Top Items:
Brian Ross / ABCNEWS:
Sources Say Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is ‘Senate Candidate #5’ — Feds Plan to Interview Chicago Congressman as Part of Blagojevich Probe — Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is the anonymous “Senate Candidate #5” whose emissaries Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich reportedly claimed offered …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Chicago Tribune, Pantagraph, Power Line, Crooks and Liars, Progress Illinois, Political Machine, NO QUARTER, Emptywheel, Washington Post, JustOneMinute, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Gateway Pundit, On Deadline, RedState, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Campaign Spot, The Raw Story, JammieWearingFool, Flopping Aces, Blue Crab Boulevard, PoliticalBase.com Blog, New York Times and Don Surber
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Blagojevich questions censored on Transition site — President-elect Barack Obama's Transition today launched “Open for Questions,” a Digg-style feature allowing citizens to submit questions, and to vote on one another's questions, bringing favored inquiries to the top of the list.
Discussion:
Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, The Politico, TPM Election Central, CNET News, Gawker, The Caucus, Tim Blair, 24Ahead, Sunlight Foundation and Brendan Nyhan
Chicago Sun Times:
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is ‘Senate Candidate 5’ in Blagojevich criminal complaint — Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is “Senate Candidate 5,” who — through an emissary — allegedly offered to raise money for Gov. Blagojevich in return for being appointed as Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times.
Discussion:
Chicago Breaking News, MSNBC, Balloon Juice, Shakesville, CANNONFIRE, Taylor Marsh and Washington Wire
Washington Wire:
Blagojevich's Big Conference Call and Valerie Jarrett's Clean Break — Cam Simpson reports on Rod Blagojevich — Among the hundreds of hours of conversations involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich secretly recorded by the FBI since Oct. 22, one phone call is drawing particular scrutiny among politicos …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Reid Prefers Senate Appointment to Special Election — Updated, 5:56 p.m. ET: The entire Senate Democratic caucus has signed the Reid letter to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. — Original Post — The momentum for a special election to replace President-elect Barack Obama ran …
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Matthew Bigg / Reuters:
Conservatives gleeful over governor's arrest — ATLANTA (Reuters) - U.S. conservatives rubbed their hands with glee on Wednesday over news that the Democratic governor of Illinois has been accused of attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama.
Martin Kady II / The Crypt's Blogs:
All 50 Dem senators call on Blagojevich to resign
All 50 Dem senators call on Blagojevich to resign
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
The Huffington Post:
Reid: Blagojevich Must Go, Must Not Make Appointment
Reid: Blagojevich Must Go, Must Not Make Appointment
Discussion:
Think Progress, State Journal Register, TPM Election Central, The Raw Story and Washington Monthly
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
CHU TO BE ENERGY SECRETARY — From NBC's Savannah Guthrie — Obama will name Steven Chu his choice for Energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator and Carol Browner as energy “czar” reporting to the president. — It is unclear whether the Browner position is cabinet level.
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, Climate Progress, Wonk Room, Hullabaloo, TIME.com, Think Progress, Gristmill, Open Left, The New Republic and Ben Smith's Blogs
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Wall Street Journal:
Obama Picks Team to Guide Energy Agenda — President-elect Barack Obama has picked a Nobel laureate, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and officials from New Jersey and Los Angeles to run his energy and environmental initiatives, putting heft into roles likely …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, rubber hose, Open Left, Weekly Standard and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Chris Strohm / GovExec.com:
House Democrat urges Obama to keep Bush's intelligence chiefs — The House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat said Tuesday he has recommended that President-elect Barack Obama keep the country's current national intelligence director and CIA chief in place for some time to ensure continuity …
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Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Rep. Reyes: Since Torture Might Be Necessary, Obama Should Keep …
Rep. Reyes: Since Torture Might Be Necessary, Obama Should Keep …
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!
The Sun:
Fem-bot's my love machine — Inventor Le Trung, 33, created Aiko, said to be “in her 20s” with a stunning 32, 23, 33 figure, shiny hair and delicate features. — She even remembers his favourite drink and does simple cleaning and household tasks. — “Fem-bot” Aiko, who has cost £14,000 …
Discussion:
Hot Air
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Jindal says no — Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, seen by many Republicans as the most promising standard-bearer for a remade party, said at a Richmond, Va press conference that he isn't running for president in 2012. — At a news conference Wednesday with Bob McDonnell …
Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Poll Shows Obama Gains Support — Public Roots for His Success in Face of Economic Crisis but Is Wary of Big Spending — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is entering the White House with an enormous reservoir of goodwill from an American public that is rooting for his success …
Martin Kady II / The Crypt's Blogs:
Specter calls for delay in Holder hearings — Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, has just thrown a wrench into the Eric Holder hearings planned for early January, saying Holder's involvement in the Marc Rich pardon is a “red flag” and a “very serious matter.”
RELATED:
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Hit by Recession, NPR to Lay Off Seven Percent of Staff — Faced with a sharp decline in revenue, National Public Radio said today it will pare back its once-flourishing operations, and institute its first organization-wide layoffs in 25 years. — Washington-based NPR said it would lay off …
New York Times:
Kerrey Gets Vote of No-Confidence at New School — Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska governor and senator known for his acerbic tongue and iconoclastic tendencies, earned an overwhelming vote of no-confidence on Wednesday afternoon from the senior faculty at the New School, the Greenwich Village university he has run since 2001.
Salon:
What do the Clintons have on Obama? — Meanwhile, Sarah Palin's rehabilitation has been well launched. Step by step over the past five weeks since the election, headlines about Palin in the mainstream media and some Web news sites have become more neutral and even laudatory, signifying that a shift toward reality is already at hand.
Discussion:
Eunomia
John / Power Line:
GOODBYE TO NEWSWEEK — Much attention has been paid to the decline of print newspapers, less to the similar decline of news magazines. The cases are not identical: most obviously, the news weeklies never depended on classified advertising, as newspapers did.
Discussion:
Folio
The Politico:
GOP may seek Bill Clinton's testimony — Senate Republicans are considering asking Bill Clinton to testify at his wife's confirmation hearing about potential conflicts of interest involving his worldwide charitable enterprises. — “There are concerns about his international work across the board …
Foreign Policy:
The 10 Worst Predictions for 2008 — Prognostication is by far the riskiest form of punditry. The 10 commentators and leaders on this list learned that the hard way when their confident predictions about politics, war, the economy, and even the end of humanity itself completely missed the mark.