by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, December 10. Also check out President Obama’s weekly address and someone please explain to me how he stays so upbeat these days, let alone about “Obamacare.” Hopefully he knows something the rest of us don’t.
- Secret CIA assessment says Russia aimed to help Trump win (So…Hillary won the popular vote by 2.7 million and the Russians helped subvert the election to help Trump. How is this legitimate? Hello Electoral College???)
- A man who rejects settled science on climate change should not lead the EPA (“Lawmakers should ask what Scott Pruitt would be prepared to do as the nation’s chief environmental officer to combat the risks facing the globe.”)
- How Schumer and the Democrats are preparing to fight (“To succeed in 2018, the party needs to reclaim the populism Trump stole in 2016.”)
- Donald Trump is actually a fascist (“All this seemingly erratic behavior can be explained — if not justified — by thinking of Trump as a fascist. Not in the sense of an all-purpose bad guy, but in the sense of somebody who sincerely believes that the toxic combination of strong government and strong corporations should run the nation and the world. He spent his previous career negotiating with the government on behalf of corporations; now he has switched teams. But it’s the same game.”)
- Trump team’s demands fuel fear of Energy Department ‘witch hunt’
- Trump’s pick for White House counsel is wrong for the job
- Leaked Document: Trump Wants to Identify Officials Who Worked on Obama Climate Policies (“Energy Department employees are ‘unsettled’ by a transition team questionnaire.” We all need to be highly unsettled – alarmed, actually – by this crap.)
- A big change to U.S. broadcasting is coming — and it’s one Putin might admire (“With a confirming vote by the GOP-controlled Senate, President-elect Donald Trump will be able to install the editor of Breitbart News or another propagandist of his choice to direct how the United States is presented to the world by VOA, or how Russia is covered by RL. If Congress’s intention was for U.S. broadcasting to rival the Kremlin’s, it may well get its wish.”)
- Obama is rushing to Trump-proof the White House (Good luck with that.)
- GOP Plans Major Social Security Cuts
- Let’s Not Pretend We Didn’t Know This (“It’s a big, big deal even if we can’t say definitively that Russian interference was the cause of Trump’s election, which we cannot. But the hacking campaign certainly had a major effect on the progress of election. There’s no question about that.”)
- Trump breaks with Obama, intel agencies on election hacking (Of course he does!)
- Giuliani pulls name from contention for secretary of state (Good riddance, but ExxonFrigginMobil CEO Rex Tillerson would be just as bad in his own way.)
- GOP will kill Obamacare … and then fund it (“After railing against insurer ‘bailouts,’ Republicans may have to offer something similar to prevent chaos while they craft a replacement.” Pathetic joke.)
- Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary wants to sell off public lands (“Rep. McMorris Rodgers’ nomination is more bad news in an administration that will be terrible on climate.” Completely unacceptable pick.)
- Stop calling the party of Donald Trump “conservative”: It’s a party of dangerous, destructive reactionaries (“If anything, the Democrats have become our conservative party, while the GOP are bunch of wild-eyed radicals”)
- Donald Trump’s open corruption: The president-elect doesn’t care that you know he’s crooked
- An ‘Apprentice’ Role for Trump Opens Door Wide for Questions
- Hey, White Working Class, Donald Trump Is Already Screwing You Over (“The Carrier deal was a sham. Ivanka’s moving her shoe production out of China—and into Ethiopia. Wake up, people. You’ve been played.”)
- It’s Not All About Clinton — The Midwest Was Getting Redder Before 2016
- Virginia GOP welcomes McDonnell, Cantor (Corrupt slimeballs run amok.)
- The CIA concluded that Russia worked to elect Trump. Republicans now face an impossible choice.
- Donald Trump’s Shiny Marxism(“Trump’s boast of a mandate is an expression not of confidence but insecurity. His popular-vote loss is approaching 3 million. He enjoys far less support than any other president-elect. The last three presidents-elect had favorable ratings in their honeymoon period ranging from 60 to 79 percent. Trump’s stands at 37 percent. Support for their Cabinet and other high-level appointees has ranged from 58 to 71 percent. Trump’s selections have 40 percent. Trump now has the opportunity to enact sweeping changes to the social contract, not because he has obtained the collective assent of the people but because the system enables minority rule.”)
- Donald Trump’s Harassment of a Teenage Girl on Twitter Led to Death and Rape Threats (Yep, that’s our next Commander in Chief. We. Are. Totally. F***ed.)
- Sen. Stanley named board chairman for NCI, won’t run for attorney general
- Wittman’s exit proves to be Gillespie’s boon
- Virginia’s sagging tax collections turn upward in November (“Better revenue numbers could ease budget crunch”)
- McDonnell: My restoration is in process (Yeah, right.)
- Contaminants found; Dominion offers to connect Possum Point residents to public water line (Great work by Sen. Scott Surovell holding Dominion’s feet to the fire!)
- Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot found guilty on 6 counts in federal public corruption trial
- Norfolk official convicted of taking developers’ bribes
- UVa board establishes permanent endowment for financial aid
- Midwinter chill today and Sunday before milder air moves in with precipitation
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