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

2:00 PM ET, December 30, 2008

Top Items:

Blagojevich to name Burris to Senate — Then Governor-elect Rod Blagojevich introduces his board of advisors, including Roland Burris (to the governor's left) in November 2002. (Tribune file photo / Chuck Berman) — Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois …

Dave McKinney / Chicago Sun Times:

Blagojevich to name Roland Burris to Obama's Senate seat — Gov. Blagojevich today is expected to name former state Comptroller and Attorney General Roland Burris to Illinois' vacant U.S. Senate seat, a knowledgeable source said this morning. — A news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Discussion: Washington Post, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, The Caucus, The Raw Story, Political Machine and Daily Pundit

Lynn Sweet:
Roland Burris to be named to replace Obama in Senate; Senate leaders …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Real Clear Politics

The Politico: Breaking: Blagojevich tries to name Obama successor

Wall Street Journal:
Blagojevich to Tap Burris

Discussion: Fox News and Law Blog

Craig Schneider / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

McKinney relief boat rammed by Israeli navy — A boat carrying international peace activists, including former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip sailed back into a Lebanese port on Tuesday after being turned back and damaged by the Israeli navy, organizers of the trip said.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs, Michelle Malkin, Elder of Ziyon, Jules Crittenden, Corrente, JammieWearingFool, Booman Tribune, Wampum and Don Surber

Jeffrey Goldberg:

A Fatah Friend Writes: I'm Supporting the Israeli Air Force — It's a strange world, but there you have it. I've been talking to friends of mine, former Palestinian Authority intelligence officials (ejected from power by the Hamas coup), and they tell me that not only are they rooting …

Wall Street Journal:

Hamas Knows One Big Thing — If only it were a parable, the endless confrontation between Israel and its enemies would be the case of the hedgehog and the fox. The fox, said the Greek poet Archilochus, knows many things, while the hedgehog knows one big thing.

Discussion: Commentary

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
George Washington's warnings and U.S. policy towards Israel

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Volokh Conspiracy, CQ Politics, Harry's Place and The Reaction

Benny Morris / New York Times:
Why Israel Feels Threatened

Discussion: Times of London, Jerusalem Post, Mondoweiss, The Moderate Voice and The Independent

Sam F. Ghattas / Associated Press: Hezbollah watches for now as Israel hits Hamas

Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
Defense establishment to recommend 48-hour truce with Hamas

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, New York Times, A Blog For All, Jules Crittenden, Ynetnews, Elder of Ziyon, Israellycool and ‘Just World News&rsquo …

Daoud Kuttab / Washington Post:
Has Israel Revived Hamas?

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Guardian, New York Times, Syria Comment, Soccer Dad, Commentary, The Nation, Change.org's Blog Network and My Right Word

Associated Press:
Israel mulls truce offer on Day 4 of Gaza assault

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Reuters, Make Them Accountable and D-Day

Haaretz:
ANALYSIS / Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Counterterrorism Blog, Guardian, Times of London, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, CBS News, Lawyers, Guns and Money, War and Piece and Commentary

Washington Post:
Israel Rejects Truce, Presses on With Gaza Strikes

Discussion: Haaretz, Mere Rhetoric, Jerusalem Post, Boston Globe, NO QUARTER, New York Times, theheretik.us, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, Taylor Marsh, Israel Matzav, Commentary, Pirate's Cove, Yourish.com and Elder of Ziyon

Andy Barr / The Politico:

‘Magic Negro’ flap might help Saltsman — The controversy surrounding a comedy CD distributed by Republican National Committee chair candidate Chip Saltsman has not torpedoed his bid and might have inadvertently helped it. — Four days after news broke that the former Tennessee GOP chairman …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Times, The Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Democratic Strategist, The New Republic, Political Machine, PoliPundit.com, Washington Monthly, Wonkette, TPM Election Central, Donklephant, The Campaign Spot and The Jed Report

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
PARSING BARACK THE MAGIC NEGRO.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Erick's blog

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: Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, Yourish.com, Atlas Shrugs and The Muqata

Max Socol / Jerusalem Post:

IDF launches YouTube Gaza channel — In the midst of its Gaza operations, the IDF is entering yet another conflict zone: the Internet. The Israeli army announced yesterday the creation of its own YouTube channel, through which it will disseminate footage of precision bombing operations in the Gaza Strip …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Weekly Standard, CNN, Haaretz, NewsBusters.org, Power Line and Ynetnews

Paul Walsh / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Canvassing Board nudges Franken's lead up to 50 — The State Canvassing Board today made changes to a handful of withdrawn challenges in the U.S. Senate recount battle and gave DFL challenger Al Franken a net gain of four votes, nudging his unofficial lead to 50.

Discussion: Power Line, TalkLeft and TIME.com

Scott / Power Line:
A SOLUTION WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM

Discussion: Bloomberg

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: Bark Bark Woof Woof

Amanda Hill / The 2008 Weblog Awards:

2008 Weblog Awards Finalists — Here is a complete list of the finalists for The 2008 Weblog Awards. Finalists badges (hosted by Imageshack) will be available Wednesday. Voting is scheduled to begin on January 5, 2009. — Please note that the names of the Technorati Autority categories have changed …

Discussion: BizzyBlog and Jules Crittenden

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

Reading Into Bush's Book List — In what without a doubt is the most astounding op-ed piece of the year, Karl Rove reveals that his friend and former boss, George W. Bush, has read probably hundreds of books over the course of his presidency. One of them was Albert Camus' “The Stranger,” …

Discussion: Althouse, JammieWearingFool and Wonkette

Bob Herbert / New York Times:

Add Up the Damage — Does anyone know where George W. Bush is? — You don't hear much from him anymore. The last image most of us remember is of the president ducking a pair of size 10s that were hurled at him in Baghdad. — We're still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and theheretik.us

John Vinocur / International Herald Tribune:

From the left, a call to end the current Dutch notion of tolerance — AMSTERDAM: Two years ago, the Dutch could quietly congratulate themselves on having brought what seemed to be a fair measure of consensus and reason to the meanest intersection in their national political life …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Vox Popoli, Gates of Vienna and Maggie's Farm