| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 2.
This is what cold, hard fury sounds like. pic.twitter.com/KfcWwCWQIg
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) December 1, 2020
- U.K. Clears Pfizer Covid Shot for First Vaccinations Next Week
- Pfizer Vaccine Wins U.K. Authorization
- Sweden’s anti-lockdown experiment flopped. Now it faces a wave of pandemic pain.
- New Zealand declares a climate change emergency (“Jacinda Ardern calls climate change ‘one of the greatest challenges of our time’ and pledges carbon-neutral government by 2025” The United States should do the same!)
- UK’s hopes of early US trade deal dashed by Biden warning (“President-elect says his priority is to invest in US manufacturing and protect American workers”)
- Hong Kong Activists Sentenced For Their Role In Anti-Government Protest
- 4 looming foreign policy crises that could derail Biden’s agenda early on (“Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Afghanistan could cause short-term problems for Biden’s long-term global agenda.”)
- C.D.C. Panel Recommends Who Should Be Vaccinated First
- Our Democracy’s Near-Death Experience (“Now is no time for complacency. The next Congress must shore up our institutions.”)
- Biden: ‘We’re Going to Fight Like Hell by Investing in America First’
- William Barr Kept Silent For Weeks As Trump’s Voter Fraud Conspiracy Theories Spread
- Trump’s Fraud Claims Hit a Barr
- Barr: No evidence of fraud that’d change election outcome
- William Barr breaks with Trump’s election fantasy
- Bill Barr Has One Foot Off the Boat
- Why Did Trump’s Plan to Contest an Election Defeat Fail?
- U.S. judiciary, shaped by Trump, thwarts his election challenges
- Even handpicked justices won’t buy Trump’s claims (“The president’s legal claim never made sense. Now, even right-wing justices admit it.”)
- Pelosi, McConnell Fan Stimulus Hopes With 2020 Clock Running Out
- McConnell shoots down bipartisan $900 billion coronavirus stimulus plan as stalemate drags on
- McConnell just nixed a compromise stimulus. What should Democrats learn from it?
- US probing potential bribery, lobbying scheme for pardon
- Trump’s pardon shenanigans are ramping up
- Justice Department investigating potential presidential pardon bribery scheme, court records reveal
- Trump Has Discussed With Advisers Pardons for His 3 Eldest Children and Giuliani
- Trump teases 2024 run at White House event
- Trump won’t concede because it’s so profitable to keep the con going
- The media are handing off their platforms to Republican propagandists — yet again (“Stop accepting lies. Start pushing back.”)
- The MAGA crowd haunts Republicans (“Republicans’ biggest problem may come from the right.”)
- Trump fired me for saying this, but I’ll say it again: The election wasn’t rigged
- Groups sue Trump and White House to stop destruction of administration records
- 25 former D.C. Bar presidents: Lawyers should not be complicit in Trump’s attack on democracy
- Barr appoints special counsel in Russia probe investigation
- Why Barr Appointing Durham As Special Counsel Could Backfire on Trump
- Pardoning Giuliani Would Put Trump in Legal Jeopardy
- What Rudy Giuliani Is Really Up To (“The former mayor’s fevered efforts to overturn the election results may be about self-preservation more than anything else.”)
- Trump threatens to veto major defense bill unless Congress repeals Section 230, a legal shield for tech giants
- More than half of emergency small-business funds went to larger businesses, new data shows
- Anticipating Senate bottlenecks, Biden plans a nomination workaround (“The president-elect is lining up appointees to fill lower-level jobs that don’t require running the gauntlet on Capitol Hill…By quickly selecting candidates for slots that don’t require Senate confirmation, such as deputy assistant secretaries, the transition team also can try to ensure that many of those hired can obtain security clearances by the time Biden takes office.”)
- There Wasn’t That Much Split-Ticket Voting In 2020
- Trump Is Running a Direct-Mail Scam on Supporters
- The Three Strains of the GOP: Crazies, Quiets, and Hostages. And Yeah, They All Suck. (“In this twilight of Trumpism, Republicans have shown no more backbone than they ever have. And most, of course, are worse than spineless.”)
- Trump Allies Ask High Court to Nullify Biden’s Pennsylvania Win (Absolutely bonkers.)
- Trump sues to reverse Biden win in Wisconsin (Also bonkers.)
- GOP candidate says he was used without permission as a plaintiff in lawsuit to overturn Wisconsin election results
- Georgia election official condemns Trump after threat to worker
- Georgia official: Trump, U.S. senators complicit in potential violence
- Banished from the Trump legal team, attorney Sidney Powell still finds a guest chair on Fox (Fox continues to be a disgrace to humanity.)
- A More Extreme Gun Rights Movement Is Emerging in the NRA’s Wake (Yep, the VCDL…)
- The NFL and College Football Are Competing for the Most Absurd COVID Denial in Sports (It’s greed and stupidity.)
- Rob Portman knocks tweets from Biden’s pick for budget post, won’t address Donald Trump’s
- ‘I gave every inch of my life to him’: Brad Parscale opens up about final days in Trump campaign (Cult.)
- “Do You Want to Actually Get Something Done, or Do You Want to Feel Good?”: Obama Urges Activists to Talk Reforming, Not Defunding, the Police
- Obama: Broad slogans like “defund the police” lose people (I’d argue that slogans can be very effective – “change you can believe in,” for instance – but can also backfire if they’re poorly done.)
- Georgia’s TV news stations virtually ignore new reporting on Sen. David Perdue’s stock trading scandal (Wow, that’s really bad.)
- Sen. Mark Warner on bipartisan push for extended coronavirus relief
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Abigail Spanberger Express Support for “bipartisan, bicameral” COVID-19 Relief Legislation
- Warner, Spanberger, bipartisan group propose COVID relief plan
- Kaine: Trump’s threat to veto defense bill is ‘big bluff’
- Senator Tim Kaine pushes COVID-19 relief as the holiday season begins
- VA05 Voters Could Have Sent a Brilliant, Talented Doctor to Congress. Instead, They Sent a Bats*** Bonkers Conspiracy Theorist.
- How Metro’s Proposed Cuts Could Impact The Economy, Schools And Restaurants In The Region
- Another Pipeline Hits Regulator Roadblock
- Loosening distributed solar laws, long sought by the industry, requires rethinking the electric grid
- Va. political leaders name 8 legislators who’ll serve on new redistricting commission (This commission really looks like it’s going to suck.)
- Tuesday (12/1) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +2,228 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 240,063), +106 Hospitalizations (to 14,725), +31 Deaths (to 4,093) (According to VHHA, COVID-19 hospitalizations hit an all-time high.)
- Governor Northam: No plans for a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Virginia
- A teachers union is urging Governor Northam to close VA schools “until the state has COVID-19 under control”
- J. Chapman Petersen column: Next step in campaign reform – limiting ‘supersize” donations (“Limiting donations to $20,000 per campaign cycle is not a violation of the First Amendment. The federal courts repeatedly have upheld the constitutionality of such limits.”)
- Video: Norfolk City Councilmember Andria McClellan (D) Announces Run for Lt. Governor of Virginia (Emphasizes addressing climate change, expanding high-speed internet access, “making our democracy more accessible for everyone”)
- Norfolk City Council member Andria McClellan to run for Virginia lieutenant governor
- Virginia NAACP Names Da’Quan Marcell Love State Executive Director
- Governor Northam Sets 1/5/21 Special Election Date For 90th House of Delegates District
- Henrico County scores 17,000-seat arena; endorses Navy Hill developer’s “GreenCity” mixed-use project (This is excellent: “Developers said they will work to set standards of net-zero energy, net-zero water and best sustainability practices in waste management for the 204 acre ‘GreenCity.’”)
- Controversial power line across James River had no better alternative, Corps of Engineers review says
- Advocacy group, inmates and their families allege abuse at Virginia prison
- Roanoke County School Board leader hospitalized for 8 days with COVID-19
- Weather Journal: 2020 may bring a pair of historic 60s for Roanoke (More abnormal weather…all highly consistent with global heating.)
- Loudoun County school superintendent to leave for Texas school district
- Back to classrooms for 7,000 Loudoun Co. students in grades 3 through 5 (“About 7,000 Loudoun County, Virginia, public school students in third through fifth grade are returning to their classrooms two days per week starting Tuesday.”)
- D.C.-area forecast: Cold and breezy again today, nicer tomorrow; Saturday storm?
