SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

AND THE BEAT GOES ON – FROM FOREIGNPOLICY.COM:  A top congressional ethics official who oversees investigations into misconduct by lawmakers is accused in a federal lawsuit of verbally abusing and physically assaulting women and using his federal position to influence local law enforcement, according to a complaint filed in a federal court in Pennsylvania last month.  The ongoing lawsuit against Omar Ashmawy, staff director and chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics, stems from his involvement in a late-night brawl in 2015 in Milford, Pennsylvania, and includes a range of allegations relating to his behavior that evening and in the following two-and-half years.  Ashmawy’s office conducts the preliminary investigations into allegations of misconduct in the House of Representatives, deciding which cases to pursue or refer to the Committee on Ethics. He is named in congressional documents as the official who presented one of the investigations into John Conyers, the Democratic lawmaker from Michigan accused of sexual harassment, to the ethics committee for further action.  Who will be charged tomorrow?  Who can we trust?

IT PROBABLY WON'T HELP – FROM THE HILL:  In what has become a tradition at the New York Times, Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., 66, has stepped down as publisher of The New York Times and has passed the baton to his son, Arthur G. Sulzberger, 37, the paper announced Thursday afternoon.   The paper of record has been in the Sulzberger family since 1896. Arthur O. Sulzberger took over from his father, Arthur "Punch" Sulzberger 25 years ago.   A.G. Sulzberger graduates from his deputy publisher position, which he was promoted to in 2016 as the family prepared to hands the reigns over to the Brown University alum.  The Times, although its financial position has improved recently, has deep problems.  Its journalistic quality has deteriorated as it's become more and more a left-wing mouthpiece.  Its editorials are mediocre and unpersuasive, and the "newspaper of record" no longer prints the kind of original documents and transcripts that the record requires.  I've heard nothing about the new boss.  I guess he's next in line in the royal household.

DEEP THOUGHT ON CAMPUS – FROM CAMPUS REFORM:  A dorm display at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst is using Care Bears to help students who feel “grumpy or stressed.”  “Feeling grumpy or stressed? Let the Care Bears help!” the display states above a large, hand-drawn rainbow adorned with bits of advice for students.  "It’s important to take care of ourselves! Self-care is an active choice and you should treat it as such,” one section proclaims, while another suggests that students “surround yourselves with supportive people” and “reminders of what you love.”  The display also suggests goofing around with friends, making time for fun, eating healthy, and getting enough sleep.   This advice costs $42,000 a year.  My mother gave it to me free, although I had to call home every Saturday.

December 14, 2017