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[source: ridiculopathy.com]

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (pronounced blah-goy-ah-vich) has been arrested on Federal corruption charges.    He “allegedly conspired to sell U.S. Senate appointments, engaged in ‘pay-to-play’ schemes and threatened to withhold state assistance to Tribune Company for Wrigley Field to induce purge of newspaper editorial writers” [pdf]

I’m predicting that the big question rolling around the minds of wingbat conservatives is “How can we connect this to President elect (ex-Illinois Congressman) Barack Obama?”

More to surely follow.

When the conservative Little Green Footballs starts laying down the law about loony right wingers foaming about Obama’s birth certificate, we KNOW it’s gone too far.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.

The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth – his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject – he cannot possibly be a “natural born citizen,” one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Case closed.  Can we go back to fixing the economy now?  mmm-kay, thanks.

Yes, it’s true.  Barack Obama admitted on “Meet the Press” this weekend that he’s still smoking.

I’m not making excuses for the man but we’ve got such an incredibly unfair image of this guy.  We’ve placed a standard on him higher than most anyone could attain.   He’s not a god damn golden god.

So he takes a puff every once in a while.   Does that make him incapable of making decisions?  No.   How many past Presidents do you recall gnawing away at one form or another of a phallic nicotine appendage?

Yes it’s going to be an annoying arguing point of his conservative enemies who will mock is stance on environmental concerns while he’s blowing Marlboro smoke rings.

But quite frankly, I remember what it was like quitting the cancer sticks last year and I was a friggin’ mess.   I could barely drive to the corner 7-11 to appease my nicotine fit with chocolate without morphing into a chemically imbalanced raging monster on the road.   Could I have made executive decisions  in that state?  Hell no.

With that being said, go on Barack.  These are tough times for all of us and we’re putting most of the responsiblity of fixing it on your shoulders.  If that means taking a puff to calm yourself, by all means.

I won’t hate.

…because we live blog everything else these days.

Obama press conference, Monday December 1st, 2008
10:40 am EST
9:40 am CST
8:40 am MST
7:40 am PST

9:40 – hmmm… still looking at Dana Parino’s face on CNN. Obama must be running late (or perhaps it’s Clinton that’s running late??)

9:43 – Here we go. Obama preambles his announcement of Sect. of State with hot words like “destiny” “terror” “economy”… etc.

9:45 – India proves how uncertain the world is. uh huh.

9:46 – Hillary looking very stately behind Obama right now.

9:47 – Is it just me or does everyone look like they’re dressed for a funeral? Also, VERY somber faces.

9:49 – Sect. Gates will continue in his post. He’ll end the war. yay. I’m still not sure about this choice.

9:50 – Eric the Attorney General. Either my computers CNN feed skipped past this guys details or Obama quickly mumbled through him.

9:50 – Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security. Yeah, nothing new there. More about Hillary, yo!

9:51 – Susan Rice, UN Representative. She doesn’t look to be more than 19 years old!

9:52 – Gen. James Jones, National Security Advisor. “Generations of Jones’ have served…”. Is Obama seriously using that as a valid reason to choose this man? Might as well be Gen. Smith!

9:54 – Obama: “We are not Republicans, we’re Democrats. We’re Americans.” uh…

9:55 – Hillary speaketh. “Thank you, blah blah…” Musing if Hillary would have given Obama an appointment if she had won the Presidency. Probably not.

9:57 – I wanted more Hillary but she’s sorta making me zone out now. Lesson learned: Be careful what you wish for.

9:58 – She’s quoting JFK. Blesses the world. And fin for Hillary.

9:58 – Sect. of Defense Gates speaks to us through his nose. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak before. Does he always sound like he has a cold?

9:59 – Gates’ speech was approximately 25 seconds long. Eric Holder (Attny Gen) will jabber on a little longer, I suspect. He is a lawyer, you know.

10:02 – Janet Napolitano gives her acceptance speech. My natural reaction, “Whow. She scares me a little.” Perhaps that’s exactly the type of woman we need as our National Security leader?

10:03 – Susan Rice gives her acceptance speech (UN representative). She must be 5′ 2″. She BARELY comes over the podium! How cute.

10:05 – Gen. James Jones acceptance speech. Not in uniform. Shouldn’t he be in his Class A’s with all that flashy wallpaper?

10:07 – Here comes VP Biden! He really is like that cool Uncle that sneaks you beer on your 20th birthday.

10:09 – Biden pressing the idea that the Obama team is bipartisan. “We are in an extraordinary time”. Amen Uncle Biden.

10:10 – Here come the press questions to Obama. Liz: About India. Grrr. It has NOTHING to do with the press conference. Thank you dumb question lady.

10:11 – Obama says that he has spoken with India’s Prime Minister Singh. Isn’t that President Bush’s job?

10:13 – Carrie: (Obama likes the ladies, eh?) “How can you make this “team of rivals” work?” At least the question is on target. Obama: “It just will, dammit.”

10:16 – I’m getting really annoyed with Hillary’s CONSTANT head nod!

10:17 – Jake: Another question about how his team will agree with him on foreign policy when they have clearly disagreed in the past.

10:18 – Obama: “During the campaign season, differences get magnified more than what they are. Our core beliefs are the same.”

10:19 – Peter: How can you choose Clinton when you said before she is not qualified in foreign policy?

10:20 – Obama laughs at the press who are “pulling old quotes” from him. The room laughs with him except the questioner, Peter, who can barely be heard saying “It’s a valid question”… or something along those lines. That, it and of itself, is hilarious.

10:22 – John: Tell us the story or time line of how you chose Clinton.

10:23 – Obama doesn’t give any new information about the process of choosing Hillary (or a “juicy story”, as Obama says).

10:24 – Obama talks about Iraq and withdrawing troops. He’s basically going to do whatever Gates says to do.

10:26 – Done and done. It’s all official now. Let the blogosphere explode.

Apparently President Karzai has heard about the time tables and strategic withdrawls of troops from Iraq and how well that seems to be working these days.  I guess what he might not have heard is that many of those troops are now coming to his country, because he’s asking for a planned withdrawl as well.

Mr Karzai made the call in a speech to a visiting UN Security Council team.

He said if Afghans had “no light at the end of the tunnel” they had the right to pursue other options, such as peace negotiations with the Taleban.

Mr Karzai said Afghans could be asking why a “little force like the Taleban can continue to exist, can continue to flourish, can continue to launch attacks”.

The president said after seven years Afghans were asking why “with the entire international community behind them, still we are not able to defeat the Taleban”.

Mr Karzai said there were two options.

First would be to set a timeline, saying that what had not been achieved in the past seven years would be achieved in the next “four years, five years or another seven years”.

But he added: “If we cannot give a light at the end of the tunnel to the Afghan people, [do] the Afghan people have a right to ask for negotiation for peace? [Do] the Afghan people have a right to seek other avenues?”

Mr Karzai said he would continue to fight al-Qaeda and Taleban members “who are ideologically against the rest of the world”.

However, he said Taleban members who were “part of the Afghan community” could be brought back to serve Afghanistan.

The BBC’s Daud Qarizadah in Kabul says Mr Karzai’s strong comments show he is extremely worried about the dissatisfaction and frustration among Afghans in the south and east where the insurgency is high.

The call for the timeline is an attempt to win support back in those regions ahead of elections next year, our correspondent says.

In addition to asking for some sort of a recognizable plan forward in his country, Karzai is also asking for an end to international security forces arresting Afghan citizens in their homes and on public roads, saying that is a job for the local police.

As to how the UN and U.S. will respond to these requests remain to be seen, but there is no question that new direction and a plan forward will be needed to reach any sort of success and stability in Afghanistan.

Let me first say that I think Hillary Clinton is FULLY capable of filling the position of Secretary of State. Not only does she qualify on her own merit, but she also has the support of ex-President Bill Clinton who left office with an extremely favorable opinion from the international community.

For the last week, we’ve been waiting to hear if Hillary would continue to represent the state of New York as their Senator or choose to be President Obama’s Secretary of State.  Now, either way, she would wield incredible influence either domestically or internationally as a senior Senator or Sect. of State.

That’s when I find articles like this a little disturbing and, possibly, influential in her decision:

Clinton owes nearly $7.5 million, down from $12 million high at end of June

Of the $7.5 million owed to vendors, nearly $5.4 million was to her former adviser and pollster, Mark Penn. Clinton owed vendors a high of $12 million at the end of June. That was the month she abandoned her presidential campaign and ceded the Democratic nomination to now President-elect Barack Obama.

The amount she owes Penn has been her longest outstanding debt.

She also lent herself nearly $13.2 million. Under federal law Clinton can only repay herself $250,000 with private donations. The report also showed that she had nearly $1 million cash on hand at the end of October.

Obama is considering Clinton for secretary of state. As a Cabinet member Clinton would face fundraising restrictions to retire her vendor debt.

A 2001 advisory opinion by the federal Office of Special Counsel said a federal employee who still had a campaign debt would be prohibited from “personally soliciting, accepting or receiving political contributions.”

Clinton could name an agent from her campaign committee to continue to organize and hold fundraising events to retire the debt. Clinton would be limited to attending a fundraising event and simply stating her appreciation to donors.

Soooo….   apparently, if Clinton accepts the Secretary of State gig, she legally has to PUSH OFF her debt to someone else.   Sounds like a pretty sweet incentive to take the job offer, doesn’t it?

We’ve already announced Obama’s Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel

And everyone’s been hearing the speculation over Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, so until we get that confirmed or denied, here’s a look at some of the other key positions already proposed to be filled:

Eric Holder Jr., former Deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno during the Clinton Administration, had been serving as legal adviser to Obama during his campaign, and is now poised to be the first African-American to hold the office of Attorney General.

Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader, an outspoken fan of Universal Health Care he had reportedly turned down offers for VP and Chief of Staff, but due to his affinity for the health care issue he’s a perfect fit for Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Robert Gibbs, Press Secretary for Obama’s campaign last known for being tapped as John Kerry’s Press Secretary, is now looking at taking on the role for Obama’s administration.

As more come to light, we’ll continue to fill out the list and gather more background on these individuals.

UPDATE 11/20/08:

Janet Napolitano will be the head of Homeland Security.  The Arizona Governor was chosen primariy on her merits as a “border Governor” who’s expertise in securing American’s borders to the south is supposed to translate to the mirad of other duties the Homeland Security office will oversee.

A reporter asked John McCain if he was willing to support President-elect Obama’s agenda as President.  To which Senator McCain replied, “Obviously“.

In a joint statement issued after their first meeting since the presidential election, the former rivals said they hoped to work together on challenges such as the financial crisis, creating a new energy economy and protecting the country’s security.

“At this defining moment in history, we believe that Americans of all parties want and need their leaders to come together and change the bad habits of Washington so that we can solve the common and urgent challenges of our time,” the statement said.

“It is in this spirit that we had a productive conversation today about the need to launch a new era of reform where we take on government waste and bitter partisanship in Washington in order to restore trust in government, and bring back prosperity and opportunity for every hardworking American family,” they said.

I’m curious to know if the two rivals would be so cordial if the economy wasn’t in such a dump-hole.  Or if there wasn’t a two front war still raging.  Or if the auto industry wasn’t about to collapse.

Then again, Sen. McCain was known for his across the aisle discussions in the Senate.   That’s where he got such a “Mavericky” nickname.  Of course he spoiled all of that by pandering too far to the conservative right during his Presidential campaign.  So does that mean we’ve got Sen. McCain back as he used to be?  It’s nice to see the McCain that I had a vast amount of respect for two years ago (and honestly considered voting for at the time).  I think you’d be hard pressed to argue that the man didn’t change to fit the GOP mold during this last year.  It’s what cost him the Presidency in the end.

A bigger example couldn’t have been set than the meeting between McCain and Obama today.  After only two weeks after election day, they made amends with no time to spare.

Let’s all breath for a second and consider this article by Paul Hsieh at the Denver Post, a long time Republican, who explains why the GOP lost his vote in the recent elections.

Keep in mind that the Republican party hasn’t always had the face of the religious right and Evangelical agendas.  They haven’t always had such a strong social conservative agenda to ban abortions, gay marriage, and embryonic stem cell research.

Let’s give the floor to Paul:

I voted Republican in 1996, 2000, and 2004. I believe in limited government, individual rights, free market capitalism, a strong national defense, and the right to keep and bear arms – positions that one normally associates with Republicans.

[...]

The Founding Fathers correctly recognized that the proper function of government is to protect individual rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But freedom of religion also implies freedom *from* religion. As Thomas Jefferson famously put it, there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state. Public policy should not be based on religious doctrines.

Instead, the government’s role is to protect each person’s right to practice his or her religion as a private matter and to forbid them from forcibly imposing their particular views on others. And this is precisely why I find the Republican Party’s embrace of the Religious Right so dangerous.

Is there a way back for the GOP?  Or have they pandered to the religous right with far too much zest? Have they soured their image with voters forever?

The numbers from this last election undoubtedly show a shift in voters to Democratic.  There wasn’t necessarily a large voter turn-out either which further proves the point.  Republicans have lost their way.

[hat tip: LGF]