by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, November 17. Yes, it’s now been two weeks since Election Day, which Joe Biden won by millions of votes and by a “landslide” (by Trump’s own standards) in the Electoral College, yet Trump is still ranting, raving, spreading conspiracy theories, filing laughable lawsuits, not cooperating with the transition, etc.
- Hurricane Iota slams into Central America with humanitarian crisis looming (This is the climate crisis.)
- World pushes ahead with climate action as U.S. remains in limbo (“The Biden administration will confront new global climate politics while stuck on sidelines of a Dec. 12 global summit.”)
- Climate change bigger threat than COVID: Red Cross (Yep, by orders of magnitude.)
- WHO tempers prospect of a coronavirus vaccine with warning of steep challenge to inoculate the world
- Brexit Negotiators Zero In on a Deal as Soon as Next Week
- Moderna Vaccine Offers Possible Antidote to Deep-Freeze Problem
- Trump Sought Options for Attacking Iran to Stop Its Growing Nuclear Program
- Iran warns of ‘crushing response’ if Trump targets nuclear site
- Mike Pompeo’s legacy of incompetence peaked with his failed Iran policy
- Republicans livid over Trump’s plan to reduce troops in Afghanistan
- US military anticipates Trump will issue order to plan for further troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq
- Trump to Saddle Biden With Last-Minute Flurry of Policy Moves
- Bill Clinton Says China’s Direction Under Xi Upended U.S. Ties
- Numbers Show We’re Not as Addicted to Fossil Fuels as You Think (“Much of the energy from burning coal, oil and gas is simply lost as waste heat, meaning a switch to renewables isn’t that big a leap”)
- Trump’s transition sabotage threatens vaccine rollout
- America needs to close down (“The US is losing the fight against Covid-19. The only way to win quickly is closing down.”)
- America Locks Down From Atlantic to Pacific With Covid Raging
- Amid the worst of the pandemic, our mad king rages only about himself
- Obama: The internet is “the single biggest threat to our democracy”
- Obama scolds ‘petulant’ Trump but reveals conservative sympathies (“In interview about new memoir, Obama says ‘I am sympathetic to a certain strain of conservatism’ and lauds ‘gracious’ George Bush”)
- What Trump’s Refusal To Concede Says About American Democracy (“Democratic values are almost certain to be upheld this time — that is, the election determined who will be in charge, and the transfer of power will ultimately be peaceful. But it’s not totally clear that these values will be upheld the next time a Trump-like figure emerges. American democracy is likely to survive Trump, but his tenure has raised important questions about the state of America’s democracy and whether it will endure in perpetuity.”)
- Why the 2020 Election Makes It Hard to be Optimistic About the Future (“If we can’t face up to a pandemic, how can we avoid apocalypse?” Agreed 100%.)
- G.O.P. Officials Have to Start Telling Their Voters the Truth (They actually don’t *have* to, unfortunately…)
- The longer Republicans cower to Trump, the more damage they do to democracy
- Trump is engaging in U.S. history’s deadliest-ever sulk
- Biden pressures Trump to cooperate, citing risk of additional coronavirus deaths if handoff is delayed (The problem is, Trump doesn’t care, so it’s not really pressure.)
- Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon to get a top White House job
- Trump fights to keep a job he shows no interest in performing
- Trump Can’t Fight the Laws of Presidential Eclipse
- We dare not repeat the mistakes of 9/11 (“Trump and Republicans who enable him make us vulnerable”)
- Another shake-up on Trump campaign legal team
- Three attorneys withdraw from representing Trump campaign in Pennsylvania suit
- Of Course We Should Scorn Trump’s Sleazy Election Lawyersj
- The Republican Party is much worse off than we thought (“The choice is between the party of Lincoln and the party of Lyndon LaRouche.”)
- 4 Astronauts Aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon Successfully Dock With Space Station
- In the aftermath of the election, the media can’t slip back into its old bad habits
- Scott Atlas’s rabble-rousing will lead to illness and death. He should be fired.
- On Fox News, Dr. Scott Atlas encourages large holiday gatherings: “For many people this is their last Thanksgiving” (This guy is evil.)
- Biden Won the Battle—but Dems Are Losing the Social Media War (Democrats are really, really bad at this.)
- Counties That Suffered Higher Unemployment Rates Voted for Biden
- Report: Georgia Secretary Of State Says Graham Pressed Him To Toss Legal Ballots (If true, Graham should be in big trouble.)
- Ga. secretary of state says fellow Republicans are pressuring him to find ways to exclude ballots — (Time for federal law enforcement authorities to seriously look into those doing the pressuring. Sounds illegal.)
- Trump’s New Vote Fraud Theory Is So Much Crazier Than You Realize
- Election Security Experts Contradict Trump’s Voting Claims
- Republicans start to relent: ‘It looks like it will be President Biden’
- Sen. Rubio Joins Small Group Of Republican Senators Calling Biden ‘President-Elect’
- Republicans start turning the page on Trump era
- A third GOP senator comes out against Trump’s Fed nominee, putting confirmation vote on knife’s edge
- 4 more years: Trump freezes 2024 presidential field
- Biden wants to curb the coronavirus but steers clear of shutdowns
- Sen. Lankford Says He’s ‘Not in a Hurry’ to Allow Intelligence Briefings for Biden (Coward.)
- Lankford Almost Proved He Had a Backbone
- Bezos makes first donations from $10 billion Earth Fund for fighting climate change
- GSA official blocking Biden’s transition appears to privately plan post-Trump career (Nobody should ever hire this person.)
- Hate crimes in US reach highest level in more than a decade
- A former right-wing media creator on how a ‘different reality’ became so prominent.
- The New Conservative Majority Supreme Court Failed Its First Humanity Test
- Wisconsin presidential recount would cost Trump $7.9 million
- Trump campaign agrees to drop its defamation lawsuit against a tiny Wisconsin TV station
- Republicans sound alarm on Georgia Senate runoffs as they privately weigh Trump’s influence
- Californians prepare to descend on Georgia to fight for Democrats in Senate races
- Georgia recount uncovers 2,600 new votes in presidential race
- Perdue declines runoff debates against Ossoff in Georgia
- The Democrats Went All Out Against Susan Collins. Rural Maine Grimaced. (“But Maine offers an example of how a nationalized, big-money effort can backfire. Maine’s media market is tiny and the cost of advertising so low that the campaigns were hard-pressed to spend the money they had.”)
- Trump supporter hired for Commerce Department post, to push hardline China policies until January: sources (Corey F’ing Stewart??? We really are living in a dystopian alternate reality.)
- Madison Cawthorn has tried to convert Jews to Christianity (This guy is a disaster in every way.)
- Incoming congressman complains it’s hard to get Jews to stop being Jewish
- Reps. Cline and Griffith are living in political la-la land
- Virginia leaders seek input on Robert E. Lee statue replacement
- Virginia delays statewide certification of election results, citing Richmond office’s COVID outbreak
- Kirk Cox officially announces his candidacy for Governor
- Cox formally announces run for governor, pledging to fight ‘big-government worldview’
- Q&A: Why Kirk Cox thinks he can win the governor’s mansion in an ever-bluer Virginia
- Former Virginia House speaker Kirk Cox says he’ll seek GOP nomination for governor (“The veteran lawmaker touted his recent win in a blue district and his pragmatic approach to politics.” This subheader is horrendously bad…in fact, Cox does NOT have a “pragmatic approach to politics” at this point, having ditched it for a hard-right approach.)
- Virginia’s new COVID restrictions started Monday. Here’s what they are – and who they impact
- Monday (11/16) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +2,677 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 204,637), +48 Hospitalizations (to 13,552), +6 Deaths (to 3,806) (Highest 2-day, 3-day, 10-day new cases totals so far, but this is in part due to “a catch-up from the VDH data system”)
- Virginia Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn Announces Plans for 2021 General Assembly Session to Be Conducted Remotely
- Virginia House of Delegates to meet online in 2021 as coronavirus cases rise
- House of Delegates to Continue Virtual Meetings but Republicans Vow to Limit Length of 2021 Session
- Key Points from This Morning’s Virginia Legislative Presentation, “Key Considerations for Marijuana Legalization” [UPDATED: Gov. Northam Announces Support]
- Gov. Ralph Northam to push for marijuana legalization during upcoming General Assembly session
- Legalizing pot could bring Virginia $300 million in tax revenue
- Legal Weed Could Bring in $300 Million for Virginia. Northam Says He’s Ready for It.
- Virginia’s governor says he supports legalizing marijuana
- Gov. Ralph Northam: ‘Legalizing marijuana will happen in Virginia’
- BREAKING: Charges Against State Sen. Louise Lucas, 18 Others, Dismissed
- Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas cleared of charges of conspiring to topple Confederate monument
- Editorial: Improve messaging to encourage COVID fight (I doubt that matters; the issue is whether there are any enforcement measures to the mask mandates.)
- Dean at Virginia university resigns after alleged Facebook post calling Biden voters ‘anti-American’ and ‘anti-Christian’
- Editorial: Four questions for next year’s legislative mapmakers
- Fairfax County Schools Delay In-Person Learning for Some as Covid Cases Surge
- Video: Education Associations from Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington Counties Urge Virtual-Only Learning, Return to Phase 1 or Phase 2 as COVID-19 Surges
- Northern Virginia Teachers Push to Halt In-person Classes
- Henrico Public Schools delays phased return to in-person learning as COVID-19 cases spike
- Racist slurs including ‘N-word’ scrawled on historic structures at Fort Monroe
- D.C.-area forecast: Breezy and turning colder before temperatures rebound late in the week
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