Saturday News: “The Most Alarming Thing About the Worst Jobs Report in History”; “Obama says in private call that ‘rule of law is at risk’ in Michael Flynn case”; “Trump sought a reopening but found the virus in the White House instead”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, May 9.

• Allies despair as Trump abandons America’s leadership role at a time of global crisis (“The US — usually at the head of the table to coordinate in global crises — is now declining to take a seat”)
• Coronavirus live news: IMF warns of further drop in global growth
• Mike Pompeo forfeits U.S. credibility on foreign policy (“He keeps up his nonstop lying, this time on the coronavirus.”)
• South Korea Faces New Flare-Up in Virus Cases Tied to Nightclubs
• Other countries are winning against the virus. We are quitting.
• Trump claims US is ‘going back to work’ amid worst unemployment since Depression
• More than a quarter of workers faced job losses or underemployment in April
• As Job Losses Mount, Lawmakers Face a Make-or-Break Moment (“As the U.S. confronts unemployment levels not seen since the Great Depression, Congress and the Trump administration are facing a pivotal choice. The wrong federal response could make the millions of layoffs a permanent fixture of the U.S. economy and sentence many companies to bankruptcy.”)
• Why Is the Stock Market Rallying When the Economy Is So Bad? (Yeah, I wouldn’t count on a “V”-shaped recovery.)
• The state of employment in pandemic America, in 6 charts (“New labor economy data paints a fuller — and bleaker — picture of the economy.”)
• William Barr and his henchmen must be held accountable (“Another corrupt act by the most corrupt attorney general ever.”)
• The Trump administration fumbled while the virus spread
• Global report: Trump says Covid-19 will ‘go away without vaccine’, expects US death toll to top 95,000 (There is zero chance COVID-19 will just “go away,” certainly not without a vaccine.)
• Trump’s principal argument for reelection has vanished (“The depressing unemployment figures remind us what we had to lose.”)
• There’s One Big Reason Why the U.S. Economy Can’t Reopen (“The country faces the same problem today it did two months ago: There are not enough tests to contain the virus.” Yep, and that is heavily Trump’s fault.)
• The Most Alarming Thing About the Worst Jobs Report in History (“Today, the real jobless rate is probably somewhere in the low twenties, which would put it on a par with the peak rates seen during the Great Depression.”)
• Four causes for alarm in the US jobs figures – and one possible reason for hope (The “one possible reason for hope” seems really far-fetched.)
• Exclusive: Obama says in private call that ‘rule of law is at risk’ in Michael Flynn case
• The Appalling Damage of Dropping the Michael Flynn Case
• Democrats rally behind monthly $2,000 relief checks
• AP Exclusive: Top White House officials buried CDC report
• Trump Said He Could Kill Someone On 5th Ave. But How About 50,000 Across America? (“Trump’s failure to take early aggressive action, experts believe, has already caused tens of thousands of Americans to die from the coronavirus.”)
• Katie Miller, Pence spokeswoman, tests positive for coronavirus
• Document reveals Secret Service has 11 current coronavirus cases, as concerns about Trump’s staff grow
• Trump sought a reopening but found the virus in the White House instead
• Trump flouts coronavirus protocols as security experts warn of need to protect president from a lethal threat
• Two White House Coronavirus Cases Raise Question of if Anyone Is Really Safe
• FDA chief self-quarantines after exposure to Pence aide
• The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying (“The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.”)
• Trump in ‘No Rush’ on New Relief Bill After 20 Million Jobs Lost
• Trump’s Jobs Bet Unravels on Worst Slump Since Depression
• 3 charts explain how the US got lucky with coronavirus — and why things still look bad (“America’s chronic disease problem put us more at risk to the coronavirus.”)
• Seen ‘Plandemic’? We Take A Close Look At The Viral Conspiracy Video’s Claims (“The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against ‘COVID-19 misinformation.'”)
• If 80% of Americans Wore Masks, COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet, New Study Says (“There’s compelling evidence that Japan, Hong Kong, and other East Asian locales are doing it right and we should really, truly mask up—fast.” “If 80% of a closed population were to don a mask, COVID-19 infection rates would statistically drop to approximately one twelfth the number of infections—compared to a live-virus population in which no one wore masks”))
• Soaring joblessness could shake U.S. economy, politics for years
• A single Kayleigh McEnany quote gives away the game (“McEnany claims both that the United States is reopening safely and that the White House is operating safely. But only one of these two — the White House — actually has the sort of testing regime the White House itself is now implicitly acknowledging is a prerequisite to safety.”)
• I Miss Being a Citizen of an Actual Representative Democracy
• The Pandemic Lays Bare Conservatism’s Moral Chaos
• George Conway: No one in this country is above the law. The Supreme Court is about to teach that lesson.
• No, Mike Pence Did Not Deliver Empty Boxes To A Nursing Home For A Publicity Stunt (Yep, watch the video…Pence was just kidding around.)
• Fact check: Vice President Mike Pence did not carry empty boxes of PPE into a hospital
• After DOJ abandons Michael Flynn case, CBS’ Catherine Herridge gives a softball interview to AG Bill Barr (Pathetic – definitely not a real journalist.)
• Laura Ingraham’s coronavirus coverage has been a cesspool of misinformation — and a danger to public health
• How George Conway’s super PAC needled Trump with a small-budget ad, helping it go viral
• Lincoln Project called Facebook to dispute fact-check warning label on anti-Trump ad ‘Mourning in America’ (Facebook is a bad joke.)
• Joe Biden responds to the worst economy since the Great Depression (“It’s a pretty simple argument.”)
• Biden campaign launches expansion in the face of Democratic worries — but no word on plans to leave his house
• Joe Biden to scale up campaign as Democratic anxiety grows ahead of general election fight with Trump
• Director of Oldest Free Clinic in Virginia: VP Pence Put Virginians In Danger For A Reckless Photo Op
• Defense Secretary Esper stood beside World War II veterans — without a mask (Wildly irreponsible; Esper endangered the lives of these WW2 vets. Just imagine the reaction if Obama or Clinton had done that?!?)
• Georgia Killing Puts Spotlight on a Police Force’s Troubled History
• Man who recorded the Ahmaud Arbery shooting has been receiving threats, attorney says
• Biden for President to Hold Virginia Health Care Roundtable with Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, Delegate Lashrecse Aird, and Dr. David Kessler
• Sen. Mark Warner Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Help Rural Hospitals Stay Open (“Bill would help direct more Medicare reimbursement payments to at least 14 Virginia hospitals”)
• Video: Meet the Democratic Candidates – RD Huffstetler, John Lesinski, Claire Russo, Cameron Webb – Vying to Win Back VA05
• Luria introduces legislation aimed at helping teachers get out of debt
• As It Prepares to Start “Reopening,” Virginia Sinks to an “F” Grade in the Unacast Social Distancing Scorecard
• Live Video, Highlights: Gov. Ralph Northam’s Friday (5/8) Virginia COVID-19 Briefing (Gov. Northam presentes “the detailed framework for Phase One of our #ForwardVirginia plan”)
• AG Mark Herring Condemns Trump Administration Efforts to Kill the ERA
• Sen. Jennifer McClellan, Del. Rip Sullivan Urge Dominion to Adhere to the Intent of the Virginia Clean Economy Act
• Friday (5/8) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +772 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 22,342), +104 Hospitalizations (to 3,059), +43 Deaths (to 812) From Yesterday (New test results were 6,662 — still far lower than 10,000 per day, let alone the 16,664 per day that Harvard’s Global Health Institute estimates we need to reopen safely)
• Reopening Virginia hinges on PPE and testing. But the state won’t give details on contract to boost supplies.
• Gov. Northam Just Explained What Virginia’s Reopening Will Look Like. Here’s What You Need To Know.
• Northam lays out more details for Virginia’s Phase 1 reopening
• Virginia’s Phase One COVID-19 Reopening Explained
• Virginia Begins to Reopen, a Potential Virtual Session, and Trump Vetoes Kaine’s War Bill: Political Analysis for Friday, May 8, 2020
• Businesses get ready to welcome back customers as Northam lays out first phase of reopening
• Reopening Virginia Phase 1: Haircuts? Yes. Dining inside? No.
• Gov. Northam’s reopening plan for Va. includes strict limits
• When will Virginia reopen?
• Schapiro: The Macker’s second act — not if, but when.
• From global to local, COVID-19 arrives in rural Virginia
• Dominion Energy confirms plan to build Jones Act installation vessel
• Atlantic Coast Pipeline Faces Pushback Ahead of Dominion Shareholder Meeting
• Fairfax County weighs massive expansion of its business relief efforts
• New Arlington Public Schools superintendent comes from Fairfax County Public Schools (“After a five-month-long nationwide search, the Arlington School Board unanimously approved Francisco Durán to be the new superintendent during Thursday night’s meeting. Durán currently serves as the chief academic and equity officer for neighboring Fairfax County Public Schools. He takes over at Arlington Public Schools on June 1.”)
• Delta temporarily pulls out of Newport News airport (“A federal bailout allows airlines to ‘consolidate’ services in markets during the coronavirus pandemic. Delta will keep flying out of Norfolk.”)
• The coldest May weather in more than a decade today, with a biting wind