memeorandum: Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent (Associated Press)

5:50 PM ET, January 7, 2009

Top Items:

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

I want to play poker with Harry Reid. Really I do. — Rather than call for a special election in Illinois, Reid sends a letter to Blagojevich signed by everyone in the Democratic caucus asking him to step down. They assert that they will not seat anyone he appoints. — Harumph.

Discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, On Deadline, The Swamp, GayPatriot, The Sundries Shack, Emptywheel and The Huffington Post

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?

Discussion: Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Politico, MSNBC and The RBC

The Huffington Post:
Dem Aide: Obama Team Pushed To Seat Burris

Discussion: TPM Election Central, CBS News, WBBM-TV, Ben Smith's Blogs, Congress Matters, The Moderate Voice and Weekly Standard

Chicago Breaking News:
Senate leader leaves door ajar for Burris

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Hot Air and Real Clear Politics

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Report: Burris Will Get Obama Senate Seat

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, WGN Radio, Chicago Sun Times, Mercury News, Pajamas Media, RBO, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Daily Kos

Jacob Sullum / Reason:
Reid Is Backing Down As Fast As He Can

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Fix, Washington Post, CBS News and Riehl World View

Walter Dellinger / New York Times:
City of Cold Shoulders

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Michael Barone, Chicago Sun Times, TalkLeft, Althouse, New York Times and The Swamp

Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blogs:
Reid: Give Stevens a Get-of-Jail Card

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, TPMMuckraker, The Impolitic and The Washington Independent

Ali Frick / Think Progress:

White House Asked Howard To Stay In Blair House To Give ‘Some Plausible Reason’ For Refusing Obama — In December, President-elect Obama asked the White House if he and his family could move into Blair House — the White House's guest house — a week early, so that his daughters Malia and Sasha could start school.

Discussion: The Caucus, Taylor Marsh, DownWithTyranny!, Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic, D-Day and The Raw Story

Washington Post:

Blair House Mystery Solved: It's John Howard — The veil is lifted. We now know who is booked at Blair House, kicking President-elect Barack Obama and his family to the waiting list and across Lafayette Park to the Hay-Adams Hotel. — The only overnight visitor at the presidential guest manse …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Liberty Street, Fausta's Blog, Political Machine, Macsmind and TPM Election Central

Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blogs:

Matthews: Todd ‘just lost his virginity’ — After a record-setting number of transition press conferences in Chicago, Obama answered questions from reporters in Washington for the first time as President-Elect. On hand were several new members of the White House press corps.

Discussion: The Swamp and TVNewser

Associated Press:
Obama hails ‘extraordinary gathering’

Discussion: MSNBC and Democracy in America

Associated Press:

Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent — TOLEDO, Ohio - Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter's notebook. — The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.

Discussion: Think Progress, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, The Reaction, No More Mister Nice Blog, Spin Cycle, Michael Calderone's Blogs, Real Clear Politics, Guardian, Gateway Pundit and The Washington Independent

Associated Press:

Joe the Plumber named war correspondent in Israel for conservative Web site — Joe the Plumber is taking on a new job. — The Ohio man, who became famous during the U.S. presidential campaign after asking Barack Obama about his tax plan, is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for a conservative Web site called pjtv.com.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Democratic Strategist and TIME.com

Michelle Malkin:

Joe the Plumber heads to Israel — Joe The Plumber will cover the Gaza conflict for PJTV. He'll be there for 10 days. Stay safe, Joe!

CNN:

Porn industry seeks federal bailout — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Simply Left Behind and QandO

TMZ.com: Porn Kings to D.C. - Help Us Through Hard Times

PR Newswire:
Hustler's Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis Ask …

Discussion: Think Progress and NewsBusters.org

Thomas E. Ricks / Foreign Policy:

Fiasco at the Army War College — Did faculty members at the Army War College curtail their criticism of the Iraq war for fear of institutional retaliation? — That seems to be the bottom line in a situation I stumbled across just a few days ago. A friend passed along a 2005 e-mail note …

Discussion: Macsmind, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Unqualified Offerings

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE CASE FOR TENURE. — In 2005, the Army War College's …

Discussion: Think Progress and Matthew Yglesias

Washington Wire:

Obama's Remarks on His Pick for Chief Performance Officer — The prepared remarks of President-elect Barack Obama in Washington on his pick for White House chief performance officer. — Good morning. — By now, we all know that we are facing a crisis in our economy …

Discussion: GayPatriot, BrianFaughnan's blog and Change.gov

New York Times:
$1.2 Trillion Deficit Forecast as Obama Weighs Options

Discussion: Kevin Drum and The Baseline Scenario

New York Times:
Obama Warns of Prospect for Trillion-Dollar Deficits

Discussion: Washington Post, Financial Times, The Swamp, QandO, The Huffington Post, The Politico, The Caucus, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, Political Machine, TPMCafe and The Confluence

Erica Werner / Associated Press:

Feinstein says she supports Panetta for CIA — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday she intends to support President-elect Barack Obama's choice for CIA chief …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Think Progress and The Politico

Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Panetta's Peers Back Him for CIA

Discussion: Associated Press and Neptunus Lex

Washington Post:
Obama Is Under Fire Over Panetta Selection

Discussion: SpyTalk, The Huffington Post, The BLT, MSNBC and Needlenose

Michael J. Totten:

Stop Juan Cole — Juan Cole is decrying all the neocons he's forced to compete with in the 2008 Weblog Awards for Best Middle East or Africa Blog. He thinks Helena Cobban — a deranged Hezbollah supporter — should have been nominated instead of someone like me.

Discussion: Sandbox

Martin Kramer / Sandbox: ABC: Anything But Cole

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

The Mideast's Ground Zero — The fighting, death and destruction in Gaza is painful to watch. But it's all too familiar. It's the latest version of the longest-running play in the modern Middle East, which, if I were to give it a title, would be called: “Who owns this hotel? Can the Jews have a room?

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Mondoweiss, The Agonist and Commentary

Marc Ambinder:
Ross, Holbrooke, Haass To Serve As Envoys

Discussion: Foreign Affairs, TIME.com, The Washington Independent and Ben Smith's Blogs

Wall Street Journal:

Israel Resumes Strikes in Gaza after Three-Hour Lull — Israel's security cabinet Wednesday approved a continuation of its ground assault in the Gaza Strip, and resumed strikes against the territory after a brief lull it called to expedite the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Discussion: BBC, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN and Hot Air

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Kemp diagnosed with cancer — Former GOP vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp, 73, has been diagnosed with cancer. — According to a statement from his consulting firm, Kemp Partners, doctors are still testing Kemp before determining a course of treatment.

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Sweet on Caroline — Ask not, you know, what your country can, like, do for you. Ask what you, um, can, you know, do for your country. — After a lifetime of shying away from the public spotlight, Caroline Kennedy asked herself what she could do for her country.

Discussion: The Fix, Commentary, Gothamist, Politics on the Hudson, Whiskey Fire, NewsBusters.org, Wonkette, Buck Naked Politics, Jon Swift and Spin Cycle

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

PARTISAN SELF-DECEPTION. — Matt Yglesias notes that left-of-center commentary has been notably more pessimistic on the state of the economy than right-of-center commentary. He offers three hypotheses (left-wing positions are psychologically correlated to pessimism, pessimism was correct …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and TigerHawk

Kevin Vance / Weekly Standard:

Team Sarah Infiltrated — Administrators of Team Sarah have uncovered evidence on a left-wing online thread that some Internet trolls sought to discredit the organization by posing as conservative racists on Team Sarah's forums. — Team Sarah, an online community supportive of Gov. Sarah Palin …

Discussion: Flopping Aces and Washington Times

Michael Falcone / The Caucus:

McCain Starts ‘Country First’ PAC — Less than two weeks from the inauguration that he hoped would usher in his own presidential administration, Senator John McCain announced the formation of a new political action committee that will work to promote Republican causes.