Top Items:
Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
G.O.P. Lobbyist to Plead Guilty in Deal With Prosecutors — WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to three felony counts in Washington on Wednesday as part of a settlement with federal prosecutors, ending an intense, months-long negotiation over whether the Republican lobbyist …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Balloon Juice, Boston Globe, David Corn, Houtopia, Booman Tribune, Obsidian Wings, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Political Teen, The Carpetbagger Report, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, The Heretik, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Stop The ACLU, Politics in the Zeros, Hotline On Call, TAPPED, The Green Knight, The All Spin Zone, NewsBusters.org, Blanton's and Ashton's, Bloomberg, Donklephant, Houston Chronicle and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
RELATED ITEMS:
Jason Leopold / rawstory.com:
How they got caught: After lobbyist broke off engagement, ex-fiancee told of illicit dealings to FBI — Michael Scanlon found himself at the center of one of the biggest political scandals in Washington history as a result of cheating and lying—but not the type involving the numerous clients …
ReddHedd / firedoglake:
Abramoff Plea Deal Reached — The NYTimes is reporting on the details of the Abramoff plea deal. According to Anne Kornblut, Abramoff will plead guilty to three counts in the DC phase of the investigation — public corruption, fraud, and tax evasion — resulting in a maximum exposure of about 10 years in federal prison.
Discussion:
Eschaton, PSoTD, The Truth Laid Bear, Fired Up! America, Off the Kuff, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Norwegianity and Daily Kos
CNN:
Lobbyist admits kickbacks, influence peddling — Abramoff agrees to cooperate in corruption probe — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former high-powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges, agreeing to cooperate in a federal corruption probe in Washington.
Washington Post:
Abramoff Expected to Plead Guilty to 3 Felony Charges — Former high-powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff is expected to plead guilty today to three felony charges in a Washington courtroom, a Justice Department spokesman said. — The plea deal opens the prospect that Abramoff could provide testimony …
Discussion:
CNN, TalkLeft, The Stakeholder, The Sideshow, Democratic Veteran, Preemptive Karma, Left in the West, Simianbrain and ScrappleFace
MSNBC:Top lobbyist to plead guilty in corruption case
Discussion:
firedoglake, A Blog For All, Wizbang, rawstory.com, The Moderate Voice and Shakespeare's Sister
Scott Shields / MyDD:
How Bush Failed the Sago 13 — I haven't seen much discussion of it in the blogosphere, but there are 13 coal miners trapped under 260 feet of dirt right now in West Virginia. It's worthy of discussion here because, once upon a time, these guys were the bread and butter of the Democratic Party …
Discussion:
volunteertv.com, Balloon Juice, Liberty Street, AMERICAN DIGEST, Cold Fury and Ace of Spades HQ
RELATED ITEMS:
James Dao / New York Times:Rescuers Continue Search for 13 Workers Trapped in Mine
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
A Question For James Risen — James Risen, NY Times reporter and book author, has hit the talk show circuit to promote State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration . Mr. Risen and his book have been all over the news, of course, since it was Messrs.
RELATED ITEMS:
Steven E. Landsburg / Slate:
Do the Poor Deserve Life Support? — A woman who couldn't pay her bills is unplugged from her ventilator and dies. Is this wrong? — Tirhas Habtegiris, a 27-year-old terminal cancer patient at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas, was removed from her ventilator last month because she couldn't pay her medical bills.
Rebecca MacKinnon / RConversation:
Microsoft takes down Chinese blogger — Microsoft's MSN Spaces continues to censor its Chinese language blogs, and has become more aggressive and thorough at censorship since I first checked out MSN's censorship system last summer. On New Years Eve, MSN Spaces took down the popular blog written by Zhao Jing, aka Michael Anti.
White House:
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan — MR. MCCLELLAN: Good afternoon everyone, and welcome back; Happy New Year. I want to begin with just an update on the situation in Upshur County, West Virginia, and the coal miners who have been trapped there. — The President continues to be kept informed about the situation.
Jane Hamsher / firedoglake:
GOP EXCLUSIVE!!! — The airwaves are full of the obedient and the credulous this morning trying to tar the Democrats with Jack Abramoff's filthy lucre, so let's set the record straight for those too busy sucking down hairspray fumes to pay full attention. As Media Matters noted …
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Bipartisan BS — The media is working hard to make this into a bi-partisan scandal but that is simple bulls**t. Ed Henry on CNN, for instance, couldn't stop talking about Byron Dorgan being implicated in this scandal. I don't know if Dorgan's going to be swept up, but let's …
Discussion:
Malkin(s)Watch
Opinion Journal:
Teachers' Pets — The NEA gave $65 million in its members' dues to left-liberal groups last year. — If we told you that an organization gave away more than $65 million last year to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International …
Discussion:
QandO, Kobayashi Maru, Betsy's Page, sisu, SCSUScholars, Generation Why?, AMERICAN FUTURE, Daily Pundit, Everything I Know Is Wrong and Bookworm Room
Martin Peretz / The New Republic:
Warning Shots — "The only thing that's going to solve this," Steven Spielberg told Time magazine, "is rational minds, a lot of sitting and talking until you're blue in the gills." This, I suppose, is what goes for heavy thinking in Hollywood. Imagine Dreamworks negotiating with Paramount …
