NATIONAL

“This is where it gets interesting for Americans: among Jeffrey Epstein’s rich and powerful friends was Bill Clinton. Clinton visited Epstein on his Caribbean island and flew with him to various destinations around the world. Virginia Roberts says that she met Clinton twice but denies any sexual relations with him:” – Power Line

“But it would be absolutely insane for Republicans, who campaigned on fixing Washington, to re-install its leadership that the public and its own base dislikes. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” – Erick Erickson/RedState

“What will it take for Republicans in Congress to limit the president’s executive overreach? Simply the will to use the constitutional tools they possess–but unfortunately that will seems absent in the leadership of both the House and the Senate.” – The Federalist

“For more than a decade, corporations have shelled out thousands of dollars in donations and consulting fees to Sharpton’s National Action Network. What they get in return is the reverend’s supposed sway in the black community or, more often, his silence.” – NY Post

“Republicans have not controlled Congress in eight years and haven’t run a branch of government for six. Contrary to what they expected after winning the House in 2010, the past four years have been unproductive and frustrating. Hundreds of bills passed by the House died in the Senate, and Reid allowed few floor votes on amendments. As a consequence, a long wish list has built up among Republican lawmakers who hope their bills will be considered now that their party is in charge.” – Washington Examiner

“The selloff in oil continued with little pause into the new year with U.S. crude futures tumbling below $50 a barrel on Monday for the first time since April 2009 on fears of a global supply glut.” – CNBC

“Dozens of demonstrators today stormed restaurants and targeted white diners in New York and California as part of a ‘Black Brunch’ protest against alleged police violence.” – UK Daily Mail

“If Mike Huckabee is going to make a serious run for the Republican presidential nomination, he will have to do something he was unable to do in 2008: raise millions of dollars and build a sprawling national campaign to complement the well of support he has among evangelicals and grass-roots activists in early primary states.” – Washington Post

“‘Now!’ is the eternal cry of the infantile — ‘What does baby want? Diaper change! When does baby want it? Now!’ — and Barack Obama, who has a keen appreciation of that fact, has made immediacy the hallmark of his style. Executive amnesty, minimum wage, climate change — these are all within the realm of the holy Now!, the sort of thing that cannot wait. (Wait for what? Democracy.) The president does his stentorian best to beat some meaning into ‘the fierce urgency of now,’ the phrase from Martin Luther King Jr. around which he once organized a famous speech almost entirely devoid of content. That this is so effective a strategy is despair-inducing. Grown men, and facsimiles thereof, are routinely taken in by this sort of thing; consider Andrew Sullivan’s soft spot for Obama’s dopey “fierce urgency of now” shtick, taking it as evidence that the empty suit from Chicago ‘meets a moment in history.'” – Kevin Williamson/National Review

“Nearing the end of the their 17-day vacation in Hawaii, President Obama and the First Lady had their New Year’s Day dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in Hawaii – where memberships can run upwards of $500,000.” – IJ Review

LOUISIANA

“Might as well keep those winter coats handy, the rest of the week in south Louisiana is going to be a bit chilly starting Monday evening with lows around 30. Monday morning started out with temperatures of 33 degrees in Baton Rouge, 39 in New Orleans and 34 in Lafayette.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“‘There’s a very simple reason you don’t find favors in king cakes anymore: We have too many lawyers in America,’ said Poppy Tooker, host of ‘Louisiana Eats,’ a radio program heard on some NPR affiliates in the South. Louisiana is one of the few places where the king-cake tradition is alive and well, but the local confection doesn’t look anything like the almond-and-puff-pastry version. Instead, it is ring-shaped, made of Danish-style dough, glazed and sprinkled with yellow, green and purple sugar—the colors of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, with which the cake is closely associated.” – WSJ

“New Year’s celebrations and the Sugar Bowl went off without a hitch and without any major shootings or violent crimes in the French Quarter, thanks in part to a beefed up police presence. But after Sunday night, additional state troopers in the area, are heading home.” – Fox 8 Live

“Joe Rallo has been a Navy intelligence officer, an Air Force colonel, an adviser on European Union-United States relations, and a college professor and administrator. He has degrees in international relations and Russian history as well as a law degree, and he speaks French and Italian. This week, the New York native is taking on his latest role: Louisiana higher education commissioner, a position that will have him overseeing the systems that lead the state’s two-year and four-year colleges and universities.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“With this year’s winter seeing mild temperatures so far, crawfish farmers are expecting a decent crop of crawfish in the coming months. Cold weather sends crawfish into a lethargic state where they don’t feed as much and many bury themselves in the mud. Warmer temperatures make crawfish more active and they are therefore caught more easily. Last year’s cold winter saw good crawfish harvests delayed until March.” – Lake Charles American Press

“Supporters continued to rally behind U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson Parish, over the weekend — several days after he came under fire for speaking at an event in Metairie a decade ago that — at the very least — included members of a David Duke-led white nationalist group and was arranged by the former Klan leader’s backers.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“New Orleans Saints football player Junior Galette was arrested on Monday after a domestic disturbance at his home in a New Orleans suburb, a police spokesman said.” – Yahoo! News

“Things with LSU football have unquestionably grown a bit stale. While the Tigers’ inability to be competent and properly execute a forward pass is the overwhelming gripe concerning the current state of the program, maybe this change will lead to the injection of new blood that LSU needs. Things are certainly becoming more interesting in the SEC West, as LSU must not only battle Nick Saban annually, but now Chavis as well. The addition of Will Muschamp as Auburn’s new defensive coordinator doesn’t make things any easier either. There’s moving and shaking all around the SEC landscape.” – Jacques Doucet/WAFB

“LSU junior defensive end Danielle Hunter has seemingly made his final decision, electing to turn pro instead of returning to school for his final season.” – Geaux 247

“Les Miles is on the clock. The most critical period of his LSU football coaching career that began in 2005 started the very moment he walked off the field following Tuesday’s 31-28 Music City Bowl loss to Notre Dame in Nashville.” – Ron Higgins/NOLA.com