From the Democratic Party of Virginia:
A video out today, edited by the Columbia Journalism Review, shows Senate Republican after Senate Republican blaming the media for Virginia’s desperate need for ethics reform. Rather than denounce Majority Leader Tommy Norment’s original remarks, senators doubled-down on passing the buck to the press.
Real ethics reform will never happen if Republicans don’t take this issue seriously. Blaming the media for real ethics problems, problems that matter to Virginians across the Commonwealth, is the opposite of productive. Virginians deserve responsibility and accountability from their lawmakers, not bizarre finger-pointing at the press.
The only thing I’d add is that there are a few Democrats who don’t take this issue seriously either, first and foremost Sen. Dick Saslaw (D-Dominion). And no, it’s not “the media,” it’s the overwhelming majority of Virginians who want honest, clean, transparent government that does the people’s business, not just the corporations and/or the super rich. Is that really too much to ask?