by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, December 30.
- Incoherent, authoritarian, uninformed: Trump’s New York Times interview is a scary read (“The president of the United States is not well.” Seriously, the guy is demented.)
- Scattered Protests Erupt in Iran Over Economic Woes (The question is whether these grow into something bigger.)
- 10 Falsehoods From Trump’s Interview With The Times (Basically, almost nothing Trump says is true, it’s just varying degrees and levels of severity of falsehood and idiocy.)
- Trump’s New York Times Interview Is a Portrait of a Man in Cognitive Decline (“I don’t care whether Michael Schmidt was tough enough. We’ve got bigger problems.” I care about both,
but yeah…) - Trump’s strategy for dealing with North Korea is in shambles (“Signs abound that his economic isolation campaign is failing.” Everything Trump touches is in shambles.)
- Exclusive: Russian tankers fueled North Korea via transfers at sea – sources
- Time at Mar-a-Lago is a respite for Trump — and a headache for his staff (A respite from what exactly? The guy barely does any work, and I guess thank goodness he doesn’t given what a maniac he is.)
- Trump: Give Me a Border Wall or I’ll Deport the Dreamers (A wall is completely unacceptable, as is deporting the DREAMers. FU Trump.)
- Republicans are waging class war: It’s time for the left to fight back (“GOP policies are pushing wealth inequality to historic levels: This should be a massive wake-up call for the left”)
- Weak Suit (“Roy Moore’s effort to overturn the Alabama Senate election shows the derangement of the Trump era.”)
- Breitbart’s Astonishing Confession (“The editor of the right-wing news site admitted that its coverage of a major political campaign was dishonest, but the news barely made a blip in conservative media outlets.”)
- 138 things Trump did this year while you weren’t looking (“Behind the crazy headlines, more conservative priorities got pushed through than most people realize. An exhaustive list of what really happened to the government in 2017.” Nothing good.)
- Key races for control of the House as Democrats take slight edge into 2018 (Barbara Comstock makes the most vulnerable list.)
- White House surprised, frustrated by Trump’s New York Times interview: report
- Medicaid is GOP target in 2018
- Scarborough pens ominous op-ed: ‘A storm is gathering’ in 2018 (I’m not a fan of Morning Joke, but he could be right about this.)
- Trump administration fires all members of HIV/AIDS advisory council (Demented.)
- From Oregon to Maine, Statehouses Are Having Their Own #MeToo Reckonings (How about Tommy Norment here in Virginia?)
- 5 things that emboldened far-right trolls in 2017 (“The politics of manufactured outrage that allow the far right to attract attention and drive narratives”)
- Trump’s call for some ‘good old global warming’ ridiculed by climate experts
- Trump’s progress report: his impact so far and what to watch for next year (“What may be America’s strangest presidency ever has been a radical departure – in tone if not in substance – not least over race, the media and the environment”)
- Breitbart just can’t quit this ‘pro-white’ congressional candidate (“The site claimed it ‘cut all ties’ with Paul Nehlen. Then it booked him on a radio show.”)
- Warning more delay could jeopardize aspects of Northam inauguration, top House Republican lays out plan to elect GOP speaker regardless of Newport News tiebreaker (“With the outcome in the 94th District still unsettled, Cox said in a conference call with reporters that even if a planned tiebreaker occurs before the legislative session begins Jan. 10, the House won’t seat the winner if the loser asks for a recount. Cox didn’t say definitively if Yancey will ask for a recount if Simonds wins, but he said it’s unlikely a second recount could occur before Jan. 10. If other results hold, that means Republicans would have a 50-49 majority on opening day, presumably allowing Cox to be elected speaker.”)
- In tied 94th race, Yancey files rebuttal to Simonds reversal motions
- Disputed Virginia House race may be decided Thursday
- In race critical to Va. House control, GOP urges judges to stick by disputed ballot ruling
- McAuliffe commutes death sentence of killer found mentally incompetent to be executed
- Survey: 25% of UVA students call sexual misconduct a serious problem on campus, down from 39% in 2015
- High Occupancy Toll lanes on I-64 will open in early January
- Readers’ gardening resolutions reflect a commitment to being more environmentally friendly (The key is slashing the size of your lawn, aka grass monoculture, and replacing it with native plantings, pollinator-friendly species, etc. Make a New Year’s resolution to do that in 2018!)
- Some morning snow activity and a slightly less chilly day ahead of the next Arctic blast
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