memeorandum: What Would Obama Do? — Michael Tomasky writing in the Guardian … (Chris Bowers/Open Left)

8:45 PM ET, December 9, 2008

Top Items:

Questions Arise About the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship — “Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today,” said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint …

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Chicago reporter suggests Rahm Emanuel may have ‘tipped’ off federal investigators about Blagojevich.» — Marcy Wheeler catches local Chicago press reporting that Rahm Emanuel may have tipped off federal investigators that Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) was engaging in corrupt acts.

Discussion: CNN, TPM Election Central, Gawker, Minnesota Independent, Emptywheel, Don Surber and Wonkette

Chicago Breaking News:

Blagojevich arrested on federal charges — Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a “staggering” level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois' top office.

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Mere Rhetoric, Clout St, Chicago Tribune, About.com US Politics, James Finn Garner, Taegan Goddard's …, NewsBusters.org, CNN, Hot Air, Guardian, Top of the Ticket, Stop The ACLU and Gawker

Marc Ambinder:

Blago Indictment: Who Is Senate Candidate 5? — Gov. Blagojevich's own words make it clear that he did not believe that Barack Obama wanted a person called “Senate Candidate 5” to be appointed to the Senate. … In other words — if Blago doesn't get what he wanted, then he'd stiff the PEOTUS …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Capitol Fax Blog, Chicago Sun Times, Gawker, ArchPundit, The New Republic, Eunomia and DownWithTyranny!

New York Times:

Illinois Governor in Corruption Scandal — CHICAGO — Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday morning on corruption charges, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell President-elect Barack Obama's seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder.

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Smoking Gun, ABCNEWS, The New Republic, The Caucus, Buck Naked Politics, Gateway Pundit and The Crypt's Blogs

WBBM-TV:

Details Of Complaint Against Blagojevich — CHICAGO (CBS) ― Full release from U.S. Attorney's Office: — Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging …

Discussion: Change of Subject, Fox News, Chicago Tribune, NewsBusters.org, Associated Press, Michelle Malkin, The New Republic, The Volokh Conspiracy, Washington Monthly, Wizbang, CANNONFIRE and 24Ahead

Carol E. Lee / The Politico:

Attorney: Blagojevich has no plans of resigning — CHICAGO— The attorney for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said the governor will be vindicated and he has no plans to resign. — “He didn't do anything wrong,” attorney Sheldon Sorosky told reporters after Blagojevich was arraigned.

Discussion: The Politico, The Huffington Post, The Huffington Post, Chicago Breaking News, Associated Press, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Reuters and TIME.com

Chicago Tribune:

Blagojevich's Senate selection process investigated — Federal probe widens to Obama's vacant seat — UPDATE: Source: Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody — A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning.

Discussion: WLS-TV, Associated Press, Chicago Breaking News, Clout St, USA Today, TPMMuckraker, The Politico, Gates of Vienna, The Swamp, Wizbang, MoJoBlog, Thoughts of a Regular Guy, Firedoglake, MSNBC, culturekitchen, Atlas Shrugs, TalkLeft and Wall Street Journal

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Blago calls Obama “motherf—er” — The tapes reveal a two-term governor who no longer wants his job, badly wants cash and is determined to leverage a financial benefit out of his appointment powers. — He also appears to think little of the president-elect, whom he calls a “motherf***er” at one point.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Swamp, The Field on the Narcosphere and The Caucus

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

A tip from Rahm? — Jack Connaty, of Chicago's Fox affiliate, reported this morning: — We did receive a tip this morning that perhaps all of this came together so quickly because the Governor may have reached out to Rahm Emanuel, the president-elect's chief of staff, in attempting to leverage filling the Senate seat.

Discussion: Democracy in America and The Heretik

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Source: ‘SEIU official’ was Stern — A Democratic source confirms that SEIU President Andy Stern is the “SEIU official” referred to in the federal complaint against Rod Blagojevich. — There's no allegation that the SEIU official did anything wrong, and what appears to be a wiretap transcript …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Swamp, Townhall.com, Firedoglake and Marc Ambinder

Katie Allison Granju:

Note to President-Elect Obama: just tell the truth — Today, President-Elect Obama spoke out about the emerging political scandal out of Illinois involving his former Senate seat, and he denied emphatically having ever even spoken to the now-arrested governor about the matter, saying:

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Chicago Breaking News:

Lt. Gov. Quinn urges Blagojevich to ‘step aside’ — Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn today called on Gov. Rod Blagojevich to step aside, at least temporarily, because the governor is “seriously impeded from carrying out his oath of office.” — “I think that should certainly be considered by the governor today.

Discussion: TPM Election Central, FiveThirtyEight.com, BuzzFlash.org and Open Left

Chicago Tribune:
Statement from Gerould Kern, editor of the Chicago Tribune

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, The Huffington Post, On Deadline, The Raw Story, Emptywheel, Political Machine, Guardian, Chicago Breaking News and TIME.com

Ron Kampeas / JTA:
Blagojevich arrest could send Jewish rep to Senate

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
‘Senate Candidate 5’ — Capitol Fax's Rich Miller updates …

Discussion: The Capitol Fax Blog and Reuters

Michaelscherer / Swampland:
BlagoGate: Obama's Burden

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Chicago Business, Kevin Drum, Hot Air, Political Punch and RedState

Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blogs: Blago wanted to shake down Warren Buffett

Joe Weisenthal / Silicon Alley Insider:
Alleged: Blago Hoped To Shake Down Warren Buffett!

Discussion: DealBook

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
What the transition knew

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, The New Republic, JustOneMinute, The Swamp and Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder: Blago Indictment And The Obama Team

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: AMAZING — Even setting aside the primordial level of corruption …

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
A GUIDE TO THE CANDIDATES. — There are six candidates named …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Chicago Sun Times, NO QUARTER, ATTACKERMAN, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Opinionator and The Capitol Fax Blog

Chicago Sun Times:
Charges: Illinois Governor Blagojevich shook down the Chicago Tribune

Discussion: Braublog

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Blagojevich Criminal Complaint: The Best of the Best

Discussion: Washington Post

Jeffrey Toobin In / New Yorker: HOT SEAT — Otto Kerner, Jr., is usually remembered …

Newsdesk / Clout St:
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. touts Senate credentials to Blagojevich

Discussion: Washington Post and The Hill's Pundits Blog

Aaron Blake / The Hill: Illinois House to consider special election

Edwin Eisendrath / The Huffington Post:
Now, Finally, We Can Clean Up This State

Discussion: The Hill and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Joe the Plumber: McCain ‘appalled me’ — Joe Wurzelbacher lashed out at former GOP presidential nominee John McCain Tuesday, the man who made Wurzelbacher famous as “Joe the Plumber.” — Wurzelbacher told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that he felt “dirty” after “being on the campaign trail …

Marist Poll:

Voters Weigh In: Cuomo and Kennedy Deadlocked for Clinton Seat — High Hopes for Secretary of State Clinton — This Marist Poll reports: — · Cuomo and Kennedy Tie...More Than a Quarter of Voters Unsure About Clinton's Replacement: While much of the buzz …

Discussion: The Fix, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and TIME.com

Ross Douthat:
The Case For Caroline? — After allowing that her head tells her to …

Discussion: City Room, NY Daily News, The Heretik and No More Mister Nice Blog

Michael Tarm / Associated Press:

Workers win a big round in Chicago factory sit-in — CHICAGO - The creditor of a Chicago plant where laid-off employees are conducting a sit-in to demand severance pay said Tuesday it would extend limited loans to the factory so it could resolve the dispute, but the workers declared their protest unfinished.

Discussion: MyDD

Scarecrow / Firedoglake:
Who Needs Republic's Window Manufacturing Workers? The Whole Country.

Discussion: Chicago Breaking News

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:

O'Reilly And Rove Agree: Reports On The Bad Economy Are Part Of A Media Cabal To Help Obama — Yesterday on Fox News, Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove went on a tirade against the media for hyping the struggling state of the economy. They claimed that it's not as bad as reports are making it out to be …

Discussion: I Don't Like You Either

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

QUOTE OF THE DAY.... A new national poll from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation finds 79% of Americans approve of the job Barack Obama has done so far. That's probably not too significant — this is still the transition period, when exercising one's limited authority is a lot easier — but 79% is still a pretty solid number.

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Poll: 8 in 10 give Obama thumbs-up on transition

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Dee Dee Myers / Vanity Fair:

Favreau's Sexist Photo Is No Laughing Matter — Oh, what to do. An incredibly talented young aide, to an impossibly idealistic new president, gets caught doing something indefensibly stupid and undeniably sexist. Everyone is uncomfortable. But should anyone be held accountable? Apparently not.