McAuliffe proposes 1.5% bonus for state workers, teachers after canceled raises
• Virginia hospital association plans to push for better registry for mental health beds, easier screening process
• University of Richmond joins effort to recruit low-income students
• Va. sen. Tim Kaine tours Silver Line Phase II rail project in Loudoun County
• Editorial: Making sense of McAuliffe’s proposal to restructure the Virginia Economic Development Partnership
• Governor Terry McAuliffe’s Next Plan to Lure Business to Virginia
• Representative-Elect Donald McEachin Says He’s Ready to Wade Into the D.C. Swamp
• Norfolk City Council unanimously calls for Treasurer Anthony Burfoot to resign by Thursday
• Virginian-Pilot editorial: There’s no end to Burfoot’s self-interst (Yep, they spelled “interest” wrong in their headline.)
• Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission asks school division to apologize for postponed assembly (“The city’s Human Rights Commission has written a letter to express its “disappointment and concern” about the postponement of an assembly planned by Cox High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance.”)
• Deep freeze Thursday and Friday, snow and ice possible Friday night into Saturday