by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, May 17.
- Israel set to swear in Netanyahu-Gantz unity government
- Nations jockey to see who gets coronavirus vaccine first
- Putin, Johnson, Bolsonaro and Trump: men too macho for masks (“Why leaders who want to be seen as strongmen are afraid to take Covid-19 safety precautions” Pathetic.)
- Mitt Romney calls Trump’s IG firings ‘a threat to accountable democracy’
- The dangerous consequences of Trump’s oversight purge (“The President is attempting to systematically dismantle the checks and balances that are the bedrock of America’s democracy”)
- Trump Escalates War on Government Watchdogs
- Watchdog’s dismissal puts Pompeo on the hot seat
- Trump Ousted State Dept. Watchdog at Pompeo’s Urging; Democrats Open Inquiry
- With firing of State Dept. inspector general, Trump ramps up retaliatory purge
- Trump’s slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general (This alone should be impeachable.)
- Obama tells graduates, ‘Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy, that’s how little kids think.’ (“The special event on all major networks followed an earlier commencement speech in which he slammed President Donald Trump’s administration for its response to the coronavirus pandemic.”)
- Video: Barack Obama Reminds Us What It’s Like to Have a REAL President…Delivers Words of Wisdom to 2020 HBCU Graduates
- Obama Says U.S. Lacks Leadership on Virus in Commencement Speeches
- Obama says U.S. leaders have botched pandemic response
- Obama speaks on systemic racism for virtual HBCU commencement, citing covid-19 and Ahmaud Arbery
- ‘It eats him alive inside’: Trump’s latest attack shows endless obsession with Obama (“The president seems more interested in blaming his predecessor than tackling the coronavirus – so what’s driving Trump’s fixation?”)
- Trump’s strategy: First, dismantle Mueller. Then peddle ‘Obamagate.’
- The absurd cynicism of ‘Obamagate’
- Crisis exposes how U.S. has hollowed out its government (Yes, except it wasn’t the “U.S.” generically, it was Republicans. Why doesn’t Dan Balz call them out in the headline?)
- Obama, Malala, Jonas Brothers Send Off Class Of 2020 In Virtual Graduation
- America’s indifference to death is nothing new: But it’s made this crisis much worse (“Our history suggests a willingness to ignore death and suffering — especially when those who die aren’t white”)
- Trump Cheers Supporters Who Harassed Reporter at Anti-Lockdown Protest: “Great People” (This is, obviously, the exact opposite of what we want from a president. Of either party.)
- The GOP Is the Problem. Is ‘Human Identity Politics’ the Solution?
- Georgia protestors call for district attorney’s removal after Ahmaud Arbery’s death
- Seeking: Big Democratic Ideas That Make Everything Better (“By the end of primary season, the Democratic Party had all but settled on a conventional center-left agenda. But the pandemic is forcing the Biden campaign and other leaders to redraw plans for 2021.”)
- Faced with a Trumpian barrage of attacks, Joe Biden chooses to look the other way (“The Democrat’s senior advisers dismiss the most explosive Trump volleys as distractions, though ones aimed at his competence and economic record stir more concern.”)
- Stacey Abrams’s public push for veep slot complicates Biden’s search
- Biden to go after Trump in November in Republican states such as Arizona, Texas and Georgia, campaign says (Sure, as long as they’ve got the “blue wall” states locked down.)
- Never Trumpers will host their own ‘Republican convention’ during the RNC
- Donald Trump Jr. Smears Biden With Baseless Instagram Post (The word “baseless” is so lame; just say “false” or “lie” or whatever.)
- Rep. Justin Amash says he won’t run for president
- The 14 Democrats who broke with their party on coronavirus relief vote
- Man charged in death threats to Michigan governor, AG (Domestic terrorist.)
- Fred Willard, Master of Comic Cluelessness, Dies at 86
- Virginia’s U.S. House Delegation’s Statements, Votes on $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief “HEROES Act”
- Photos: Virginia Dems Hold Virtual Conventions in Congressional Districts 1 Through 11
- Poll: Who Do You Support for the VA05 Democratic Nomination?
- Poll: Who Do You Support for the VA01 Democratic Nomination?
- Washington area’s reopening a study in jarring contrasts (“Dozens of deaths and thousands of new coronavirus cases were reported Saturday, even as some areas began welcoming droves of summertime visitors following the relaxation of restrictions in Virginia and Maryland.”)
- The Virginia Clean Energy Act is better than its representation (“Achieving a carbon-free economy by 2050 requires the General Assembly to turn its attention to decarbonizing Virginia’s transportation, industrial and land-use sectors.”)
- Black and Latino communities have been devastated by COVID-19. Some worry reopening will make impact worse (“Hispanic Virginians make up almost 30% of cases despite being only 9% of the state population. Black residents are 16% of cases, and almost 20% of the population, but in Richmond, make up 16 of the 18 deaths.”)
- Here’s where black and brown Virginians are being hardest hit by COVID-19
- 60% of Virginia’s COVID-19 deaths came from long-term care, but state code bars knowing which homes (“On April 10, Gov. Ralph Northam announced he had assembled a task force to protect frail, elderly Virginians after 32 of them had died while in long-term care and a Richmond-area home was in the grips of one of the nation’s deadliest outbreaks.”)
- Editorial: Make nursing home data public (“Limitations on the release of nursing home data in Virginia complicates our understanding of the coronavirus outbreak.”)
- Michael Coleman: Port workers keeping Virginia well supplied
- Fish: Ending driver’s license suspensions was right for Virginia; now it’s time for next steps
- Half of people around Richmond aren’t wearing masks to go to the store. We counted.
- EDITORIAL: Unlock demographically, not geographically
- Saturday (5/16) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,002 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 29,683), +67 Hospitalizations (to 3,724), +25 Deaths (to 1,002) From Yesterday
- The beach at the Oceanfront was closed. But the crowds were large.
- Virginia Beach City Public Schools announce possible 2020-21 school year scenarios
- After online learning flopped, Fairfax schools switched to Google. More virtual harassment followed.
- Phase I reopenings a mixed bag in Fredericksburg area
- Cooler and cloudier but still decent today; unsettled at times Monday into midweek
