memeorandum: Obama's Inaugural Mistake (Joe Solmonese/Washington Post)

11:40 AM ET, December 19, 2008

Top Items:

Auto Makers to Get $17.4 Billion — The White House announced a $17.4 billion rescue package for the troubled Detroit auto makers that allows them to avoid bankruptcy and leaves many of the big decisions for the incoming Obama administration. — Speaking from the White House …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Washington Wire, PoliPundit.com, OpenMarket.org and The Washington Note

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:

To the Rescue: Bush to Give Low-Interest Loans to Carmakers — Obama Team Agrees to Bush's Strategy — The White House has decided to come to the rescue of General Motors and Chrysler by providing them with $17.4 billion in low-interest loans to keep them afloat, ABC News has learned.

Discussion: White House, The Swamp, Washington Post, Think Progress, Wake up America, On Deadline, Outside The Beltway and PoliBlog

The Politico:

Bush announces $17.4 billion auto bailout — President Bush stepped in Friday to keep America's auto industry afloat, announcing a $17.4 billion bailout for GM and Chrysler, with the terms of the loans requiring that the firms radically restructure and show they can become profitable soon.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Wizbang

Fox News:

White House to Loan Auto Industry $17.4B — The $17.4 billion in low-interest loans will be drawn from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund but it will be called back if the companies are not viable by March 31. — FOXNews.com — The federal government will enable Detroit's ailing automakers …

Discussion: Hot Air, Scared Monkeys and Sister Toldjah

New York Times:
Bush Approves $17.4 Billion Auto Bailout

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Gothamist and Spin Cycle

Roger Runningen / Bloomberg:
GM and Chrysler Will Get $13.4 Billion in U.S. Loans

Discussion: Washington Post and naked capitalism

Joe Solmonese / Washington Post:

Obama's Inaugural Mistake — It is difficult to comprehend how our president-elect, who has been so spot on in nearly every political move and gesture, could fail to grasp the symbolism of inviting an anti-gay theologian to deliver his inaugural invocation. And the Obama campaign's response to the anger about this decision?

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Note, HRC Back Story, AMERICAblog News and Lynn Sweet

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

How new is Obama's New Politics? — The disparity is stark between the actual importance of the Inaugural invocation and the anger triggered by Obama's choice of Rick Warren to deliver it. Obviously, the controversy is a proxy for numerous pre-existing conflicts and agendas that have nothing to do with Rick Warren.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, THE TOOT, Corrente and Daily Kos

Matt Stoller / Open Left:
Suicide and Legitimized Homophobia

Discussion: Time, Democracy in America, Wall Street Journal, MyDD, Blog entry and Brendan Calling

Tim Weiner / New York Times:

W. Mark Felt, Watergate Deep Throat, Dies at 95 — W. Mark Felt, who was the No. 2 official at the F.B.I. when he helped bring down President Richard M. Nixon by resisting the Watergate cover-up and becoming Deep Throat, the most famous anonymous source in American history, died Thursday.

Discussion: The Politico, Guardian, JammieWearingFool, Ed Driscoll.com, Gateway Pundit and Romenesko

Washington Post:
‘Deep Throat’ Mark Felt Dies at 95

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Democratic Daily, Gothamist, Democracy in America, Gawker and LA Observed

Johanna Neuman / Los Angeles Times:
W. Mark Felt, ‘Deep Throat’ in Watergate reports, dies

Discussion: Hot Air

Jeff Poor / The Business & Media Institute:

CNN Meteorologist: Manmade Global Warming Theory ‘Arrogant’ — Network's second meteorologist to challenge notion man can alter climate. — Business & Media Institute — Unprecedented snow in Las Vegas has some scratching their heads - how can there be global warming with this unusual cold and snowy weather?

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Pajamas Media, LewRockwell.com Blog, Don Surber, Babalu Blog and Wake up America

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Madoff Economy — The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.

Discussion: theheretik.us, American Street, American Prospect, Prairie Weather and EconLog

Richard A. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:

The Employee Free Choice Act Is Unconstitutional — Free speech and the takings clause are at stake. — A top priority of the incoming Democratic Congress and Obama administration is the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act. The EFCA, as is well known, introduces a card-check procedure …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, Babalu Blog, LiberalOasis, RedState, Chronicle of the Conspiracy, Betsy's Page and Power Line

Washington Post:

Advocates for Action on Global Warming Chosen as Obama's Top Science Advisers — President-elect Barack Obama has selected two of the nation's most prominent scientific advocates for a vigorous response to climate change to serve in his administration's top ranks, according to sources …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Environmental Capital, Oliver Willis, Stop The ACLU and Firedoglake

Mike J / Andrew Bolt:
Column - The 10 worst warming predictions

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and Dennis The Peasant

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
Lubchenco Will Helm National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Discussion: Reason, Washington Monthly, Upturned Earth, Oregonian, Gristmill and Get Energy Smart!

Kathleen Parker / Washington Post:

Caroline Kennedy Is No Sarah Palin — WASHINGTON — It is a legitimate question: Why is the resume-thin Caroline Kennedy being treated seriously as a prospective appointee to the U.S. Senate when the comparatively more-qualified Gov. Sarah Palin received such a harsh review?

Discussion: Don Surber, Riehl World View, New York Times, National Review and Tennessee Guerilla Women

Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:

Coleman leads Franken by just 2 votes — Two votes is all that stands between Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, according to the Associated Press tally in the state's still-unresolved Senate race. — Coleman's shrinking lead, combined with a state Supreme Court decision handed …

Discussion: Scorecard's Blogs, Associated Press, CNN, Minneapolis Star Tribune, The BRAD BLOG, Truthdig and Yahoo! News

Pat Doyle / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Minnesota Supreme Court: Count rejected absentee ballots

Discussion: MSNBC, AmSpecBlog, Democratic Strategist and Washington Post

The Politico:

Labor ties drive Solis pick — Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.) will take over the Labor Department in an imploding job market, while Big Labor is licking its chops for payback in Washington. — So why is she giving up a potential leadership track in the House for one of the more daunting cabinet jobs?

Discussion: TPM Election Central

New York Times:
Picks for Labor and Trade Positions Disagree on Policy

Discussion: Washington Post, The Caucus, Wall Street Journal, TPM Election Central, Spin Cycle, MSNBC, The Huffington Post, The Note and American Prospect

Zaz Hollander / Anchorage Daily News:

Levi Johnston's mother hit with drug charges — Arrested: her son was in the spotlight as father of bristol palin's baby. — zhollander@adn.com — WASILLA — A 42-year-old Wasilla woman was arrested Thursday at her home by Alaska State Troopers with a search warrant in an undercover drug investigation.

Discussion: Fox News, JammieWearingFool, Wonkette and The Impolitic

Wall Street Journal:

Democrats Are the New Ethics Story — Blagojevich is just the tip of the iceberg. — A note to all those visitors who will soon flood Washington for the inauguration: Be careful of the “swamp.” — That would be the swamp Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to drain when she led her party to victory in 2006.

Discussion: Commentary and Moe_Lane's blog

Peter Finn / Washington Post:

Plans Being Drawn to Close Guantanamo Prison — The Pentagon is drawing up plans to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be prepared for any order from President-elect Barack Obama, who has promised to close the controversial facility after he assumes office Jan. 20, a defense official said yesterday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Think Progress, ACSBlog and ACLU

Chris Vogel / Houston Press:

Police Get The Wrong House In Galveston, Allegedly Assault 12-Year-Old Girl — It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn's home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on.

Discussion: The Agitator and Boing Boing