Something About Virginia:In a deepening scandal embroiling the top figures in Virginia’s government, the state Attorney Gen. Mark Herring admitted that he too once dressed in blackface while he was a student at the University of Virginia in 1980. 

  Herring was getting ahead of his own bad news. He said in a statement that he dressed like the rapper Kurtis Blow. “Because of our ignorance and glib attitudes — and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others — we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup,” the statement said.

  His admission is an indication of how common this can be. Virginia’s Gov. Ralph Northam is still fighting calls for his resignation after the revelation of a racist photo on his page in his medical school yearbook.

  In the midst of all this, the woman accusing Virginia’s lieutenant governor of sexual assault came forward through a lawyer. Vanessa Tyson, now a professor at Scripps College in California, says Justin Fairfax assaulted her at the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston. “What began as consensual kissing quickly turned into a sexual assault,” Tyson said in a statement. It also says, “Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him. I cannot believe, given my obvious distress, that Mr. Fairfax thought this forced sexual act was consensual.” 

Links and Coordination:A day after President Trump denounced “ridiculous partisan investigations”, the House intelligence committee now under Democratic control will undertake a new investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and President Trump’s foreign financial interests.

 Chairman Adam Schiff of California said the investigation will explore the “extent of any links and/or coordination” between Russians and Trump associates, whether foreign actors have sought to hold leverage over Trump or his family and associates, and whether anyone has sought to obstruct investigations.

  Republicans ended their investigation in March, concluding there was no evidence of conspiracy or collusion between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign. 

 President Trump said, “It’s called presidential harassment. And it’s unfortunate. And it really does hurt our country.”

Charade: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered the majority of National Guard troops on her state’s Southern border to withdraw, condemning what she called a “charade of border fear-mongering” by President Trump about an invasion of illegal immigrants. 

  “I reject the federal contention that there exists an overwhelming national security crisis at the Southern border,” Lujan Grisham said. Her order covers Guard troops from her own state as well as from Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

The Chinese Hoax:Continuing an upward trend, Earth’s temperature in 2018 was the fourth highest in 140 years of record keeping, according to NASA.

   The five warmest years in recorded history have been the last five, and 18 of the 19 warmest years recorded have occurred since 2001. While there have been extremes of hot and cold in Earth’s history, NASA says the notable upswing in temperatures correlates with the release of manmade greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

  A climate report out of India says that if the warming trend continues, at least a third of the glaciers in the Himalayas will melt by the end of the century.

Identity Politics:The Washington Post published a picture of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s registration card for the state bar of Texas on which she identifies herself as “American Indian,” giving further life to an issue that’s dogging her run for president.

  Warren said that thirty years ago and at the time family lore led her to believe she was American Indian. She’s not and now she has to apologize just about everywhere she goes. “I’m not a member of a tribe,” she told reporters yesterday. “I have apologized for not being more sensitive to that distinction.”

Christmas Returns:Rapper Kanye West has pulled out of the deal to buy the $14 million Miami beachfront condo he gave his wife Kim Kardashian for Christmas. It didn’t fit her bra size.