Day 25: The first Russian casualty

Oh boy, are we making up for having a quiet weekend!

• Judge refuses to halt Dakota Acces Pipeline work, convinced by arguments that there's time for court action before oil starts flowing.
• Trump and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau met in Washington today. Nothing particularly newsworthy there, insofar as I can tell.
• Our administration is going to be scandal-ridden as long as it stands. Tonight, the first scalp has been claimed: Michael Flynn resigns as National Security Director. I haven't pointed to this unfolding story previously, as it was mostly speculation and rumors about his ties to Russia, but it's now worth reading up on.
• Steve Mnuchin is confirmed as Treasury Secretary in a party-line vote, pouring more swamp water into DC than ever before. This is an appalling choice for so many reasons, the least of which is that his corporate resume at Goldman Sachs is a masterclass in corporate malpractice, leading to the GFC a decade ago. He's also known for tax-evasion and has numerous links to dodginess in the Cayman Islands. Finally, he was Trump's top fund-raiser in the election. Buying power, anybody?
• Compare this to the new Veteran Affairs Secretary, who was voted in with no opposition.
• Trump dealt with the North Korean missile affair while in the restaurant at his hotel. This is insane and completely irresponsible! THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
• Under Attorney General Sessions, we can no longer rely on the Justice Department to fight for voting rights. This is chilling, and states are already celebrating.
• In an unusual decision, a federal judge struck down a voting district plan in Wisconsin for partisan gerrymandering. Almost all previous gerrymandering cases have been based on race. It looks like the courts might finally be receptive to a mathematical measure of gerrymandering?

What I fear about the terrible executive cabinet that we are getting (apart from their terrible policies) is that they make a lot of executive decisions that don't get reported on, and due to this, it will be difficult to hold them publicly accountable.