by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Christmas Day 2018 – one of the least “merry” Christmases for our country and our world in a looong time.
- ‘Hunker down like a jackass’: Shutdown could drag on for weeks (“The president spends Christmas Eve ‘all alone in the White House,’ complaining about Democrats with no end to the closure in sight.”)
- Dow drops 653 points in worst Christmas Eve trading day ever (#MAGA is going really well, huh?)
- Shutdown Grinds On With Democrats Venting and Trump ‘All Alone’
- Trump Delivers a Victory to Iran (“The president’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria has ruined the administration’s efforts to contain the Islamic republic.” Trump also made Putin and Assad very happy, while harming basically everyone else.)
- Trump Blasts Fed as Mnuchin Bids to Reassure Investors (“President says Federal Reserve is ‘the only problem our economy has’” In fact, the Fed is doing exactly what it should be doing, which is a couple small interest rate hikes off of historic lows during a very strong economic situation. What was WRONG was what the Republican Congress did, which was a counter-cyclical fiscal stimulus…and for rich people, who didn’t need it, to boot! Yes, Republicans are completely f’ed up.)
- Trump hands out lumps of coal to enemies on Christmas Eve
- The Ghost of Trump Chaos Future (“Sorry, investors, but there is no sanity clause.”)
- Trump Fears Greatest Economy In History Is On Brink of Collapse (So, let’s get this story straight: Trump inherited a super-strong situation from President Obama, and in less than two years is well on the way to f’ing it up. Far from “making America great again,” Trump is doing the polar opposite…)
- Trump attacks Mattis and complains others ‘take total advantage’ of US (“In tweets, president also attacks US diplomat Brett McGurk”)
- What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities (“The Treasury secretary put out an alarming—and confusing—press release on Sunday evening.”)
- The Economy Is Still Strong. Will Washington Missteps Ruin It? (“While it’s true the global economy is sputtering, this sense of gloom and pessimism in the United States has gotten ahead of the facts on the ground. The real risk is that bad decisions could convert moderate economic shocks into a crisis, our correspondent writes in an analysis.” Why say “Washington” missteps and not place the blame where it belongs, which is on the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans, not generically on “Washington?” This stuff drives me nuts.)
- Time for G.O.P. to Threaten to Fire Trump (“Republican leaders need to mount an intervention.”)
- Trump ‘plunging us into chaos’, Democrats say, as markets tank and shutdown persists (“Schumer and Pelosi: Trump is waging a ‘personal war’ on Fed”)
- Trump ignores climate change, offers handouts to timber industry in wildfire executive order (“Commercial logging has been found to increase wildfire risk.”)
- We Are All Riders on the Same Planet (“Seen from space 50 years ago, Earth appeared as a gift to preserve and cherish. What happened?” Humans are busy trashing that pale blue dot.)
- Trump takes parting shot at Mattis and his view of U.S. allies (Mattis, of course, is correct…Trump of course is totally wrong.)
- Which 2020 Candidates Won 2018? (“Hint: One of them rhymes with Freto Frorourke.”)
- McCaskill warns Dems about ‘cheap’ rhetoric; says GOP senators privately believe Trump is ‘nuts’ (“Now they’ll tell you, if it’s just the two of you, ‘The guy is nuts, he doesn’t have a grasp of the issues, he’s making rash decisions, he’s not listening to people who know the subject matter,'” she said. ‘But in public if they go after him … they know they get a primary, and they know that’s tough.'”)
- The Memo: Trump chaos pervades holiday season
- Trump’s White House tried to calm markets. It backfired.
- ‘I am all alone’: An isolated Trump unleashes a storm of Yuletide gloom (Just a completely pathetic, sick human being.)
- Side hustles and family loans help federal workers weather the shutdown
- The 7 biggest foreign news stories to watch in 2019, from Brexit to North Korea
- Wesley Clark on Trump’s Syria withdrawal: ‘Did Erdogan blackmail the president?’ (“There doesn’t seem to be any strategic rationale for the decision. And if there’s no strategic rationale for the decision then you have to ask, why was the decision made?”)
- 2018’s big wins — and big losses — for animals (“A ban on dog and cat meat, improved conditions for caged animals, and other notable developments in animal welfare”)
- Kevin Spacey Charged With Felony Sexual Assault
- Kevin Spacey released a bizarre video evoking Frank Underwood, apparently to defend himself
- Trump tells NORAD caller believing in Santa at age 7 is “marginal”
- Trump is incompetent, impulsive and amoral. Heaven help us all. (The pathetic and unforgivable thing is, anyone who voted for this sociopathic freakazoid KNEW all that when they voted for him!)
- Mark Hamill on Luke’s fate, Trump vs. Darth Vader and more (“Listen, I really get upset then when people compare [Trump] or even Dick Cheney to Darth Vader … ’cause Darth Vader repented. He saw the error of his ways. I don’t see either one of them doing that.”)
- The $1.2 billion question in Virginia: Just how much money does the state have to spend?
- Dominion Execs’ Fundraiser for Governor Northam to Draw Uninvited Guests, aka Voters
- The new reality of primaries in Virginia
- How did Virginia end up with a $31 million bill for emergency shelters it barely used?
- Long lines, paper jams, late absentee ballots among Va. election issues
- Judge orders N.Korea to pay more than $500 million in death of UVA student Otto Warmbier (Good, except good luck getting North Korea to pay up.)
- Pay equity lags for women, people of color in Charlottesville nonprofits
- Williams: Richmond’s police chief knew it was time to go. Where do we go from here?
- It’s a cloudy Christmas Day, but the weather stays dry until Thursday
