Tuesday News: Samantha Bee and Glenn Beck (WTF???); GOP Electors Shockingly Don’t Stand Up For America, Against Trump (Heh)

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 20. Also, check out Samantha Bee sitting down with…Glenn Beck. Yeah, we are living in utterly bizarre times.

• Merkel Says Attack on Berlin Market Was Act of Terrorism
• Berlin police suspect terrorism in deadly Christmas market crash (As I wrote yesterday, Trump’s response to this was irresponsible and idiotic.)
• Investigators seek answers in Russian ambassador’s assassination in Turkey
• A bipartisan committee should investigate Russia’s election hacking (They also need to investigate Trump’s massive corruption and start drafting articles of impeachment, but of course they won’t, since they’re Republicans.)
• Amid protests, electoral college makes Trump’s win official (Complete #FAIL by Republican Electors. What they just did was seal America’s doom. Nice job.)
• Time to End the Electoral College (“This outdated institution undermines participatory democracy no matter who wins the White House.” Bottom line: if you win the election by nearly 3 million votes, you shouldn’t lose the friggin’ election!)
• Donald Trump is serious about smashing GOP orthodoxy (“Don’t expect the president-elect to give up on his border wall — or anything else.”)
• The GOP is at its peak, but conservatism has hit rock bottom (“The Republican Party triumphed — but what kind of political force has it become?” A force for ignorance, bigotry – white backlash, specifically – and evil.)
• Trump’s OMB pick seems poised to ignite a worldwide financial crisis (“He’s content to default on our debt — and that’s dangerous.”)
• Trump’s choice for Israeli ambassador is a danger to American lives (“David Friedman is a zealot with a political potty mouth and an unsound mind.”)
• What’s Trump up to? Don’t ask his spokesman. (“Jason Miller never has much to say about his boss’s thinking or plans — except that they’re huge.”)
• Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel is unfit to serve (“David Friedman treats people in a way that’s anathema to democratic values.” Speaking of evil…)
• A Historic Number of Electors Defected, and Most Were Supposed to Vote for Clinton
• Democrats Had a Knife, and the G.O.P. Had a Gun (“Anybody tempted to fantasize about inevitable Democratic victories should think ahead to 2020 — when the McCrory playbook may well be used not just in a state election but a national one.”)
• Gingrich Suggests Trump Simply Pardon Family That Breaks Anti-Nepotism Law (Again, just imagine if a close adviser to Clinton or Obama had publicly suggested something like this; the right wing would have gone NUTS!)
• GOP Rep’s Vision Of Post-ACA World: You Wait To Treat Your Kid’s Broken Arm (Demented.)
• Under political pressure, Kuwait cancels major event at Four Seasons, switches to Trump’s D.C. hotel (“Emoluments,” anyone?)
• Bill Clinton: Trump knows how to get ‘angry, white men to vote for him’
• Hunting with the kleptocracy: Donald Trump’s sons host shameless fundraiser for “charity” (Trump’s sons are nasty pieces of work, to put it mildly.)
• How Trump’s Apparatchiks Are Erasing Russia’s Role in the Election (“Evasions, brushoffs, innuendos, contortions, rationalizations, and attacks.” How come we don’t see above-the-fold headlines, Chris Cillizza going nuts, etc. 24/7 by the corporate media about THIS S*** like we did with Hillary’s stupid emails or the Clinton Foundation?)
• “Any American should be concerned”: Warner on possible Russian election tampering, Trump’s dismissal of it
• Virginian-Pilot editorial: In want of cooperation on climate change
• Judge sets Jan. 3 hearing on request to stop execution in Ricky Gray case
• Daily Press, Virginian-Pilot push for transcript of closed hearing in Carrollton lawmaker’s case
• Editorial: Fatal flaws in the system (“In a better world with a more equitable system, neither Henry Clay Stewart Jr. nor Jamycheal Mitchell would have even been in the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. Certainly neither one would have died there. Mr. Stewart, a 60-year-old Newport News resident, and Mr. Mitchell, 24, of Portsmouth…”)
• Senator Tim Kaine to visit Newport News opioid abuse treatment facility
• Gradually warming this week, maybe a few showers for Christmas weekend