NBC announces:

NBC News announced today that Political Director Chuck Todd has been named chief White House correspondent. Joining him on the beat will be Savannah Guthrie, who has been named White House correspondent. The announcements were made today by NBC News President Steve Capus, and are effective immediately.

Chuck has been a friend of TalkLeft and we have long respected his political reporting work. But clearly this is a new path for him - which will require policy focus. He is plenty bright so he can definitely handle the job and I offer my heartfelt congratulations to him. I consider this to be a major upgrade in the reporting we will get from the White House than we have gotten in the past.

Speaking for me only

One of the reasons I didn't support Barack Obama in the primaries was that I objected to his constant refrain, "We aren't red states or blue states, we're the United States." What's the point of electing a Democrat if he's going to give equal time to Republicans? We've had 8 years of Republican rule and we elected a Democrat to reinstate Democratic values and positions.

We didn't get that with Rick Warren, of course, and I'm not surprised. Obama today defends his choice.

Get ready for more of the same. The last line of the article quotes Obama as saying:

A "wide range of viewpoints" will be presented during the inaugural ceremonies.

Shouldn't President-Elect Obama be showcasing Democratic viewpoints and values as an indication to the country and world of the change he's going to bring from the last 8 years?

When will jurors learn? You can't do your own research on the case you are deciding. Judges always advise them of this.

A juror in the murder trial of former Sorpranos' actor Lillo Brancato got booted today.

A mistrial was avoided Thursday in the trial of a former "Sopranos" actor accused in the shooting death of an off-duty police officer after it was discovered a juror had been taking notes during testimony and doing research on the case at home.

Lillo Brancato, charged with second-degree murder in the December 2005 shooting death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui, agreed to a substitution with an alternate juror after the original juror was dismissed.

So, deliberations start over with the new juror.

Jailed Iraqi Journalist , Muntader al-Zaidi has asked for a pardon. It's Christmas. Give him one.

The Uptake provides great coverage of what trying to enfranchise all voters look like. Things are looking good for Franken right now BTW.

Go Al!

A few weeks ago I called Ross Douthat's claim of conservative moderation on the issue of choice disingenuous. Digby, in writing about her justified dismay (the dismay has been expressed across the Left blogosphere) that Rick Warren will be legitimized by President-Elect Obama's choice of Warren to give the inaugural invocation, provides me with the clinching argument on Douthat's disingenuousness:

“Of course I want to reduce the number of abortions,” Warren told Beliefnet Editor-in-Chief Steven Waldman[,] . . . “[b]ut to me it is kind of a charade in that people say ‘We believe abortions should be safe and rare,’” he added. “Don’t tell me it should be rare. That’s like saying on the Holocaust, ‘Well, maybe we could save 20 percent of the Jewish people in Poland and Germany and get them out and we should be satisfied with that,’” Warren said. “I’m not satisfied with that. I want the Holocaust ended.”

Warren proves that Douthat's column was deeply disingenuous, if not outright dishonest.

Speaking for me only

As Glenn Greenwald has documented, the Media simply cannot tell the truth about John Brennan and why many of us strongly opposed consideration of him for CIA Director. The Associated Press' Pamela Hess provides yet another example of the Media's inability to tell the truth about John Brennan:

The search for a new CIA chief has been stalled since November, when John Brennan, Obama's transition intelligence adviser, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration. Brennan said his potential nomination had sparked outrage among human and civil rights groups, who believed Brennan was not outspoken enough in his condemnation of Bush policies.

(Emphasis supplied.) Excuse me Ms. Hess, but if you do not know by now that Mr. Brennan not only was not "outspoken enough" agianst rendition and enhanced interrogation, that in fact Mr. Brennan was quite outspoken in defense of these criminal practices, then you should stop writing about the subject.

Speaking for me only

I agree with every word of this Glenn Greenwald piece. I have nothing to add to it except to say I wish I had written it.

This is an Open Thread.

In an editorial today, The New York Times writes:

We can understand that Americans may be eager to put these dark chapters behind them, but it would be irresponsible for the nation and a new administration to ignore what has happened — and may still be happening in secret C.I.A. prisons that are not covered by the military’s current ban on activities like waterboarding. A prosecutor should be appointed to consider criminal charges against top officials at the Pentagon and others involved in planning the abuse.

I agree. But I find the Times' reticence to include top officials in the White House surprising and wrong. As Vice President Cheney has made clear, these decisions went all the way to the top - to the President of the United States. A Special Prosecutor should be empowered to investigate the criminal actions of the President and Vice President as well.

Speaking for me only

If a unanimous verdict is required to convict, it is sensible to think that a unanimous verdict should be required to impose a death sentence. Sensible thought has eluded Georgia's conservative politicians who (as Jeralyn noted here) have declared war on the unanimity requirement because only nine jurors voted to kill Brian Nichols.

Now, just days after the decision, Georgia legislators have begun lining up to introduce bills eliminating the requirement that juries be unanimous for a death sentence. Hard-on-crime lawmakers have long favored easier rules on death sentencing, but the Nichols sentence has given new urgency to their cause.

The argument that some "death qualified" jurors are secretly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances would be easier to swallow if only one juror dissented from death. When a quarter of the jurors think the case for death hasn't been made, only those overcome by blood lust could believe the defendant should be executed. [more ...]

While conceding that she had no reason to believe the City of Boston had acted improperly, Judge Nancy Gertner (among the best and brightest of the federal district court judges) wondered aloud whether plans to deport Ulysses Rodriguez Charles to Trinidad in the near future were "somehow related" to his lawsuit against the Boston Police Department for his wrongful conviction. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in April but immigration authorities seem determined to spirit Charles out of the country before he has a chance to see a jury.

The City's lawyer worked up a show of indignation "that Gertner disparaged his client by voicing 'wholly unfounded suspicions' that federal immigration authorities might have colluded with the city to try to deport Charles before his trial." The lawyer, John Roache, asked Gertner to recuse herself. Gertner declined after reminding the lawyer of her repeated statements that she had no reason to suspect collusion. Her comments instead raised a legitimate question about the timing of the federal government's deportation decision in light of her request to delay deportation so that Charles could have his day in court.

[more ...]

Not much news to report this evening. It's all Blagojevich, Caroline and stories we've been talking about for days. The Illinois Supreme Court won't remove the Governor; Caroline toured upstate NY.

Chrysler has shut down production of cars for a month; Bernie Madoff got better bond conditions today with a condition of home detention -- at night only; Attorney General Mukasey recused himself from Madoff's case because his son, a lawyer with Bracewell and Giuliani (yes that Giuliani) is representing a Madoff exec; and Madoff's wife Ruth may be under investigation.

Former Soprano's actor Lillo Brancato's jury is deliberating his fate on felony murder charges -- they asked to review evidence this afternoon; Georgia legislators push to eliminate the jury unanimity requirement in death penalty cases.

Obama has picked Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.

If there's something you'd like to talk about, here's a place.