Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 19.
by Lowell
- UK PM May urges devolved nations to back her Brexit deal
- Reality deals more blows to Trump’s alternative narrative
- New research debunks Trump’s attack on economic effects of Paris Agreement (“A new study shows rapid transition to clean energy would create, not eliminate, jobs.”)
- Fed Prepares Rate Rise, but Weighs How to Signal Slower Pace
- Bipartisan Bid to Avoid U.S. Shutdown Takes Shape in Senate
- The Senate just passed criminal justice reform (“Trump ran as ‘tough on crime.’ But now he’s set to sign major criminal justice reform.”)
- Senate overwhelmingly backs overhaul of criminal justice system
- The bill that wouldn’t die: The unlikely story behind the criminal justice overhaul
- GOP talks Trump off the shutdown ledge (“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared that the government would stay open and that the White House would be ‘flexible’ on its border wall demands.”)
- Trump Knows His Only Legal Hope Is to Win in the Court of Public Opinion (“That’s why he keeps tweeting about how he doesn’t understand enough to break the law.”)
- Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow project despite Giuliani insisting he didn’t (Trump and his family are basically a treasonous crime syndicate.)
- Why the time has come for a Green New Deal (“It’s smart politics and smart policy — and it’s enormously popular with the public.”)
- Michael Flynn’s judge just struck a potent blow for the rule of law (“The federal jurist offers a strong rebuke of national security adviser Michael Flynn.”)
- Note to Michael Flynn: Federal Court Is Not Twitter (“A muscular public relations strategy is often a terrible litigation strategy.”)
- Michael Flynn’s Lawyers Appear to Have Badly Miscalculated (“Judge Emmet Sullivan expressed ‘disdain’ and ‘disgust’ for Flynn’s crimes and, despite the government’s request for leniency, postponed a status hearing until March.”)
- Trump Foundation Will Close After Suit by New York Attorney General (“Once billed as the charitable arm of the president’s financial empire, the foundation was accused of engaging ‘in a shocking pattern of illegality.” A “shocking pattern of illegality” like…Trump himself?)
- The Trump Foundation Was Essential Trumpism: One for All and All for Me (“Meanwhile, Michael Flynn knew an opportunity to grift a buck and hopped on board.”)
- Michael Flynn’s Judge Destroys Trump’s Conspiracy Theory (“Lock him up”)
- Facebook Gave Tech Giants More Intrusive Data Access Than It Disclosed (“Internal records show that the social network had arrangements with Microsoft, Amazon and others, effectively exempting some partners from its usual privacy rules. Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent, and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages.”)
- All 83 Of The Ethics Complaints Against Justice Brett Kavanaugh Were Dismissed Because He’s On The Supreme Court Now (“A panel of judges concluded that Kavanaugh is no longer covered by the judiciary’s disciplinary system now that he’s a Supreme Court justice.” Wonderful…NOT!)
- How Trump the ‘Tariff Man’ could lose to ‘Dow Man’ Trump (“The president’s continuing obsession with the stock market could force the president to cut a trade deal with China.”)
- Senate Democrats join the push for sweeping anti-corruption legislation (“House Democrats’ sweeping anti-corruption bill HR 1 is getting a Senate companion.” We need something like this in Virginia, badly.)
- Michelle Obama Floors Jimmy Fallon With 2 Words on Leaving White House to Trump: ‘Bye, Felicia!’ (“Bye Felicia is a dismissive term which can be used in a number of different contexts. Most simply and frequently, it is used as a cold way to bid someone farewell.”)
- I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.
- Martha McSally Will Probably Vote Like McCain In The Senate (“Despite a narrow defeat in Arizona’s 2018 U.S. Senate race, Republican Rep. Martha McSally will still be headed to Congress’s upper chamber next year. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced on Tuesday that he is appointing McSally to fill the state’s other Senate seat, formerly held by the late Sen. John McCain and currently held by Jon Kyl, who Ducey initially appointed to the seat; Kyl announced last week that he will resign on Dec. 31.”)
- Advertisers Flee Tucker Carlson’s Fox News Show After He Derides Immigrants (Tucker Carlson is a virulent white nationalist/supremacist and bigot.)
- What happens when the No. 1 cable news channel is steeped in white nationalist rhetoric? (“Tucker Carlson’s advertisers are sponsoring fascism”)
- Elon Musk unveils his first Los Angeles-area tunnel (“Musk has advertised the proof-of-concept tunnel as a first step toward developing a high-speed subterranean network capable of whisking vehicles and pedestrians below the ‘soul-destroying’ street traffic of America’s second-largest city at up to 150 miles per hour. But such a system has a long way to go.”)
- Ousted NPR news chief, ex-Fox News execs team up on new site (“The site’s founder says it will remedy the media’s trust problems, but two top hires left their previous jobs after allegations of harassment and racism.” Ee gads.)
- Poll: Democrat Leads GOP Governor in Kentucky (“Republican Matt Bevin is unpopular and trails potential challengers” Bevin is about as wacky a “tea bagger” as you can get.)
- With millions at stake, Virginia aims to make sure 2020 census counts everyone in the state
- Virginia has an extra $2.2 billion coming. Should it make “sensible investments” or cut taxes? (“The debate will be a central part of the 45-day legislative session that starts Jan. 9.” The answer is, of course, to make “sensible investments” in Virginia’s future, while reforming the tax code in a progressive manner.)
- Governor Ralph Northam Unveils Budget Amendments for the 2018–2020 Biennium to the Joint Money Committees
- Virginia must use funds for fragile Chesapeake Bay (“The governor’s efforts to fund Chesapeake Bay improvements prove to be promising” That’s one of the investments we should make – I bet it will pay off many times over, by the way.)
- Virginia joins coalition designing carbon-capping transportation policy
- Looming budget battle: Northam’s spending plan relies on tax changes Republicans say hurt the middle class (As soon as you hear “Republicans say,” you know that means “lies”)
- Munley: Herring’s lawsuit against MVP doesn’t go far enough
- Getting the Story Straight on Dominion Rates and Bills
- “Extraordinary emergency note from justice and environmental groups” Sent to VA DEQ Director to Reject Union Hill Compressor Station
- Coal ash excavation could cost Dominion ratepayers an extra $3.30 per month over 20 years
- Herring tells Blue Virginia he won’t take Dominion money
- AG Mark Herring says he will no longer take money from regulated monopolies, including Dominion (They linked to our exclusive, added reaction from Justin Fairfax’s spokesperson, from Josh Stanfield of Activate Virginia, and…LACK of reaction/no comment from Dominion.)
- Schapiro: Bolling isn’t only GOP big man on campus (Interesting history about Paul Trible, but not sure what the overall point is…that this stuff is ok? not ok? what?)
- Northam includes 1 percent bonus for state employees in spending from tax windfall
- Wyatt Durrette column: Virginia constitutional smendment to create citizens commission to put fair elections first in redrawing legislative districts (Yep, they actually wrote “smendment” in their headline.)
- CASEY: Presenting the 2018 Dano Awards (“It honors glaring public stupidity, and each year, there no shortage of that going around.” “The Dano for ‘Most Efficient Way to Anger Constituent Groups’ goes to Gov. Ralph Northam. In a move some characterized as Trumpian, the Democratic governor removed any remaining vestiges of doubt that he’s totally in the pockets of companies trying to build two enormous gas pipelines across the commonwealth.”)
- Republican Ronnie Campbell defeats Democrat Christian Worth in special election
- Scoble: Virginia’s path to greater political unity (Just what we need, another ridiculous “No Labels”-style group.)
- Video: Democrat Matt de Ferranti Sworn In as New Arlington County Board Member (“If we cannot make the American dream real in Arlington, where can it be real?”)
- If Virginia Beach City Council used a ward election system, would results change? Probably.
- Man sentenced to 357 years for brutal 1995 sexual assault on four roommates (“Jude Lovchik was convicted of 17 counts of sodomy, abduction and other counts in Fairfax County.” Evil f’er, 357 years in prison seems about right.)
- Man kills woman and then himself in Fairfax County, police say (Another evil f’er.)
- See them before they were bulldozed: Remembering Arlington’s affordable houses
- Not bad today, more rain on the way (“The rain could be heavy at times late Thursday into Friday, before a gusty Saturday.”)
