Sunday News: Warning from Government Ethics Office on Trump Nominees; “What went wrong with the Democratic Party?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, January 8.

• Ethics office warns that Trump, GOP are rushing Cabinet confirmations
• Warren: No confirmation hearings until ethics concerns addressed
• Trump seeks ‘good relationship’ with Russia, slams critics as ‘stupid people,’ ‘fools’ (Nope, Trump is not getting any more presidential as he approaches Inauguration Day.)
• Trump mentioned Wikileaks 164 times in last month of election, now claims it didn’t impact one voter (“Boy, that Wikileaks has done a job on her, hasn’t it?”)
• China finally takes a step to stop the slaughter of elephants (Good, but it’s tragic and horrendous that it took this long.)
• Democrats seek to delay confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, citing unfinished ethics review
• Republicans have no clue how to keep their promises on Obamacare (“Obamacare does have problems. The GOP should fix — not worsen — them.”)
• Trump national security pick Monica Crowley plagiarized multiple sources in 2012 book (This is the slimeball administration from Hell.)
• Kristof: Trump Denies Climate Change, These Kids Die of It
• What went wrong with the Democratic Party? Three big failures that led to the current debacle (“Mistake 1: Focusing on Perception, Not Power…Mistake 2: Unrequited Bipartisanship…Mistake 3: Exclusive Focus on Presidential Power” Exactly what I’ve been saying. Also, Democrats have forgotten that people communicate in narrative.)
• Send in the clowns: Donald Trump, Julian Assange and the enemies of liberal democracy
• Dorothy McAuliffe and Jean Case: Hunger doesn’t take a holiday, and neither can we
• Virginians Deserve Serious Talk About Serious Issues (“Both party races now are almost a clone of the Republican and Democratic presidential contests: establishment favorites, seen a tad bit dull and wonkish on policy matters, facing populist challenges from outsider candidates.”)
• Casey: Goodlatte’s office phones ring in the new year (“Last week, Rep. Bob Goodlatte tried to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics. The question is, why? Read below, as some imaginary but curious constituents demand answers.”)
• Rush of bills filed as General Assembly opens this week
• McAuliffe enters final General Assembly session with eye on legacy (“The Virginia governor’s mantra is ‘finishing strong’ but the goals are modest.”)
• Northern Virginia Rep. Gerald E. Connolly withholds endorsement for governor (“Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former representative Tom Perriello are vying for the Democratic nomination.”)
• Schapiro: Referendum on Trump, instead, becomes one on Va. Democrats (“Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who had helped clear the field for Northam, believing that a Democratic victory will ensure his political legacy, was in Charlottesville — Perriello’s hometown — for a pre-General Assembly staff and Cabinet conference, when Perriello called. A displeased McAuliffe indicated that Perriello’s last-minute entry would needlessly complicate the campaign. The two had a tense exchange, with the voluble governor occasionally using blue language.” Lots of false premises in this article, by the way, starting with the big one that primaries are a bad thing, and also the absurd headline.)
• Virginian-Pilot editorial: Richmond fiddles as disaster looms for Hampton Roads (It’s not “Richmond,” it’s overwhelmingly “Republicans in the General Assembly.” Why, why, why can’t newspapers report the facts?)
• Editorial: Two questions for the General Assembly (“Will the General Assembly do anything about the growing fiscal crisis that schools in the coalfields face?…Will the General Assembly require state colleges to admit a certain percentage of Virginia students? “)
• Ahead of the snow, toll for Express Lanes in Virginia rises over $30 during evening rush hour (Does that seem right to anyone?)
• State worker compensation key issue in upcoming session
• Private partner on I-66 deal is confident commuters will like HOT lanes (“And McAuliffe administration officials think they’ve made a great deal for taxpayers, too.”)
• In Virginia, rash of thefts show that cellphones are still a hot ticket for criminals
• Control of Virginia Senate up for grabs in special election (“Campaign finance records show Washington raised around $193,700 by Dec. 29, about $69,000 more than Peake’s $123,400. Hines raised around $10,700 during the same period and also took out a $50,000 loan.”)
• Richmond metro area digs out of first snowfall; drivers continued to stay off roadways
• Editorial: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline gets a green light, and red herrings (Another brain-dead editorial from the Republican Times-Disgrace.)
• Snow piling up across Hampton Roads, depending on where you are
• Helsel: Unfair to keep watermen from working after violations (Why is it unfair?)
• Blustery arctic chill today, trending warmer and wetter midweek