Tuesday News: “Trump’s first year was even worse than feared” but “America Is Not Yet Lost?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 26.

• Krugman: America Is Not Yet Lost (“Donald Trump has been every bit as horrible as one might have expected; he continues, day after day, to prove himself utterly unfit for office, morally and intellectually. And the Republican Party — including so-called moderates — turns out, if anything, to be even worse than one might have expected. At this point it’s evidently composed entirely of cynical apparatchiks, willing to sell out every principle — and every shred of their own dignity — as long as their donors get big tax cuts…Yet I’m ending this year with a feeling of hope, because tens of millions of Americans have risen to the occasion. “)
• North Korea likely to pursue talks, South says in rosy New Year forecast
• Russian officials bar Navalny from running for president (Yep, that’s Putin – Trump’s BFF.)
• President Trump Spent Nearly One-Third of First Year in Office at Trump-Owned Properties (“Unlike his predecessors, president traveled frequently to places he owns but where others pay to stay”)
• Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options
• Incomes Grew After Past Tax Cuts, but Guess Whose
• Trump’s first year was even worse than feared (“But voters can change things up at the ballot box in 2018.”)
• Russia never stopped its cyberattacks on the United States (“Moscow’s propaganda doesn’t just target our elections. It targets our entire nation.”)
• Trump’s blatant racism: A Christmas surprise that’s no surprise (“Haitians have AIDS; Nigerians should return to their ‘huts,’ says the president. Will Republicans ever reject him?” Every day Republicans don’t reject this raving racist shows that they’re either racists themselves or they don’t care that the “president” is a raving racist.)
• Hey, remember Roy Moore? Two weeks later, he still hasn’t conceded (“On Friday, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said he would officially certify the election results in Jones’ favor on Dec. 28.”)
• Where is Trump’s Cabinet? It’s anybody’s guess (“Agency heads are carrying out the Trump administration’s agenda largely in secret, in many cases shielding their schedules from public view.” Why would someone do that? Obviously, because they have some bad s*** to hide!)
• Impeachment debate divides Democrats as 2018 wave builds (“If Democrats take back the House, they’ll immediately face pressure from their base to impeach Trump. But it may not be their best move.”)
• Dems see 2018 as best chance in years to win back House
• Obama’s post-presidential life: what does his second act have in store? (“Obama has given Trump noticeably wide berth, despite the palpable appetite from fans for Obama to play a continued role in their lives.”)
• $180bn investment in plastic factories feeds global packaging binge(“Colossal funding in manufacturing plants by fossil fuel companies will increase plastic production by 40%, risking permanent pollution of the earth” We should be ditching plastics, not increasing production – unbelievable.)
• States Are Going to Extraordinary Lengths to Keep Death Penalty Drugs Top Secret (That includes Virginia, and it’s not acceptable.)
• Lot draw to determine House control will be livestreamed (“The elections board announced Saturday the drawing will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, and that WCVE, the Richmond-based public television station, will broadcast the drawing of lots on its Facebook page.”)
• Could a split Virginia House force delegates to get along? It’s happened before.
• Editorial: Kaine, Warner fight battles of importance to country
• Muted response to first openly gay woman in Va. legislature shows social shift (“Dawn Adams defeated a Republican incumbent in a red-leaning district.” Apparently it’s not a “red-leaning district,” given that Adams won there and that Hillary Clinton won the district by 10 points…)
• Editorial: A back-to-basics look at Virginia’s budget
• Deadline for Va. House election redo request over bad ballots (“Multiple people on both sides of the aisle believed Cole was likely to file a contest of the election with the clerk of the House Tuesday, triggering a formal review that is handled somewhat like a lawsuit. Cole had three days after the recount to file the contest, which Democrats believe extended to Tuesday due to the Christmas holiday.”)
• To address Virginia’s teacher shortage, lawmaker proposes licensing fast-track for some military spouses
• Freitas brings Senate campaign to Manassas (Freitas loves spewing nonsense like “This is our opportunity to move toward a liberty-based version of the party”)
• ‘Killing for Love’ examines Soering case
• Editorial: Five more possible new names for Stonewall Jackson Middle School
• The frigid final days of 2017