Sunday News: Trump’s Idiocy Pushes Countries Towards China; “Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?”; “McClellan travels to Tazewell to address rural healthcare”; WSJ, RTD Opinion Pieces Claim Spanberger’s the “Anti-Mamdani” “Playing Not to Lose”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, August 30.

• Debunking climate misinformation is becoming a full-time job – but you can help defend the facts (“The political pushback against positive green progress has been shocking. But as corporations and those in power turn away, the overwhelming majority of people in the world want more ambitious climate action”)
• Trump casts doubt on Putin-Zelensky meeting: ‘Maybe they have to fight a little longer’ (Trump is completely sh** for brains. Also, he promised he’d EASILY end this war on Day #1 of his presidency. Not even close!)
• China’s Xi rolls out the red carpet for Putin and Modi as Trump upends global relations
• China and India pledge to be ‘partners not rivals’ (Trump helped push India closer to China.)
• Chinese PV Industry Brief: China’s solar capacity rises to 1.11 TW by July (“China’s installed power capacity hit 3.67 TW by July, with solar at 1.11 TW, wind at 570 GW, and renewables providing nearly one-quarter of generation.” China is kicking our butts!)
• Xi Uses Summit, Parade and History to Flaunt China’s Global Pull
• Populist Right-Wing Parties Lead Polls in Europe’s Biggest Countries (UGH.)
• Senate Dems press State Department to boost delivery of baby formula to Gaza amid famine (Note: Senate DEMOCRATS, not Republicans of course.)
• Israeli airstrike kills Houthi rebel prime minister in Yemen’s capital
• Aid flotilla with Greta Thunberg set to sail for Gaza to ‘break illegal siege’
• Gaza postwar plan envisions ‘voluntary’ relocation of entire population (“President Donald Trump and international partners are discussing plans to build a ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ on the rubble of Gaza. One would establish U.S. control and pay Palestinians to leave.”)
• Israel’s Gaza Media Ban Is Indefensible
• Israel pounds Gaza City suburbs, Netanyahu to convene security cabinet
• Thousands demonstrate across Mexico for the 130,000 missing
• ‘I’m not coming home’: Trump policy holds people in Ice custody without bail (Wildly unacceptable.)
• US Trading Partners ‘Dazed and Confused’ After Tariff Court Loss
• Ruling on Trump’s tariffs is a major setback for the White House (“An appellate court ruling could stymie the import taxes that Trump has used to raise revenue, negotiate with foreign leaders and even head off global conflicts.”)
• As RFK Jr. upends America’s public health system, Trump cheers him on
• MAGA Radio Host’s Cancer-Stricken Wife Can’t Get COVID Shot Because of ‘Kook’ RFK Jr.
• CDC asks all staff to return to office Sept. 15, five weeks after shooting at headquarters
• The abdication of the EPA, and the giant gift to fossil fuels
• Trump Turns to Small Group of Advisers, Shrinks National Security Council (This could very well lead to disaster.)
• Trump faces a hurdle in banning mail-in voting: His own Republican Party (“Voter turnout by mail exceeded 30% in at least 14 states and D.C. Trump won half of those states, most of which have Republican governors or secretaries of state overseeing elections.”)
• Trump Says He Will Sign Executive Order Mandating Voter I.D. (“He also wants to restrict mail-in voting and allow only paper ballots. The Constitution doesn’t give the president explicit authority over election law.”)
• Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy? (“People who have experienced the kind of authoritarianism the US used to condemn abroad highlight worrying signs”)
• ‘He’s trying to rig the midterms’: Trump intervenes to protect his allies in Congress (“With elections next year, president is pushing extraordinary measures to ensure GOP maintains control of legislature”)
• Historians See Autocratic Playbook in Trump’s Attacks on Science (“Authoritarians have long feared and suppressed science as a rival for social influence. Experts see the president as borrowing some of their tactics.”)
• In Trump’s Federal Work Force Cuts, Black Women Are Among the Hardest Hit (“President Trump has cut hundreds of thousands of jobs, disproportionately affecting Black employees.”)
• From Cracker Barrel to Sydney Sweeney, Trump Has an Opinion to Share (“In his second term, President Trump is using his power to reshape American culture, not just American policy. He has threatened consequences for many who disagree.”)
• Will the National Parks Survive Trump? (“From budget cuts to ‘ideological’ changes, the Trump administration is shaping the future of the National Park Service.”)
• As drug deaths hit a 5-year low, Trump continues to cite fentanyl as major threat (Facts don’t matter to Republicans.)
• Trump’s Revenge Summer Heats Up With Fed Ouster, Bolton Raid
• Where is the Party?: time for Democratic leaders to ‘fight with both hands’ or ‘step aside’
• Trump, 79, Goes Full Grumpy Old Man in Rant Over Scratched Rose Garden Stone (Nutjob.)
• Williams: Our culture wars hit the bottom of the (Cracker) barrel (BTW, Michael Paul Williams’ columns are the best thing the Richmond Times-Dispatch has at this point.)
• Here are the top GOP contenders to succeed Trump for president in 2028 (Youngkin doesn’t even make the list, lol.)
• Alarm as US far-right extremists eye drones for use in domestic attacks (“Experts say extremists openly talking of how home-built drones will be critical tool in so-called second civil war”)
• Fox News star’s jump to the Trump administration is backfiring (“Jeanine Pirro’s failure to indict several high-profile cases shows the cracks in Trump’s DC takeover”)
• Chicago mayor signs order with blueprint for fighting a potential Trump crackdown
• Mark Knoller, longtime CBS News correspondent, dies at 73 (Rest in peace.)
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Calls Out GOP “BULLSHIT” (e.g., “let’s lower our flags,” “thoughts and prayers”) After Mass Shootings (“Don’t give me the kind of normal CRAP of excuses! These were kids in a church praying – at a Catholic school!”)
• Video: VA11 Dem Nominee James Walkinshaw Says “I’m excited to vote in November as well, but we’ve [also] got to be excited to vote on September 9th” (Walkinshaw reminds everyone that satellite voting locations are now open – so go vote today or next week if you can!)
• Big Ugly Bill impacts | McClellan travels to Tazewell to address rural healthcare (“Republicans in the red part of Virginia won’t meet with their constituents to hear their concerns about the Big Ugly Bill and its impact on rural healthcare, so, Jennifer McClellan, a Democratic congresswoman from Richmond, is doing their job for them.”)
• Video: Pressed About Virginia Redistricting, Abigail Spanberger Says “I’m unwilling in Virginia to wait for 2028”; “only option” Is “to…fucking win those seats in the midterms by working hard and doing it!”
• Editorial: Spanberger, Earle-Sears get lost in the spotlight (According to the RTD editorial board, Spanberger is “more concerned with playing to the middle, a Virginia tradition, than fanning the blue flames of an increasingly angry Democratic base…Spanberger, in other words, is playing not to lose.”
• In Virginia’s Governor Race, a Democrat Strives to Be the Anti-Mamdani (Oh god, not Molly Ball again – she’s so bad; remember her cringe-inducing whitewash of Glenn Youngkin???)
• Commentary: The facts contradict Miyares’ posturing on Roanoke College swimmers (“As a factual matter, the Office does not find sufficient evidence that the women were denied the opportunity to compete in this case or that the College itself subjected the women to a hostile environment based on sex.”)
• Frederick County | Inspectors have detected the presence of box tree moth
• Sunny and comfortable through midweek, then shower chances return