by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 5.
- Trump Warns China That He’s ‘Tariff Man,’ Spooking Stock Investors (“Stocks, which rallied Monday on the potential for a truce in the United States-China trade war, began a downward spiral on Tuesday as confusion set in about whether an agreement had truly been reached.”)
- White House forced to walk back Trump’s victory lap on Chinese trade deal (“From ‘incredible deal’ to ‘Tariff Man.'” And there goes the stock market…)
- Dow dives nearly 800 points on fears of economic slowdown
- China Breaks Its Silence on 90-Day U.S. Tariff Truce (“China’s Commerce Ministry says there is a ‘clear timeline and road map’ for negotiations”)
- France’s fuel tax retreat dismays COP24 climate talks (“The suspension of a fuel tax increase ‘sends a very bad signal,’ warn campaigners.”)
- Flatter Yield Curves Aren’t Always Bad News—but This One Is (“U.S. government bonds are on the edge of a yield-curve inversion”)
- ‘Chaos breeds chaos’: Trump’s erratic and false claims roil the globe. Again. (“Global markets demand consistency and reliability, but this week’s statements from President Trump on trade with China underscore how he makes knee-jerk announcements that surprise investors, lawmakers and even some advisers, who might find themselves reversing course depending on his whims.” Absolutely ridiculous, reckless, crazy. Who in hell supports this f***tard???)
- Mueller seeks no prison time for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, citing his ‘substantial assistance’ (As the top-rated comment on the article says, “As much as I would like to #LockHimUp, I would much prefer that Flynn’s ‘substantial contributions’ to the investigation result in seeing the entire crime syndicate’s family locked up, including the bloviating snitgibbon himself.” I couldn’t agree more.)
- At farewell to Bush, a yearning for decency, moderation and compromise (How about some members of Bush’s party actually, you know, standing up for those things???)
- Mueller says Michael Flynn gave ‘first-hand’ details of Trump transition team contacts with Russians
- US senators: we’re certain Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s murder (“Corker: jury would convict Prince Mohammed in 30 minutes”)
- Turkey seeks arrest of Saudi crown prince allies in Khashoggi killing
- Trump-GOP rift grows over Saudis
- Here’s what will be closed Wednesday for George H.W. Bush’s funeral (The federal government for starters.)
- Deval Patrick to announce he won’t run for president, sources say
- The Republicans’ post-midterm strategy: Thievery (And doing harm to the rule of law, democracy, etc. This party is a nasty, authoritarian nightmare.)
- Where the GOP can’t win elections, it changes the rules (Or commits voting fraud and/or voter suppression of various types to try and steal the elections in the first place.)
- Only Republicans Are Allowed to Govern, Say Republicans (“That is the new party philosophy, stated outright by the majority leader of the Wisconsin senate.”)
- Republicans’ New Strategy to Retain Power Despite Losing Elections: Coups d’Etat (“Republicans lost in Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Their response has been to take power away from incoming Democrats.”)
- Republican Brad Raffensperger wins runoff for Georgia secretary of state (“Raffensperger said he would continue Gov.-elect Brian Kemp’s practice of strictly enforcing ID laws and pruning election rolls of inactive voters.” Georgia still has a long ways to go.)
- Mueller’s Sentencing Memo for Flynn Doubles as a Warning to Manafort (“A heavily redacted document cites the former National Security Advisor’s ‘substantial’ cooperation as a reason for him to avoid jail. Trump’s former campaign chief may not be so lucky.”)
- Trump Is More Loyal to Dictators Than to the U.S. (“His lies about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder are a threat to national security.”)
- As he ponders a 2020 presidential run, Beto O’Rourke meets with Barack Obama (I’m very intrigued with O’Rourke. How about an O’Rourke/Abrams ticket for the Dems in 2020?)
- Michael Avenatti’s Campaign Failed Because Democrats Don’t Want Their Own Trump (Nope, zero interest in people like Avenatti.)
- Exclusive: Emails of top NRCC officials stolen in major 2018 hack (“Republican leaders were not informed until POLITICO contacted committee officials about the incident.”)
- “Not a natural death”: the Never-Trump bastion Weekly Standard may be shut down (“This is not about dwindling subscribers. This is about strip-mining TWS for its assets.”)
- Les Moonves Obstructed Investigation Into Misconduct Claims, Report Says
- Roger Stone won’t shut up (“A defiant effort to exonerate himself in the Trump-Russia saga also looks like a campaign to raise money and sell books.”)
- NRA on the ropes? In fact, the entire gun industry shows signs of weakness (“NRA fundraising is flagging and gun sales. Is the once-powerful industry finally weakening post-Parkland?”)
- Republican Operative Faced Prior Allegations of Election Fraud in Disputed North Carolina District
- Virginia conservationists blast approval of seismic testing for oil, gas in Atlantic
- Northam to attend Bush funeral in Washington
- New Virginia Poll: 81% Support ERA Ratification; 78% Support Independent Redistricting; 68% Support Amazon Deal; Only 35% Approve of Trump
- Poll: Virginians approve of Northam, Amazon deal and casinos, but take dim view of Trump
- Schapiro: In Va., Bush’s ascent tracked the GOP’s crack-up (Behind paywall, so can’t read it for now…)
- Investigators find Rep. Garrett had staff perform personal errands
- Fairfax County Board Rejects Package of Pension Cuts; Votes to Eliminate 3% Annuity and Pre-Social Security Supplement for Future Employees
- Video: Long-Time Fairfax County Supervisor Linda Smyth Announces She Will Not Run for Reelection in 2019, Setting Up Democratic Race to Succeed Her (Candidates so far include Erika Yalowitz and Dalia Palchik. I hear there will be others, possibly former Vienna town council member Edythe Kelleher.)
- Veteran Fairfax County supervisor announces her retirement
- Prof. Sally Hudson challenges David Toscano for House of Delegates seat (“The Batten professor is the co-founder of FairVote Virginia, which advocates for ranked-choice voting”)
- Shephard For Delegate (It looks like Danica Roem has a Republican opponent. This is a guy who’s written stuff like “The sky is falling, the barbarians are taking over. As if a country without Roe would be akin to the fall of Rome.”; “The Case Against Hillary. Vote for Trump.”; and “Allowing felons in Virginia to vote has nothing to do with Jim Crow Laws.” Let’s just make damned sure we reelected Danica Roem next November!)
- Deeds Commission to ask for more time to address state’s mental health service delivery
- Roanoke’s Sam Rasoul seeking minority leader post in House of Delegates (“The 49 Democrats in the House of Delegates will meet Saturday in a closed-door meeting in Richmond to elect their new leader.” The other candidates are Charniele Herring, Eileen Filler-Corn, Marcus Simon and Rip Sullivan.)
- Editorial: Another way of thinking about the air board controversy (This is an absolutely ridiculous editorial.)
- Northam’s struggle to explain air board move suggests it’s exactly what it appears to be (Unlike the Roanoke Times, Robert Zullo of the Virginia Mercury sticks to “Occam’s Razor” – “In the nearly three weeks since the decision, Northam’s administration has offered nothing in the realm of the remotely plausible that explains the move and its timing.”)
- To boost Amtrak ridership, state mulls cutting ticket prices within Virginia, D.C.
- Driver sobbed after learning he killed woman at Virginia rally (What is it with these crying Nazis, anyway? Pathetic.)
- State Sen. Bill Stanley to push for referendum on repairing aging schools (This guy rants and raves – and votes – against government, then wants…yep, government to help him. Gotta love right-wing Republicans.)
- Group proposes ways to memorialize African-American remains found in well at VCU in 1994
- $8.2 million settlement reached in Norfolk Four case involving wrongful rape, murder convictions (Horrible case.)
- Nationals agree to deal with two-time all-star pitcher Patrick Corbin (“The deal fills Washington’s most glaring hole, providing a proven arm behind Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.”)
- Snow showers or flurries possible today; more significant snow chance Sunday into Monday
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