by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 23. Also check out Bill Nye discussing Trump’s horrendous picks for EPA and the Department of Energy, also the “weirdly American phenomenon” of climate science denial and how we could power the world with clean energy “right now if we just decided to do it.” Speaking of which, see 2 remarkable facts that illustrate solar power’s declining cost by David Roberts of Vox.
- BREAKING NEWS: Suspect in Berlin Christmas market attack shot dead in Milan
- Trump’s tweets on nuclear arsenal, Israel signal major policy changes (Expanding our country’s nuclear arsenal is absolutely bonkers. Reversing U.S. policy on Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank is also completely f’ed. This administration is going to be an absolute disaster; anyone who voted for Trump or supported him in any way is responsible.)
- Who’s in charge here? Donald Trump’s regime-in-waiting has a vacuum at the top
- Democrats aim to launch comeback with Cabinet showdown
- Carter is only former president to RSVP for Trump’s inauguration (Nobody should attend. Nobody should normalize Trump.)
- Fox’s “War On Christmas” Prompts Jewish Family To Fear “Pizzagate”-Style Response (Greeeeaaaat.)
- Trump Brings His Devious Social Media Director, Dan Scavino, To The White House (“Scavino Uses His Twitter Feed To Push Conspiracy Theories And Harassment”)
- Why Did Planned Parenthood Supporters Vote Trump? (“A series of maddening focus groups suggest Clinton made it easier for voters to reconcile themselves to Trump.”)
- How the Obama Coalition Crumbled, Leaving an Opening for Trump (“At every point of the race, Mr. Trump was doing better among white voters without a college degree than Mitt Romney did in 2012 — by a wide margin. Mrs. Clinton was also not matching Mr. Obama’s support among black voters.”)
- Trump says his victory ‘shattered the glass ceiling for women’ (“No.”)
- Jeb Bush partners with oil and gas lobbying firm, then defends Trump’s EPA pick (Just a reminder that Trump may be utterly heinous, but many other Republicans are really bad as well.)
- The Democratic Party’s future could be on the line in 7 hugely important governor’s races (Weird line about Virginia: “Democrats will try to hold on to the governor’s mansion there with any number of candidates” What on earth does that mean? As far as I’m aware, nobody is challenging Ralph Northam.)
- Biden: Clinton never figured out why she was running
- Paul Krugman:: Populism, Real and Phony (“Authoritarians with an animus against ethnic minorities are on the march across the Western world…Expect more Carrier-style stunts that don’t actually help workers but dominate a news cycle. Expect lots of fulmination against minorities. And it’s worth remembering what authoritarian regimes traditionally do to shift attention from failing policies, namely, find some foreigners to confront. Maybe it will be a trade war with China, maybe something worse.”)
- First on CNN: Four governors back Tom Perez for DNC chair (That includes Terry McAuliffe, and as much as I like and respect Tom Perez, if anything T-Mac’s endorsement makes me more likely to either support Keith Ellison or just stay neutral in the DNC Chair race…)
- Trump vineyard seeks Labor Department approval to hire foreign workers (“Federal ethics experts call request a conflict of interest” Tons of stuff in this administration’s going to be a conflict of interest.)
- North Carolina Doubles Down on Bigotry (“It’s unconscionable that North Carolina’s lawmakers would go out of their way to stigmatize and injure this vulnerable population.”)
- Griffith: Pruitt will be good for EPA — and Virginia coal (Morgan Griffith is a climate science-denying imbecile and fossil fuel industry tool.)
- For Virginia’s disabled, a change in what the state will pay caregivers
- Two Siberian lynxes are snatched from a Virginia zoo
- Metro’s watchdog received a complaint about falsified inspection reports three years ago. And?
- Advocates, state police warn Virginians about drunken driving during Christmas holiday
- Dismissed Turkish military officials in Hampton Roads may face prison or worse if they return home
- Amid urbanization, rural Loudoun County holds its own
- Chesapeake sheriff replaces Norfolk sheriff as Hampton Roads Regional Jail interim superintendent
- Editorial: More good press for Roanoke
- Holiday travel weather looks good, showers possible tomorrow
