Top Items:
The Huffington Post:
Roland Burris Almost Certain To Be Seated, Legal Scholars Say — Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint Roland Burris to Illinois' vacant Senate seat, even as the governor faces intense criminal scrutiny, is being treated as a crazy political power grab. It also seems very likely to be permanent.
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: The surreal, race-baiting Blagojevich press conference; Update: No seat for Burris, says Obama; Update: Blago's General Counsel quits — A transmission from Bizarroland, where Blago's only option to make sure Illinois has two Senators in January is to appoint someone himself rather …
Monica Davey / New York Times:
Defiant Illinois Governor Names Pick for Obama Seat — CHICAGO — Defying Senate leaders in Washington and a galaxy of political leaders here, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois announced Tuesday that he would fill the Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama, which he has been accused of trying to sell.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blogs, Philly.com, The RBC, Lynn Sweet, TIME.com and Comedy Central
Chicago Breaking News:
Blagojevich snubs Senate, taps Burris for seat
Blagojevich snubs Senate, taps Burris for seat
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, THE WEEK - Online, Top of the Ticket, On Deadline, The Jed Report, Pajamas Media, Political Machine, Ben Smith's Blogs, State Journal Register, The Gun Toting Liberal, The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, Right Wing News, MSNBC, RedState, Betsy's Page, The Field on the Narcosphere, The Raw Story, Daily Pundit, New York Times, PoliBlog, Hotline On Call, Progress Illinois, Daily Kos, Gothamist and Chicago Sun Times
Rich Miller / The Capitol Fax Blog:
This just in... *** Guv to appoint Burris *** White says No …
This just in... *** Guv to appoint Burris *** White says No …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Chicago Sun Times, The Hill, Progress Illinois, Top of the Ticket, The Moderate Voice, The Debate Link, D-Day, Classical Values, Betsy's Page and MyDD
Monica Davey / The Caucus:
Blagojevich Names Obama Senate Replacement
Blagojevich Names Obama Senate Replacement
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns and Money, Firedoglake, Law Blog, FiveThirtyEight.com and Matthew Yglesias
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Vicki Iseman files $27 million lawsuit against NYT over McCain hit piece — Remember that one? It blew up in the middle of the primaries, alleging that McCain staffers were convinced he'd had a “romantic” relationship with her in 2000 and that he'd admitted to acting “inappropriately,” …
Discussion:
Political Machine, Gawker, The Politico, TigerHawk, Law Blog, Michael Calderone's Blogs and The New Republic
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Virginia Lawyers Weekly / libn.com:
D.C. lobbyist sues Times over McCain affair story — Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for a February article about Iseman and her relationship with Sen. John McCain. — The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond on Tuesday …
Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
Cabinet debating 48-hour Gaza truce as international pressure grows — The cabinet will reconvene Wednesday to discuss a French proposal for a 48-hour “humanitarian” cease-fire, after failing late Tuesday night to reach a decision. Tuesday's meeting followed a day in which a Hamas rocket struck Be'er Sheva …
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Associated Press:
PM, Barak appear split on cease-fire — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak appeared split Tuesday on whether to accept a French proposal for a 48-hour suspension of the IDF offensive against Hamas to allow Paris the opportunity to mediate a cease-fire.
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
ZBIG SMACKS DOWN MORNIN' JOE — Zbig to Joe: “You have a such stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on it's almost embarrassing to listen to you.”
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E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Coming Soon: The 21st Century — Social and political epochs rarely end precisely on schedules provided by calendars. Many historians date the end of Europe's 19th century to 1914 and the outbreak of World War I. What we call “The Sixties” in the United States, with its ethos of reform and protest …
Michelle Cottle / The New Republic:
Obama's Super-Bubble — A couple of days ago, Politico posted a piece about how the closing of the presidential bubble was already beginning to chafe Barack Obama. All I could think was: Better make peace with it quickly, my man, because things are about to get so much worse.
Discussion:
The Other McCain
Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:
Consumers Union to Buy Gawker Blog Consumerist — Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, planned to announce on Wednesday that it had acquired Consumerist.com, a popular blog formerly owned by Gawker Media. — Consumerist is one of several sites Gawker has sold this year …
Ellen Barry / New York Times:
Russia Aside, Georgia Chief Is Pressed at Home — GOMARDULI, Georgia — On Dec. 20, the eve of his 41st birthday, President Mikheil Saakashvili was racing around western Georgia shaking hands. He told miners that his “heart hurt” when he saw their city suffer, and promised to build …
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Paul Elias / Associated Press:
Influx of black renters raises tension in Bay Area — ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) - As more and more black renters began moving into this mostly white San Francisco Bay Area suburb a few years ago, neighbors started complaining about loud parties, mean pit bulls, blaring car radios, prostitution, drug dealing and muggings of schoolchildren.
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah
Jessica Pressler / New York Magazine:
Madoff's Latest Victims: Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick — The crap thing about being Kevin Bacon, it turns out, is that sometimes you find yourself six degrees from the wrong kind of guy. Such as, for instance, Bernie Madoff. We'd heard that along with Hollywood boldfacers Jeffrey Katzenberg …
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama goes to Washington: School's in — Fresh from his Hawaiian vacation, President-elect Barack Obama will leave behind his home and transition office in Chicago and make his move to Washington, D.C., this weekend. — But he won't be staying put for long.