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8:00 PM ET, December 9, 2008

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Huma Khan / Political Punch:
Questions Arise About the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship  —  “Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today,” said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint …
RELATED:
Chicago Breaking News:
Blagojevich arrested on federal charges  —  Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a “staggering” level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois' top office.
Marc Ambinder:
Blago Indictment: Who Is Senate Candidate 5?  —  Gov. Blagojevich's own words make it clear that he did not believe that Barack Obama wanted a person called “Senate Candidate 5” to be appointed to the Senate. … In other words — if Blago doesn't get what he wanted, then he'd stiff the PEOTUS …
Chicago Tribune:
Blagojevich's Senate selection process investigated  —  Federal probe widens to Obama's vacant seat  —  UPDATE: Source: Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody  —  A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning.
New York Times:
Illinois Governor in Corruption Scandal  —  CHICAGO — Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday morning on corruption charges, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell President-elect Barack Obama's seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Blago calls Obama “motherf—er”  —  The tapes reveal a two-term governor who no longer wants his job, badly wants cash and is determined to leverage a financial benefit out of his appointment powers.  —  He also appears to think little of the president-elect, whom he calls a “motherf***er” at one point.
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Attorney: Blagojevich has no plans of resigning  —  CHICAGO— The attorney for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said the governor will be vindicated and he has no plans to resign.  —  “He didn't do anything wrong,” attorney Sheldon Sorosky told reporters after Blagojevich was arraigned.
Chicago Breaking News:
Lt. Gov. Quinn urges Blagojevich to ‘step aside’  —  Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn today called on Gov. Rod Blagojevich to step aside, at least temporarily, because the governor is “seriously impeded from carrying out his oath of office.”  —  “I think that should certainly be considered by the governor today.
CNN:
Durbin wants special election to replace Obama  —  (CNN) — Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday he wants a special election called to fill President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat.  —  At a press conference with reporters on Capitol Hill, Durbin said he wants the Illinois legislature …
Katie Allison Granju:
Note to President-Elect Obama: just tell the truth  —  Today, President-Elect Obama spoke out about the emerging political scandal out of Illinois involving his former Senate seat, and he denied emphatically having ever even spoken to the now-arrested governor about the matter, saying:
Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs
Chicago Tribune:
Statement from Gerould Kern, editor of the Chicago Tribune  —  Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrives at the Tribune Tower on Monday for an interview at CNN's Chicago office.  (Tribune photo by Nancy Stone / December 8, 2008)  —  The Chicago Tribune investigated allegations of misconduct involving Illinois …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Source: ‘SEIU official’ was Stern  —  A Democratic source confirms that SEIU President Andy Stern is the “SEIU official” referred to in the federal complaint against Rod Blagojevich.  —  There's no allegation that the SEIU official did anything wrong, and what appears to be a wiretap transcript …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
‘Senate Candidate 5’  —  Capitol Fax's Rich Miller updates …
Discussion: The Capitol Fax Blog and Reuters
Ron Kampeas / JTA:
Blagojevich arrest could send Jewish rep to Senate
Discussion: Sunlight Foundation
Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blogs:   Blago wanted to shake down Warren Buffett
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:   AMAZING  —  Even setting aside the primordial level of corruption …
Marc Ambinder:   Blago Indictment And The Obama Team
Jonathan Stein / MoJoBlog:
So. Who Will Appoint the Next Illinois Senator?
Edwin Eisendrath / The Huffington Post:
Now, Finally, We Can Clean Up This State
Chicago Sun Times:
Charges: Illinois Governor Blagojevich shook down the Chicago Tribune
Discussion: Braublog
Jeffrey Toobin In / New Yorker:   HOT SEAT  —  Otto Kerner, Jr., is usually remembered …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Blagojevich Criminal Complaint: The Best of the Best
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Joe the Plumber: McCain ‘appalled me’  —  Joe Wurzelbacher lashed out at former GOP presidential nominee John McCain Tuesday, the man who made Wurzelbacher famous as “Joe the Plumber.”  —  Wurzelbacher told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that he felt “dirty” after “being on the campaign trail …
Michael Tarm / Associated Press:
Workers win a big round in Chicago factory sit-in  —  CHICAGO - The creditor of a Chicago plant where laid-off employees are conducting a sit-in to demand severance pay said Tuesday it would extend limited loans to the factory so it could resolve the dispute, but the workers declared their protest unfinished.
Discussion: MyDD and Hullabaloo
RELATED:
Bloomberg:   Illinois Threat to Bank of America Is Dangerous, Critics Say
Marist Poll:
Voters Weigh In: Cuomo and Kennedy Deadlocked for Clinton Seat  —  High Hopes for Secretary of State Clinton  —  This Marist Poll reports:  —  · Cuomo and Kennedy Tie...More Than a Quarter of Voters Unsure About Clinton's Replacement: While much of the buzz …
RELATED:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
QUOTE OF THE DAY.... A new national poll from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation finds 79% of Americans approve of the job Barack Obama has done so far.  That's probably not too significant — this is still the transition period, when exercising one's limited authority is a lot easier — but 79% is still a pretty solid number.
RELATED:
Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Poll: 8 in 10 give Obama thumbs-up on transition
Discussion: Balloon Juice
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
A tip from Rahm?  —  Jack Connaty, of Chicago's Fox affiliate, reported this morning:  —  We did receive a tip this morning that perhaps all of this came together so quickly because the Governor may have reached out to Rahm Emanuel, the president-elect's chief of staff, in attempting to leverage filling the Senate seat.
The Daily Beast:
The Man Who Brought Down Spitzer by Scott Horton  —  Blogs and Stories  —  It's time to play Name That Goon!  Rod Blagojevich vs. Tony Soprano.  —  Hands on buzzers: One's a trash-talking thug trying to stay one step ahead of the law.  The other was played by James Gandolfini.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
THAT'S A CONTEST WE CAN BELIEVE IN
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
O'Reilly And Rove Agree: Reports On The Bad Economy Are Part …
Dee Dee Myers / Vanity Fair:
Favreau's Sexist Photo Is No Laughing Matter
Victor Davis Hanson / The Corner:
That Was Then, This is Now — II
Discussion: Gawker
Associated Press:
Ethics panel expands Rangel investigation
Discussion: Hot Air
 Earlier Items: 
Bloomberg:
Treasury Bills Trade at Negative Rates as Haven Demand Surges
Discussion: Newshoggers.com
CNN:
Court: Craig can't withdraw sex-sting plea
Discussion: TalkLeft and Washington Monthly
William J. Broad / New York Times:
Hidden Travels of the Atomic Bomb
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Steele to conservatives: ‘Wake up people’
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Obama's Web presence loses its luster
Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Cracks appear in Obama foreign policy team
Discussion: TIME.com