by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 6. Also check out the “Liberal Redneck” thanking President Obama as only he can. 🙂
- U.S. intercepts said to capture Russian officials congratulating themselves on Trump win (“The ebullient reaction to Donald Trump’s victory contributed to the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow’s efforts were aimed at least in part at helping the president-elect.”)
- Russia meddled in U.S. election, Clapper says, rejecting Trump’s view
- Ex-CIA director Woolsey quits Trump transition team (Someone with integrity – amazing.)
- Kaine: Why is Trump Putin’s ‘defense lawyer’? (Great question!)
- Tim Kaine questions judgment of Trump’s pick for national security adviser
- The Brutal (And Factchecked) Numbers On Killing Obamacare (“More than 23 million people could lose coverage. And the superrich will get a $197,000 tax cut.” If this isn’t evil, nothing is.)
- Conservatives Baselessly Blame Attack On Black Lives Matter Movement With “#BLMKidnapping” Hashtag
- Donald Trump Casts Intelligence Aside (Yeah, in more ways than one!)
- Krugman: The Age of Fake Policy (“Sorry, folks, but headlines that repeat Trump claims about jobs saved, without conveying the essential fakeness of those claims, are a betrayal of journalism. This is true even if, as often happens, the articles eventually, quite a few paragraphs in, get around to debunking the hype: many if not most readers will take the headline as validation of the claim.”)
- Egan: Erasing Obama (“Most of the Trump agenda — building a wall, cutting taxes on the rich, ramping up oil and gas drilling at the expense of alternative fuels, taking away people’s health care — is opposed by clear majorities. Trump will erase Obama’s policy legacy at his peril.”)
- Trump’s war on intelligence: Open conflict between the next president and his spy chiefs (This should be highly disturbing to every patriotic American.)
- Trump seems to keep siding with Russia, but what does that get him? (“His showdown with the U.S. intelligence community is heating up.”)
- We know what Russia did. But what we really need to understand is why.
- Conservatives ready to support $1 trillion hole in the budget (Brilliant, huh?)
- Trump is good. Assange helped Trump. Therefore, Assange is good? (“The childish logic behind the right’s tribal reasoning may be the start of a nightmare.”)
- Why does Trump go googly-eyed for Putin? (“His admiration of Russia’s autocratic leader is alarming.” Is there anything about Trump that is NOT alarming?)
- An existential moment for the Euro-American alliance (“Trump has made clear that he no longer wants to promote and protect democratic institutions around the world.”)
- Trump’s health-care plan has already been tried. It was a disaster. (“Covering preexisting conditions without an individual mandate guarantees a death spiral.” Note that the individual mandate was a conservative idea…)
- Before Briefing, Trump Continues to Disparage Report on Russian Hacking (Trump should absolutely not be President. He is corrupt to the core, also unhinged. VERY dangerous combo.)
- Russian hacking claims: Joe Biden tells Trump to ‘grow up’ (The scary thing is that Trump IS fully “grown,” and this is who he is – a narcissistic socioopathic nutjob.)
- Sen. Tim Kaine leads push to block quick repeal of health care law (Thank you Tim Kaine — real leadership!)
- Kaine bid to slow Obamacare repeal fails (Republicans are heading towards chaos and disaster.)f
- House Republicans revive obscure rule that allows them to slash the pay of individual federal workers to $1 (“The return of the ‘Holman rule’ threatens to upend the 130-year-old civil service” Anyone who voted for this is viciously hostile to federal workers and also to an independent, professional, apolitical civil service. VERY dangerous.)
- Trump asking Congress, not Mexico, to pay for border wall
- Trump, Obama set to shadowbox in Virginia governor’s race (“The race is shaping up as a test of Trump and Obama’s political power in contests outside Washington.”)
- Democratic lawmakers considering challenge to Trump’s Electoral College victory (Hey, why not? To paraphrase Trump, “what the hell do we have to lose?”)
- Trump’s Twitter feed traumatizes Washington (“‘The tweets unnerve me,’ says Trent Lott, one of many Washington power brokers uneasy about the president-elect’s chaotic messaging.” You mean you’re uneasy about having a totally unhinged President — not to mention his unhinged/extreme Cabinet, people like Ben Carson for instance. What could POSSIBLY go wrong, other than everything???)
- Trump said he had $315 million in debt. He left out $1.5 billion. (“A new report reveals the breathtaking scope of Trump’s conflicts of interest.” Trump should be impeached on Day #1, but of course Lyin’ Ryan, Mitch McConnell etc. won’t do that.)
- Paul Ryan promises to “defund” Planned Parenthood with Obamacare repeal (OK, America, you’ve elected – well, sort of – a bunch of extremists to represent you. Happy now?)
- Tucker Carlson takes over Megyn Kelly’s spot: Fox News signals it’s changing nothing (Actually, as bad as Megyn Kelly is, I’d say Tucker Carson is worse.)
- Mitch McConnell flips the script on Dems: obstructing a Supreme Court nominee isn’t OK (After doing just that to a sitting President for a year. McConnell is scum – and utterly shameless scum at that.)
- What are Steve Mnuchin and Jeff Sessions hiding? Trump’s Cabinet appointees have huge gaps in their records (Speaking of scum…)
- House votes to condemn U.N. security council resolution on Israeli settlements (Thanks to Representatives Beyer, Connolly and Scott for voting against this absurd resolution. The fact is, Israeli settlement expansion is HARMING Israel badly, will prove ruinous in coming years, which means that anyone who supports settlement expansion is NOT a friend of Israel.)
- House Republicans pitch plans for economic development, cutting regulation (“Republicans in the House of Delegates have their own plan for correcting flaws in Virginia’s economic development programs, including a delay in creating a separate international trade corporation that the General Assembly approved last year.”)
- Perriello launches bid for governor, saying he’ll fight for ‘firewall’ against Trump
- Gordon Morse: Why Northam should welcome Perriello (“Yes, energy. You gotta want it. You gotta show that you want it. And you have to say, in a loud and compelling voice, why you should get it.” Agreed.)
- A surprise candidate brings 2016 presidential dynamics to Virginia governor’s race
- Virginia’s ‘Minister of Private Parts’ deserves scorn for his transgender bathroom bill (On the one hand, I badly want Democrats to defeat “Sideshow Bob.” On the other hand, he’s great copy for bloggers, reporters, etc. looking for an unhinged buffoon to feature. LOL)
- Former Fluvanna Sheriff hopes to become senator of the 22nd district
- McAuliffe bans state contracts with firms engaged in anti-LGBT discrimination (“The conservative Family Foundation blasted the order as an ‘act of blatant religious bigotry.'” Because somehow it’s “conservative,” not simple bigotry, to discriminate against people based on their inherent, “God-given” characteristics?)
- Editorial: With transgender bathroom bill, Bob Marshall rides again (Don’t you love how “conservatives” always blabber on about “liberty,” except when they constantly want to tell everyone what to do with their bodies, that who they inherently are is a bad thing, etc?I’ve even seen the brain-dead, up-is-down argument by conservatives that what “Sideshow Bob” is doing is actually liberal! These people are amazing — and not in a good way.)
- Fairfax seeks applicants for police abuse review panel created after fatal shooting
- Delegate moves to roll back penalties for commercial fishing violations (If anything, the penalties should be INCREASED.)
- As he left office, former Richmond Mayor Jones authorized $166K in severance for appointees
- Buckingham approves compressor station for Dominion pipeline over opposition from residents (Screw you Dominion.)
- Chesapeake Bay health scores C- in new report (Getting a bit better, but still not very good. Lots more work to be done!)
- Milestone in Chesapeake Bay cleanup comes as advocates fear a stall under Trump administration
- Virginian-Pilot editorial: Bay clean-up progress earns poor marks (“Despite some progress, the health of the Chesapeake Bay remains imperiled by a lack of commitment to clean-up efforts”)
- Winter storm warning issued: Peninsula forecast shows 8-12 inches snow
- At least 2 inches of snow probable for Richmond area; Tri-Cities, Williamsburg will see more
- Forecast: Winter takes hold as the next chance of snow looms
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