memeorandum: Video: The surreal, race-baiting Blagojevich press conference … (Allahpundit/Hot Air)

12:15 AM ET, December 31, 2008

Top Items:

Blagojevich snubs Senate, taps Burris for seat — In a display of political bravado, disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich today appointed former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, challenging national Democratic leaders to reject the appointment of an African-American to the seat …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Moderate Voice, Top of the Ticket, On Deadline, RedState, Balloon Juice, Wonkette, The Gun Toting Liberal, Gawker, Right Wing News, Wall Street Journal, Hotline On Call, Betsy's Page, MSNBC, Daily Kos and TPM Election Central

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Senate Leadership: Burris ‘unacceptable’ — The Senate will not seat Roland Burris if Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempts to appoint him, a Democratic leadership aide said. — Majority Leader Harry Reid views Burris as “unacceptable,” the aide said.

Discussion: TPM Election Central, New York Times, Concurring Opinions, Fox News, The Swamp, Lynn Sweet, Hot Air, MSNBC, Political Machine, PoliBlog, Firedoglake, Erick's blog and The Nation

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.

Discussion: Daily Kos, FiveThirtyEight.com and MSNBC

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 …

Discussion: Power Line, Riehl World View, Jack & Jill Politics, The Crypt's Blogs, MSNBC and Wonkette

Associated Press:

White will try to reject — Blagojevich Senate pick — SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says he'll reject any paperwork that Gov. Rod Blagojevich files to name a new U.S. senator. — The secretary of state keeps state records and certifies official actions.

Discussion: CBS News, Bloomberg, Washington Post and The Sundries Shack

The Politico:
Go out on a limb and give us your boldest political prediction for 2009

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Political Machine

CNN:
Sources: Senate Democrats to block Burris appointment

Discussion: The Politico, Agence France Presse, The New Republic, The Crypt's Blogs, Ben Smith's Blogs, MSNBC, The Daily Politics, Think Progress and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

CNN:
Obama chides Blagojevic move to fill Senate seat

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Political Punch, Democracy in America and Connecting.the.Dots

The Huffington Post:
Blagojevich Pick Raised Money For The Governor

Discussion: Toby Harnden's blog listings, Comedy Central, TPM Election Central and Sister Toldjah

Monica Davey / The Caucus:
Blagojevich Names Obama Senate Replacement

Discussion: New York Times, Ben Smith's Blogs, FiveThirtyEight.com, Lynn Sweet, Philly.com, The Field on the Narcosphere, TIME.com, Law Blog and Matthew Yglesias

Rich Miller / The Capitol Fax Blog:
This just in... *** Guv to appoint Burris *** White says No …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Chicago Sun Times, Progress Illinois, The Moderate Voice, D-Day and MyDD

Dave McKinney / Chicago Sun Times:
Blagojevich to name Roland Burris to Obama's Senate seat

Discussion: Associated Press, ABCNEWS, Classical Values, Daily Pundit and Political Machine

Bloomberg:
Blagojevich to Name Burris to Obama's Senate Seat

Discussion: Guardian, The Volokh Conspiracy, Majikthise, Viking Pundit and Hullabaloo

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: BLAGO'S NEW GAMBIT — We've just gotten word that Gov. Blagojevich …

Chicago Tribune:
Rod Blagojevich expected to name Roland Burris to Obama senate seat

Discussion: driftglass and The Campaign Spot

Josh Kalven / Progress Illinois:
Just Two Weeks Ago, Burris Called Blago Allegations “Appalling” …

Discussion: The Jed Report, Ben Smith's Blogs, Balloon Juice, Top of the Ticket and The Swamp

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.”

Discussion: danieldrezner.com, Bark Bark Woof Woof, bastard.logic and WTF Is It Now?!?

The Huffington Post:

Zbigniew Brzezinski Calls Joe Scarborough ‘Stunningly Superficial’ — On this morning's Morning Joe, former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski offered his expertise on the conflict in Gaza. It was all very insightful! But you'll want to just skip to the end of this clip …

Discussion: Scholars and Rogues, The Huffington Post, Mondoweiss and LewRockwell.com Blog

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 …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and Michael Calderone's Blogs

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: TigerHawk, Political Machine, Gawker, The Politico, Law Blog, Michael Calderone's Blogs and The New Republic

Dena Potter / Associated Press:
Lobbyist linked by Times to McCain sues paper

Discussion: Weekly Standard and NewsBusters.org

Noah Pollak / Commentary:

What YouTube Doesn't Want You to See — Yesterday, the IDF did something innovative: it opened a channel on YouTube and posted videos to it that help explain why Israel is fighting Hamas. The site hosted about a dozen videos showing things like Israeli humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, Ynetnews, Mere Rhetoric, Power Line, Fausta's Blog, Gateway Pundit, Soccer Dad, Jerusalem Post, Balloon Juice, Seraphic Secret, Personal Democracy Forum, Danger Room, NewsBusters.org, Israel Matzav and Haaretz

Jack Healy / New York Times:

Home Prices Fell at Their Sharpest Pace in October — How bad has the housing market gotten? With home values dropping by faster rates each month, a real estate agent near Detroit said that if houses weren't priced as low as foreclosures, they simply would not sell.

Discussion: Kevin Drum

Les Christie / CNNMoney.com:
Home prices post record 18% drop

Discussion: Megan McArdle

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.

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.

Discussion: TIME.com

Fouad Ajami / Wall Street Journal:

Samuel Huntington's Warning — He predicted a ‘clash of civilizations,’ not the illusion of Davos Man. — The last of Samuel Huntington's books — “Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity,” published four years ago — may have been his most passionate work.

Discussion: The Hill's Pundits Blog and The Corner

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 …

Discussion: Gawker and Gothamist

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 …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Consumerist and Portfolio

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 …

Discussion: Power Line and Commentary

Michelle Malkin:

Bon voyage, Jihad Cindy McKinney — Move over, Hanoi Jane Fonda. Jihad Cindy McKinney is sailing to Gaza to deliver medical supplies to Hamas. — Is it a one-way ticket? We can only hope. Via the AJC: