Tuesday News: “UK grandmother receives first public Pfizer vaccine”; Trump WH “turned down 100m extra Pfizer vaccine doses”; Happy “Safe Harbor” Day; “Biden to name retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as defense secretary”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 8.

• Covid-19 Live Updates: Britain Begins Vaccinating Citizens
• UK becomes first nation in the West to administer vaccine
• Venezuela’s blatantly rigged election poses a test for Biden
• Brexit: Boris Johnson warns securing deal is ‘looking very, very difficult’
• Trump Lost. Bolsonaro Can’t Get Over It. (“Brazil’s president is in denial.”)
• As pandemic lifelines expire, Americans in housing free fall
• Covid-19 Live Updates: U.S. Breaks Record for Most Deaths in a Week
• Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. more vaccine doses. (WTF???)
• First Thing: The White House turned down 100m extra Pfizer vaccine doses
• Pfizer tells U.S. officials it can’t supply substantial additional vaccine doses until late June or July (“The disclosure raised questions about whether the U.S. government can keep to its aggressive schedule to vaccinate most Americans by late spring or early summer.”)
• Leading Covid-19 vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna decline invitations to White House ‘Vaccine Summit’
• Explainer: Why ‘safe harbor’ day spells trouble for Trump’s legal bid to overturn election defeat
• Biden Reaches Deadline That Makes Victory Nearly Irreversible (“Joe Biden will be one formal step closer to the presidency after Tuesday’s deadline for states to certify their slates of electors to the Electoral College — locking in the names of the people who will formally vote to make Biden the president. Once that happens, there’s little turning back. Congress must by law accept those electors if there’s no outstanding litigation, and President Donald Trump’s legal challenges have even less hope of changing the outcome. Electors meet in each state on Dec. 14 to officially cast their votes.”)
• Battles over Biden appointments signal a larger struggle over his strategy
• Biden faces battle to land Austin at Pentagon
• Biden to name retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as defense secretary
• Biden’s reliance on retired military brass sets off alarm bells
• McConnell Refuses to Endorse Bipartisan Stimulus, Risking Deal
• A massive stimulus now can save money later
• Trump asks Pa. House speaker for help overturning election results (“The calls from the president, confirmed by Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler’s office, mark the third state where Trump has directly attempted to overturn a result since he lost the election to President-elect Joe Biden.” Beyond appalling. Trump and his minions are waging war opn )
• Legal group challenging 5 states’ election results has tie to Trump adviser
• There’s no room for complacency about our post-election crisis
• Trump is causing a crisis of faith in our democracy
• McConnell and McCarthy say they believe in democracy — but stand by as Trump incinerates it
• McConnell says Senate will pass defense bill despite veto threat
• Bipartisan COVID-19 relief talks hit familiar snags on Capitol Hill
• No, President Trump can’t pardon himself
• Republicans Can’t Handle the Truth
• House conservatives urge Trump not to concede and press for floor fight over election loss (Fixed the headline: “House Anti-Democracy EXTREMISTS Urge Trump to Stage a Coup, Overthrow Democracy”)
• Watch Trump Walk Out of Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony
• Media: Stop broadcasting election denialism (“Sen. Mike Braun and other Republicans are unwilling to take responsibility for the damage they are doing.”)
• Next up for Never Trumpers
• Christopher Krebs unloads on Trump disinformation “threat”
• Biden pledged to undo Trump’s immigration policies. It will take time.
• ‘This Must Be Your First’ (“Acting as if Trump is trying to stage a coup is the best way to ensure he won’t.”)
• Trump blows a hole in the GOP on his way out (“The president’s last-gasp efforts to overturn the election are reshaping the party.”)
• Scoop: Trump plots mass pardons, even to people not asking (That is NOT what the Founding Fathers had in mind.)
• No One Expects Civility From Republicans (“What’s worse: making Sarah Sanders leave a restaurant, or terrorizing election officials?” Another example of how the media fails.)
• Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia Legalizes Workplace Discrimination on His Way out the Door (Quite a family, those Scalias…heh.)
• ER doctor who criticized Trump’s actions to be removed from Walter Reed schedule (Totally absurd.)
• Ted Cruz Wants to Toss Out 7 Million People’s Votes. Appalling. (Ted Cruz is just evil.)
• Elevating Fringe Theories, Ron Johnson Questions Virus Science (How the hell does someone like Ron Johnson get elected???)
• We Can Thank Senatorial Blockhead Ron Johnson for Tomorrow’s Vaccine Hearing
• Rudy Giuliani’s COVID Case Shows There’s No Vaccine to Treat the Disease the GOP Has Become (“Go maskless. Mingle away. Get COVID. Hey, as long as you’re a wealthy white man who’s a friend of the president, no problemo!”)
• How The 2020 Election Changed The Electoral Map (“The ‘blue wall’ went blue once again…Two Sun Belt states went blue for the first time in more than 20 years…Other southern states shifted to the left, but they didn’t flip…Is Florida a Republican state now?”)
• MSNBC to Name Rashida Jones President, Succeeding Phil Griffin
• Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dies at 97 (R.I.P.)
• Fox “straight news” program explicitly promotes Trump’s attempted coup
• Fox hosts call for civil disobedience against coronavirus measures, risking lives with vaccines weeks away (Fox is heinous.)
• Agents raid home of fired Florida data scientist who built COVID-19 dashboard (“State police brandishing firearms raided the home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health employee who built the state’s much-praised COVID-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to manipulate data.” What in hell???)
• Runoff Elections in Georgia Are Disasters for Democrats. Here’s Why This Time Is Different.
• Once Again, Georgia Certifies Election Results Confirming Biden’s Win (“The recertification of results and presidential electors comes after President Donald Trump requested a recount that was the state’s third vote tally in the race.”)
• Kelly Loeffler Did Her Best Robot Rubio Impression
• Bipartisan group seizes spotlight, and more clout (“Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), a moderate who just won a close race for reelection, said she hopes the Problem Solvers Caucus can help change the overall dynamic of Congress over time.”)
• Monday (12/7) Virginia Data on COVID-19: 2-Day (7,697), 3-Day (11,490), 10-Day (28,426) New Cases All Hit Record Highs
• Editorial: Vaccine promotion, distribution require all hands on deck (“Virginia should be partnering with communities to encourage people to get the coronavirus vaccine when it is available.”)
• Virginia Attorney General Warns of COVID-19 Vaccine Scams
• Northam considering new COVID restrictions as Virginia sees nearly 11,500 new cases since Friday, positivity rate hits 10.8%
• Wait, So…Was the VA GOP Choice of a 2021 Convention, Rather Than a Primary, a “HUGE Victory” For Chase or an Assault By the Party “Elite” On the “Grassroots?”
• Video: Gov. Northam Ceremonially Signs “Breonna’s Law” Prohibiting Use of No-Knock Search Warrants in Virginia
• Alongside members of Breonna Taylor’s family, Northam ceremonially signs bill banning no-knock warrants
• 2021 Dem Gubernatorial Candidate Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy Will Announce Tomorrow She’s Resigning From the House of Delegates
• Why Jennifer Caroll Foy is resigning from the House of Delegates
• Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy stepping down to focus on Va. governor’s race (“The delegate representing Prince William is one of several Democrats seeking to succeed Gov. Ralph Northam.”)
• Carroll Foy resigning from House of Delegates to focus on run for governor
• Editorial: Virginia Democrats misread what Republicans just did (No, Virginia Dems didn’t “misread” it; what we are celebrating is Chase running as an independent and also the deep divisions in the VA GOP.)
• Va. transit leaders anticipate post-pandemic commute changes
• Lawmakers Look to Restructure Virginia’s Struggling Mental Health System
• AG Mark Herring Files Brief Asking Loudoun County Circuit Court to Dismiss Lawsuit Seeking to Block Virginia Values Act
• DEQ ignores its duties, again
• Richmond City Council approves appointment of mayor’s chief of staff as acting chief administrator
• Richmond School Board votes to keep system virtual through the rest of the school year
• VMI removes statue of Confederate Gen. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson
• Loudoun’s Coronavirus Case Growth Nears Trigger to Close In-person Learning
• Richmond, Henrico report surge in daily COVID-19 cases: ‘Thanksgiving is definitely the culprit’
• Fairfax superintendent offers final options for reforming TJ admissions (“The Fairfax County School Board is slated to vote and choose an option later this month. The new admissions system will go into effect immediately, for the Class of 2025.”)
• Hampton sheriff announces early retirement; city to ask courts to not hold special election
• Two Richmond police detectives face additional charges stemming from actions during protests
• D.C.-area forecast: Mostly sunny, breezy and cold before warming trend begins