memeorandum: Obama defends Republic Windows and Doors workers (Abdon Pallasch/Chicago Sun Times)

5:05 AM ET, December 8, 2008

Top Items:

Tribune Prepares for Bankruptcy Filing — Tribune Co. is preparing for a possible bankruptcy-protection filing as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter, opening a new front of trouble for the newspaper industry. — As Tribune continues discussions with its lenders …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Portfolio and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

New York Times:

Tribune Co., in Debt, Could Be Flirting With Bankruptcy — The Tribune Company, the newspaper chain that owns The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, is trying to negotiate new terms with its creditors and has hired advisers for a possible bankruptcy filing, according to people briefed on the matter.

Discussion: Eschaton and The Moderate Voice

DealBook:
Tribune Hires Advisers to Help Stave Off Bankruptcy

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Gawker, the talking dog, Blue Crab Boulevard and JammieWearingFool

James Nash / The Columbus Dispatch:

Kilroy is headed to Congress — Democrat defeats Stivers in 15th Congressional District — Now it's official: Mary Jo Kilroy will be going to Washington as the first Democrat to represent any part of Franklin County in Congress in a generation. — Final vote tallies released this evening …

Discussion: Political Machine, TPM Election Central and MyDD

Associated Press: Democrats Pick Up House Seat

KSLA-TV:
Recount expected in 4th Congressional District Race

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com, JammieWearingFool, Talking Points Memo and MyDD

Malin Rising / Associated Press:

Krugman: US auto industry will probably disappear — STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Nobel economics prize winner Paul Krugman said Sunday that the beleaguered U.S. auto industry will likely disappear. — “It will do so because of the geographical forces that me and my colleagues have discussed …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Below The Beltway, Open Left and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

Shelby warns of filibuster of auto bailout — With job losses mounting and Detroit's Big Three automakers facing a battle on Capitol Hill over emergency federal aid, President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday predicted more hard times for the U.S. economy before it starts to turn around …

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, Wizbang, RedState, Commentary, The Raw Story and New York Times

Steve Hildebrand / The Huffington Post:

A Message to Obama's Progressive Critics — Five short weeks ago, Barack Obama won a decisive victory against John McCain - winning 365 electoral votes to McCain's 162 and winning the popular vote by 9 million - the largest popular vote margin since.... After a strategy of expanding the electoral map …

Discussion: The Reaction and Open Left

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Obama Deputy Steve Hildebrand: Liberals Need To STFU

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

CNN:

Obama: Days of ‘pork ... as a strategy’ are over — (CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama issued a warning Sunday to officials around the country who want to fund projects with federal dollars: no more business as usual. — In an interview on NBC's “Meet the Press,” Obama said …

MSNBC:
‘Meet the Press’ transcript for Dec. 7, 2008

Discussion: Commentary, Althouse, Newshoggers.com, Connecting.the.Dots, NewsBusters.org and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

MSNBC:
Obama warns economy to get worse

Discussion: Washington Post, NewsBusters.org, Corrente, Don Surber, DownWithTyranny!, Below The Beltway, TPM Election Central and Associated Press

Brian Knowlton / New York Times:
Obama Warns of Further Economic Pain

Discussion: The Heretik, The New Republic and The Jed Report

R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:

Ideological Warfare Rages on Federal Appeals Courts Dominated by Republican Appointees — GOP-Appointed Majorities Winning Ideological Battles at Appellate Level — Seven of the 16 full-time judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, based in Cincinnati, were appointed by President Bush.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and The RBC

Jerry Markon / Washington Post:

The Politics of the Federal Bench — Obama's Appointments Are Expected To Reshape the U.S. Legal Landscape — The federal judiciary is on the verge of a major shift when President-elect Barack Obama's nominees take control of several of the nation's most important appellate courts, legal scholars and political activists say.

Discussion: TIME.com

Adam Nossiter / New York Times:

History and Amazement in House Race Outcome — NEW ORLEANS — Soft-spoken, retiring and diminutive, Anh Cao does not appear to fit the role of dragon-slayer. — Yet a day after he defeated Representative William J. Jefferson, the once-untouchable incumbent here, Mr. Cao was being approached …

Discussion: Roger Ailes

CNN:
First Vietnamese-American elected to House

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy

New York Times:

Pakistan's Spies Aided Group Tied to Mumbai Siege — WASHINGTON — Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group suspected of conducting the Mumbai attacks, has quietly gained strength in recent years with the help of Pakistan's main spy service, assistance that has allowed the group …

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The RBC

The Independent:

Mark Penn: The man who blew the presidency — Hillary had a huge lead in the polls, and a genius running her team. So how did ‘The Master of the Message’ get it so wrong? And will he ever admit his mistakes? Cole Moreton meets... Mark Penn — Hillary Clinton was going to be president.

Chicago Breaking News:

Wright visits Trinity pulpit, lashes media — For the first time since his retirement last spring, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. returned to the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ this morning with two goals: glorifying God and vilifying the media. — In honor of Trinity's 47th anniversary …

Discussion: Don Surber, BLACKFIVE and CANNONFIRE

New York Times:

Panel to Call for Probe Into Wiretapping of Scholar — WASHINGTON — A Congressional oversight panel plans to ask the National Security Agency to start an investigation into new evidence that the agency illegally wiretapped a Muslim scholar in Northern Virginia and concealed the eavesdropping during …

Discussion: Firedoglake and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Clifford J. Levy / New York Times:

In Hard Times, Russia Moves In to Reclaim Private Industries — BEREZNIKI, Russia — In late October, one of Vladimir V. Putin's top lieutenants abruptly summoned a billionaire mining oligarch to a private meeting. The official, Igor I. Sechin, had taken a sudden interest in a two-year-old accident …

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Abdon Pallasch / Chicago Sun Times:

Obama defends Republic Windows and Doors workers — President-elect Barack Obama put himself on the side of the workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory Sunday: — “When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned …

Discussion: Democrats.com and The Raw Story

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

EVEN GEORGE WILL.... We've past the point at which this can reasonably be described as foolish. Now, conservative apoplexy about the non-existent drive to reinstate the “Fairness Doctrine,” is just annoying. George Will, who one might expect to know better, devoted 740 words …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Matthew Yglesias