memeorandum: In Praise of Bureacrats (Myglesias/Matthew Yglesias)

12:55 PM ET, December 7, 2008

Top Items:

Indicted Louisiana congressman loses re-election bid — (CNN) — Nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has been battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years, appears to have lost his bid for re-election. — Republican challenger Anh “Joseph” Cao …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Next Right, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Wizbang, Fausta's Blog and Below The Beltway

Adam Nossiter / New York Times:

Voters Oust Indicted Congressman in Louisiana — NEW ORLEANS — Representative William J. Jefferson was defeated by a little-known Republican lawyer here Saturday in a late-running Congressional election, underscoring the sharp demographic shifts in this city since Hurricane Katrina …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Betsy's Page, NewsBusters.org, protein wisdom, Tickle The Wire and Ed Driscoll.com

Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blogs:
Holy Cao: Republican defeats Jefferson

Discussion: The Swamp, Associated Press and Washington Monthly

Cain Burdeau / Associated Press:
Louisiana voters oust indicted Rep. Jefferson

Discussion: Hot Air, Yahoo! News, Reuters and JammieWearingFool

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Bill Jefferson Loses

Discussion: Don Surber and PoliPundit.com

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:

Rove planning to ‘name names’ of Bush haters in his new book.» — Karl Rove is reportedly one of the key architects overseeing the “Bush legacy project,” predicting that the President will be remembered as a “far-sighted leader.” In a new interview with Cox News …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and News Hounds

Ken Herman / Austin American-Statesman:

Bush insiders reflect on president's legacy — WASHINGTON — On a sofa on the second floor of the comfortable Washington home that George W. Bush's career helped put him in, Karl Rove reflects on an administration that didn't turn out as anticipated. — “No. It all turns out different,” he said.

Discussion: TRAIL BLAZERS

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Caroline Kennedy? Thanks But No Thanks — digg it — Everyone seems to be salivating because Caroline Kennedy called David Patterson and is apparently interested in the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton. — It's a truly terrible idea. — Her leadership could have been really helpful …

Discussion: The Caucus, Senate Guru and New York Times

New York Post:
TED WANTS CAROLINE

Discussion: TIME.com

CNN: Caroline Kennedy in Senate would extend legacy

Lisa Mascaro / Las Vegas Sun:

Biden unwelcome in Senate huddles, where Cheney wielded power — WASHINGTON — In a move to reassert Congressional independence at the start of the new presidential administration, the vice president will be barred from joining weekly internal Senate deliberations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Politico

Mike Allen / Associated Press:

44 days to Inauguration — BREAKING : John King succeeding Wolf Blitzer on ‘Late Edition,’ Chris Matthews signing new ‘Hardball’ contract — Navy fans hoisted a sign at yesterday's game that said, “Congress, bail out Army!” — President Bush yesterday at his portrait unveiling by the Union League of Philadelphia: “Good morning.

Randy Barnett / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Remembering Pearl Harbor 2008 I write this as I look out my 29th floor hotel room in the direction of Pearl Harbor. My wife and I came to Oahu, Hawaii to celebrate our 29th anniversary on December 2nd. Although it is a coincidence that we are still here on December 7th, it still feels eerie.

Sam Roberts / New York Times:
Report Debunks Theory That the U.S. Heard a Coded Warning About Pearl Harbor

Discussion: Kansas City Star, Betsy's Page and Michelle Malkin

Jonathan Cutler / Los Angeles Times:
The Big Three's real union problem

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and cab drollery

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Obama Picks Shinseki to Lead Veterans Affairs — President-elect Barack Obama today will introduce retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as his nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, bringing to his Cabinet a career military officer best known for running afoul of the Bush administration …

Discussion: James Fallows, ATTACKERMAN, Townhall.com, Informed Comment, The Atlantic Online, Outside The Beltway, Harry's Place, MyDD, Swampland, Taylor Marsh, Comments from Left Field, TalkLeft and Booman Tribune

Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:

Legal Organization May Become Influential Beyond Its Dreams — The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy was founded seven years ago to counter a growing right-leaning legal philosophy that has reshaped the American legal landscape on issues from the reach of federal regulation to the separation of church and state.

Discussion: cab drollery

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Abortion Politics Didn't Doom the G.O.P. — AN iron law of recent American politics dictates that any Republican setback at the polls will be quickly pinned on the pro-life movement. You might think that the Republican Party's 2008 debacle would be an exception to this rule.

Discussion: TalkLeft and No More Mister Nice Blog

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

In Praise of Bureacrats — One underappreciated aspect of the American system of government is that we have way more political appointees in the executive branch than is common in most democracies. Political appointees will go three or four levels deep into the org charts of agencies …

Laura King / Los Angeles Times:

Supply trucks hit in brazen attack in Pakistan — Suspected Taliban insurgents attacked two truck stops, destroying more than 150 vehicles carrying supplies bound for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan. — In one of the biggest and most brazen attacks of its kind to date …

A. Siegel / The Huffington Post:

Christmas Lights ... scrooge or savior? — Do you love those displays of Christmas (or Hannukah or Kwanza or ...) lights? Are you awed by those so impassioned that they string up 1000s of lights in awesome displays worthy of a city center? I once did, pausing on cold winter nights …