Assorted Issues: Around the Horn

Recent days have brought a variety of stories:

• On Friday Politico.com reported that President Barack Obama had dispatched a functionary to Richmond whose task was to ask Douglas Wilder to endorse Creigh Deeds for governor. The Web site described Wilder as avuncular yet non-committal. Indeed, the former governor (and former mayor) had more generous words for Republican Bob McDonnell than for his fellow Democrat. Wilder cited Sheila Johnson's endorsement of McDonnell, for instance. Much of this sounds familiar. The timing of an endorsement, we suspect, is not propitious. If Linwood Holton's support of the Democratic ticket rates as an expected election entertainment, then Wilder's electoral musings also have entered the state's political legend.

• And speaking of art: Through a gift-purchase with the Fischer family, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has acquired an outstanding collection of German Expressionism. As Museum Director Alex Nyerges explains, the paintings take viewers back 100 years to one of the 20th century's most important artistic times. The works evoke broader themes as well. Europe had entered the sunset.

• The headline reported, "Mayors, Rabbis Arrested in Corruption Sweep." "Must be New Jersey," we immediately concluded.

CNBC ranks Virginia the top state in the nation for business. The ratings reflect factors such as business friendliness (taxes and regulation), education, cost of living, overall economy, work force, transportation, and other influences. The private and public sectors share the credit.