Friday News: “Without A Vaccine, Researchers Say, Herd Immunity May Never Be Achieved”; “‘Trump says he could send as many as 75,000 federal agents to US cities”; “Today’s GOP in a nutshell: Jaw-dropping incompetence and grotesque disrespect for others”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, July 24.

• Without A Vaccine, Researchers Say, Herd Immunity May Never Be Achieved
• China Orders U.S. to Close Chengdu Consulate in Retaliation Move
• Always rocky, China-US relations appear at a turning point
• China orders U.S. to close consulate in Chengdu
• Trump’s China policy has no strategy — except to boost his reelection campaign
• U.S. hits 4 million reported virus cases
• The US just hit another ominous coronavirus milestone (“With daily cases, hospitalizations, and deaths still on the rise, the coronavirus pandemic is not slowing down in the US.”)
• Covid-19 is still winning (“Every state that followed Trump’s advice is a mess.”)
• US still short on tests 4 months after Trump promised ‘anybody’ could get one
• U.S. Economic Recovery Is Stalling and It May Get Even Worse
• Mitch McConnell’s Stimulus Waiting Game Turns Into Race Against Clock (“The Senate Majority Leader is struggling to unite the GOP.”)
• Trump Is Putting On a Show in Portland (“The president is deploying the kind of performative authoritarianism that Vladimir Putin pioneered.”)
• Trump’s war on cities is a giant photo-op — created for Fox News and campaign ads (“Trump is sending federal forces into the cities mostly for show — except that real people are getting hurt”)
• Trump says he could send as many as 75,000 federal agents to US cities (Absolutely bonkers.)
• Feds Sending Tactical Team to Seattle, Expanding Presence Beyond Portland
• Watchdog to review conduct of federal agents in Portland, DC
• Chad Wolf launched a small war in Portland. He’s just getting started.
• The Trump GOP’s Economy: New Unemployment Claims Hit 1.4 Million; 18th-Straight Week of >1 Million New Unemployment Claims
• Trump cancels Republican national convention, his latest reversal as coronavirus spreads
• The wealthy Republicans who want to oust Trump in November’s election
• Trump tries to win over ‘Suburban Housewives’ with repeal of anti-segregation housing rule
• Today’s GOP in a nutshell: Jaw-dropping incompetence and grotesque disrespect for others (“If ever a party deserved to go out of business, it’s this one.”)
• Trump repeals fair housing rule, amplifying campaign appeals to racial bias
• “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV”: Trump’s Mental Health Is a Test for America
• A Rare Look Inside Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Draws Legal Threats (“A new documentary peers inside the secretive world of immigration enforcement. The filmmakers faced demands to delete scenes and delay broadcast until after the election.”)
• Trump’s briefings are becoming increasingly absurd (“The President’s return to the podium has nothing to do with a genuine new ‘tone’ or providing solid information” Exactly! And any “journalist” who claimed Trump had a new “tone” and focused on that should be fired, immediately, because they are terrible “journalists.”)
• New document shows FBI used Trump’s candidate briefing to advance Russia probe
• Biden predicts that Trump will try to ‘indirectly steal’ the election (Agreed, he’s already doing that by working to deligitimize mail-in voting and even the results of the election.)
• Sinking Trump seeks to squash GOP dissent
• Trump is the king of lies
• 8 Big Reasons Election Day 2020 Could Be a Disaster (“You may think you know how bad Nov. 3 will be. But all signs point to something far, far worse.”)
• Trump is setting us up for an Election Day nightmare
• How to safeguard against the worst possible outcomes in November
• Republicans Aren’t Sure Saving Trump With a Stimulus Package Is Worth It
• Senate Republicans and the Administration* Are Firmly Hanging Each Other Out to Dry
• Kimberly Guilfoyle under fire for Trump fundraising disarray
• Poll shows Biden beating Trump by 13 points in Florida
• Karen Bass rises as sleeper pick to be Biden’s VP
• Fox News Poll: Biden tops Trump in battlegrounds Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania
• Almost 100 Days Out, Democrats Are Favored to Take Back the Senate
• Stephen Miller’s Grandmother Died of COVID-19. Her Son Blames the Trump Administration. (“With the death of my mother, I’m angry and outraged at [Miller].”)
• Trump is using federal agents as his ‘goon squad’, says Ice’s ex-acting head (“John Sandweg says the deployment of homeland security officials is a ‘manufactured crisis’ stemming from ‘a failure of leadership’”)
• Fauci says that he and his family have experienced ‘serious threats’ during pandemic (Outrageous and should be 100% unacceptable…and illegal.)
• AOC’s Speech Destroying Ted Yoho Is Political Gold
• Tom Cotton: Schools that teach real history of slavery shouldn’t get funding (This guy is completely unhinged.)
• Sinclair gives “Plandemic” conspiracy theorists a platform to spread their lies about Dr. Fauci and the coronavirus (Just a reminder never to watch or link to Sinclair-owned “news” articles, such as WJLA-7 in the DC area.)
• Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Blames ‘Progressive Cancel Culture’ for Employee-Signed Letter Calling Out Opinion Section (OF course, they take zero responsibility for the fact that the WSJ editorial page is bonkers.)
• Maine journalists under siege after false accusations from Fox News’s Tucker Carlson
• Fox cheers the deployment of armed federal agents in major cities (Yes, Fox is cheering fascism.)
• Congress defies Trump veto threat on Confederate base names; Kaine, Warner amendments accepted
• Kaine: Congress needs to get money into Americans’ hands
• Warner, Kaine cosponsor bill to block deployment of federal paramilitary agents in US cities
• Video: In FB Town Hall, Sen. Warner Says Putting “Unwanted Troops” in Portland Is “Stunning…the Way Things Happen In Fascist Countries, Not in America”
• 2020 VA GOP U.S. Senate Nominee Pushes Flat-Out Lies, Demonstrates Why Virginia Should Overwhelmingly Reelect Sen. Mark Warner on November 3!
• Extra unemployment benefit to expire, as initial jobless claims rise and Virginia looks to Congress for next round of aid
• Rep. Abigail Spanberger Demands Answers about Deployment of Unidentified Federal Law Enforcement Personnel & Ongoing Actions in Portland
• ICYMI – Video: Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe: “Joe Biden Helped Rebuild the Virginia Economy”
• Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, Majority Leader Charniele Herring, State Senator Jennifer McClellan, SEIU Virginia 512 Members on Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” Plan
• Closing businesses over facemask enforcement should be option of last resort (“The commonwealth needs to exhaust every opportunity to partner with businesses to enforce the facemask mandate before closing them.”)
• Stark Contrast: Ralph Northam Says Do the Right Thing, Wear a Mask; Amanda Chase Says COVID-19 Not a Threat…Other Than to “Our Freedoms”
• Virginia looks at prioritizing testing as labs take longer to process COVID-19 swabs
• Disparity in police decertifications should alarm Virginians
• Northam ceremonially signs nondiscrimination bill into law (This was ceremonial; note that the Virginia Values Act took effect on July 1.)
• Common Ground, Battle Lines Over Police Reform In Virginia Emerge In Public Hearing
• Thursday (7/23) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +844 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 81,237), +86 Hospitalizations (to 7,437), +3 Deaths (to 2,054) From Yesterday
• Coal is in crisis. Can Virginia’s pool bond system handle the collapse?
• BREAKING: Fairfax School Board Renames Robert E. Lee High School for Late Congressman John Lewis
• Judge hears evidence in suit blocking removal of Lee statue in Richmond
• Lee statue will continue to stand for now as Richmond judge prepares written ruling
• Report Finds Food Insecurity Could Rise By Up To 60% In The D.C. Region Amid The Pandemic
• What’s in a pledge: Joe Morrissey spins on utility contribution
• Virginia Beach will remove Confederate monument from city grounds (“The Virginia Beach City Council unanimously voted to begin the removal process during a special session at the Convention Center.”)
• Peninsula educators’ groups are united: They want school to start virtually (No-brainer, really, given the bad situation we’re in re: COVID-19 at this point.)
• York County Schools Superintendent recommends remote learning for at least first nine weeks
• Virginia Beach should start school year online-only, superintendent says
• Robert E. Lee monument in downtown Roanoke toppled late Wednesday
• ‘When is it going to stop?’: At least 28 people shot in Richmond, Henrico in recent weeks
• State Fair of Virginia canceled for first time since WWII due to COVID-19
• NFL franchise to go by ‘Washington Football Team’ this season, delaying permanent name change (LOL)
• Sun shines just enough for record-breaking 23rd consecutive day of 90-plus temperatures at Roanoke (This is the climate crisis.)
• Muggy but less hot as a front moves through with showers and storms