by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 21. Also check out Oprah’s interview with our brilliant, classy First Lady Michelle Obama, who I will miss enormously…
- Obama bans oil drilling in areas of Atlantic, Arctic oceans (“The president used a little-known law called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which the White House said cannot be undone by an incoming president, to make drilling in the area off-limits indefinitely. It is not clear if a Republican-controlled Congress can rescind Obama’s action.”)
- Berlin attack typical of ISIS strategy to divide Muslims from others (And “useful idiot” Trump fell right into their strategy…)
- Clinton allies rip into FBI after search warrant unsealed (“‘It is salt in the wound to see FBI rationale was this flimsy,’ Clinton’s former spokesman says.”)
- Trump team discussing ‘half-blind’ trust for conflicts of interest (“Critics say the plan could allow Trump or members of his administration to continue to draw income from their businesses — and even peek in on how their companies are faring.”)
- The Subpoena That Rocked The Election Is Legal Garbage, Experts Say (But the Washington Compost, NY Times, etc. were all hyperventilating about it, so it must have been a big deal, right? NOT!)
- Trump voters didn’t take him literally on Obamacare. Oops? (“Some voters are now worried they might be ‘up a creek.'”
- I was a victim of a Russian smear campaign. I understand the power of fake news.
- O’Reilly goes ‘full white nationalist’: Dems want ‘power taken away from the white establishment’ (Yep, that’s O’LIElly for ya.)
- Khizr Khan: McAuliffe encouraged me to run for office
- Khizr Khan on being vilified by Trump: ‘The far right feels that their voice has been heard’
- “Drain the swamp” — of all those P.C. liberals! Turns out Trumpers don’t care about lobbyists or plutocrats (Neither did the supposedly populist Tea Party.)
- Prince of lies: Donald Trump’s contradictory remarks about “violence” reflect his power to distort reality (“Trump’s bewildering, inconsistent statements are not accidents — they’re part of a large and dangerous pattern”)
- Trump Is Making America Less American(“He’s already undermining the things that keep our democracy healthy. After all, he doesn’t need them anymore.”)
- Donald Trump Is Surrounding Himself With Budget-Shredding Tea Partiers
- North Carolina’s jarring GOP power grab feels familiar
- Tim Kaine reflects on campaign, looks ahead to work in Congress
- Donald Trump Doesn’t Have a Mandate. Pundits Shouldn’t Give Him One.(“Awaiting the inevitable calls to ‘give him a chance.'”)
- Virginian-Pilot editorial: A budget proposal of smaller ambition (“There’s being governor of Virginia (which means one thing) and then there’s being governor of Virginia in the last year of your term (which means something else).”)
- Regional governments bash pipeline impact statement
- Metro isn’t just broken. It’s also broke. (“It’s no longer enough to put off funding till reforms are in place. Both are needed urgently.”)
- House GOP looks to tighten rules for Virginia welfare recipients (Note how they do NOT tighten rules for Virginia CORPORATE welfare recipients?)
- Sen. Kaine hears of challenges, hope with addiction recovery
- Chesapeake council OK’s natural gas-fueled power plant by controversial Chesapeake Energy Center
- Fight over ownership of Chesapeake golf course, built on coal ash, could draw in Dominion
- Editorial: Why are Detroit and Pittsburgh so different? And what does that make for Roanoke?
- McAuliffe encourages retired teachers to go back to the classroom in Petersburg
- Forecast: As holidays near, temperatures warms
