memeorandum: We're in the fast lane to Bailoutistan (Mark Steyn/Orange County Register)

4:55 PM ET, December 20, 2008

Top Items:

Carl Campanile / New York Post:

GERRY: SHE'S NOT READY — Geraldine Ferraro gave a thumbs down to Caroline Kennedy's bid for the Senate yesterday - even as the Camelot daughter won her biggest endorsement for the job, The Post has learned. — Ferraro, the first woman nominee for vice president, sent a letter …

Discussion: The New Republic

Al Giordano / The Field on the Narcosphere:

President of the Planet of the Stupid People Opposes Caroline Kennedy — She's baaaaaaack! — Add Geraldine Ferraro to the list of those having public tantrums over the possibility that Caroline Kennedy may become the next US Senator from Nueva York. — Today she told The New York Post:

Discussion: TalkLeft

The Politico:

Kennedy comes out for gay marriage — Caroline Kennedy is finally sharing some of her political opinions with the people she's campaigning to represent — casting herself in the liberal tradition of uncle Ted Kennedy, bucking Barack Obama by supporting same-sex marriage and disavowing Hillary Clinton's 2002 vote for the Iraq invasion.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Crypt's Blogs, Fox News and Don Surber

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

Q. and A.: Caroline Kennedy's Platform — ALBANY— In just a few days, Caroline Kennedy's bid to take Hillary Rodham Clinton's place in the Senate has acquired nearly all the trappings of a traditional New York statewide campaign: A bevy of consultants, a tour of struggling upstate cities and television cameras tracking her every move.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Crypt's Blogs, Liberal Values and Townhall.com

New York Times:

Kennedy Brand Leaves Cuomo Feeling Stymied — ALBANY — As Caroline Kennedy embarked on a tour of upstate New York this week, camera crews and reporters in tow, the state's attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, was announcing a $2.7 million settlement with the operator of an illegal dump in Lackawanna.

Discussion: Gothamist, Commentary, The Caucus and NY Daily News

The Politico: Nepotism NY style as clans vie for seat

Dave Rochelson / Change.gov:

“The search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us” — In the latest weekly address, President-elect Barack Obama took a bold stand for making decisions based on science and facts rather than ideology as he introduced leading members of his science and technology team.

Discussion: The Swamp, Dot Earth, Obsidian Wings, Bad Astronomy and ScienceInsider

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

A VISION FOR SCIENCE.... Barack Obama used his weekly radio/video address to introduce members of his science team this morning, but just as importantly, he talked a bit about his vision for the role of science in the coming years. — “From landing on the moon, to sequencing the human genome …

Discussion: The RBC and Liberal Values

Hope Yen / Associated Press:
Obama names 4 top members of science team

Discussion: The Politico, LewRockwell.com Blog, JammieWearingFool and The Other McCain

Los Angeles Times:

Jerry Brown asks California Supreme Court to void gay-marriage ban — The state attorney general, who had earlier vowed to defend Prop. 8, offers a novel legal theory for why it should be overturned. The action surprises some legal experts. — Reporting from San Francisco and Los Angeles …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, Political Machine, Gothamist, L.A. Now, NY Daily News and Wilshire & Washington

CNN:
Prop 8 proponents seek to nullify same-sex marriages

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY, American Power, The Debate Link, Eschaton, Connecting.the.Dots, Washington Monthly, L.A. Now, Towleroad and San Francisco Chronicle

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:
Top Lawyer Urges Voiding California Proposition 8

Discussion: MyDD

Michelle Malkin:

Document drop: The story behind Change.gov — I've obtained documents sent to a reader in response to his FOIA request regarding the creation of Barack Obama's Change.gov website. It gives you the rest of the story. You'll recall last month that I blogged several questions about the propriety …

Discussion: techPresident, Outside The Beltway and protein wisdom

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

If criminal penalties are removed, what will deter lawbreaking by political officials? — (updated below - Update II) — The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus today perfectly expresses the consensus view of establishment Washington regarding the exemption which political elites should and do enjoy …

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, Democrats.com, Newshoggers.com, TalkLeft and Balloon Juice

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Deep Throat on Trial

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Agence France Presse and The Moderate Voice

Washington Post:

A Chance for Consensus on Iraq — After our visit to Iraq this month, it is clear that what was once unthinkable there is now taking place: A stable, safe and free Iraq is emerging. Violence has fallen to the lowest level since the first months of the war.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Swampland, Newshoggers.com, Gateway Pundit, TalkLeft, Daily Kos, The Reaction and The Impolitic

Zaz Hollander / Anchorage Daily News:

Johnston's arrest was oxycontin-related — WASILLA — Wasilla resident Sherry L. Johnston, mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend, faces a Jan. 6 court date for an oxycontin-related arrest at her home by Alaska State Troopers. — Little additional information was available Friday on the case …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Dependable Renegade, Liberal Values and The Impolitic

Martina M. Stewart / CNN:
Palin's boyfriend's mom arrested on drug charges

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY

Mark Steyn / Orange County Register:

We're in the fast lane to Bailoutistan — Recommend — “See the USA in your Chevrolet!” trilled Dinah Shore week after week on TV. — Can you still see the USA in your Chevrolet? Through a windscreen darkly. — General Motors now has a market valuation about a third of Bed …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Power Line

Krishna Guha / Financial Times:

Hedge funds gain access to $200bn Fed aid — Hedge funds will be allowed to borrow from the Federal Reserve for the first time under a landmark $200bn programme intended to support consumer credit. — The Fed said on Friday it would offer low-cost three-year funding to any US company investing …

Discussion: naked capitalism

James Fallows:

Tech followups on NYTimes.com blockage in China (updated) — On December 19, the NYTimes.com site was apparently blocked all across China. For the sake of completeness, these followups. — 1) Could the problem be related to a recent physical break in three of the four main internet cables connecting Asia to North America?

Discussion: The Peking Duck