Chicago Dyke writes:

Do paid professional journalists have any obligation at all to review the blogosphere, as they produce writing on various topics that are “new to them,” but well-discussed here in the blogosphere? . . . Do any of us deserve credit, or notice, or a chance to respond when our work is…let’s call it “mirrored” in the SCLM?

I think not for the most part. Finding the originator of an idea is an impossible task. That said, bloggers should really try and credit originators as best they can. This reminds me of the time a blogger at daily kos credited Michael Tomasky for the idea of "the Common Good" when it was Congressman Jim McDermott, in an interview FOR DAILY KOS, a good year before Tomasky wrote his derivative piece - who came up with the Common Good theme. Seems to me it is hard to get upset with the Media when the blogs themselves are quick to denigrate and ignore work produced at their own blogs.

Speaking for me only

Ruy Texeira looks at the exit polls:

First, a few words on how well the Democrats did with the white working class (WWC). They lost these voters by 18 points, a significant improvement over 2004 when they lost them by 23 points, but somewhat worse than I thought they'd do based on preelection polls. In my paper with Alan Abramowitz, The Decline of the White Working Class and the Rise of a Mass Upper Middle Class, we allowed as how Democrats needed to get the WWC deficit into the 10-12 point range to be assured of a solid victory. As it turned out, they were able to achieve a solid victory even with a higher deficit than 10-12 points. This is because the simulations we were working with made pretty conservate assumptions about white college graduate support for Democrats and about minority turnout and support for Democrats. As it turned out, minority turnout and support were through the roof and white college graduates also exceeded our conservative assumptions. So an 18 point WWC deficit was in the end adequate for a solid victory, rather than a squeaker as I thought. And a 10-12 point deficit would have translated into a true landslide.

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Tony Rezko lost his motion for a new trial Wednesday. His sentencing has been continued because he is singing for his supper and giving up information others (No, not Obama, don't even bother trying to go there in comments, Obama is not the subject or relevant to this post.)

Rezko's motion for new trial is here (pdf). The Judge's 34 page ruling is here (pdf).

Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, aka "Fast Eddie", pleaded guilty last week and Springfield Republican political fundraiser William Cellini was indicted. [More...]

So you're thrilled that change is coming to Washington and want to be part of it. You're willing to give up your present job -- even take a cut in pay -- just to get a top level job with the Obama Administration.

You may want to think twice. The New York Times reports that Obama's 7 page questionnaire is the most extensive and intrusive ever. You can view the 63 question form here (pdf). How many did you get through before you said, "Okaaay, that's it for me?" and put it out of your mind? [More...]

David Brooks looks at a divided Republican Party and sees two factions: the Traditionalists and the Reformers. The Traditionalists include Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, Grover Norquist (Americans for Tax Reform), Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), and Leonard Leo (Federalist Society). The Reformers are people like Peggy Noonan and David Frum and (at the moderate end, he says) David Brooks. The Traditionalists “insult the sensibilities of the educated class and the entire East and West Coasts.” The Reformers take global warming seriously and don’t hate Hispanics.

Perhaps that classification is useful for Brooks’ purpose (which is apparently to announce Brooks’ alignment with an elite class of Republican Reformers), but the current Republican rift isn’t simply between the conservative intelligentsia and the Palin-powered base in real America. To hold power, or at least remain competitive, Republicans since the Age of Reagan relied on a sometimes overlapping, sometimes conflicting alliance of (1) Wall Street/K Street interests; (2) neocons and Federalist Society zealots; (3) the religious right; and (4) traditional conservatives. Groups with money funded attacks on the Democratic opposition while the religious right, if properly motivated, could be counted on to get out the vote and win close elections.

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The latest -- "[Obama] is [not] beyond criticism." Good to know.

Now a consideration of Obama's selection of John Brennan to head his transition team on intelligence matters is in order. As I wrote, this is a matter of concern. As Glenn Greenwald wrote via Balloon Juice:

It simply is noteworthy of comment and cause for concern -- though far from conclusive about what Obama will do -- that Obama's transition chief for intelligence policy, John Brennan, was an ardent supporter of torture and one of the most emphatic advocates of FISA expansions and telecom immunity. It would be foolish in the extreme to ignore that and to just adopt the attitude that we should all wait quietly with our hands politely folded for the new President to unveil his decisions before deciding that we should speak up or do anything.

Time to comment and show some concern about this I think.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis had his day in court. Traffic court. In Cook County.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Martin Coghlan said he dismissed the case because the alleged violation didn't make sense. Police have said they pulled Davis over on Nov. 19 of last year because he swerved over the center line. But Coghlan said crossing the center line was necessary to make the left turn described by a police officer in court.

Davis was ticketed while driving home from his Sunday night radio talk show with three black passengers. Before the trial, Davis accused the police of racial profiling. After Judge Coghlan acquitted him, Davis was more conciliatory, as befits a politician.

The Rev. Edward Pinkney was the Green Party candidate for Congress in Michigan's 6th District. He earned a respectable 3,500 votes despite his inability to leave his prison cell to attend campaign events.

According to an AP story, Pinkney was convicted in 2007 of "paying people to vote in a Benton Harbor election." He was placed on probation.

Months later, he wrote an article in a Chicago newspaper, People's Tribune, saying the judge who handled his case, Alfred Butzbaugh, could be punished by God with curses, fever and "extreme burning" unless he changed his ways.

For that exercise of free speech, Pinkney's probation was revoked. A different judge imposed a 3 to 10 year prison sentence. The ACLU is helping Pinkney appeal. Today it asked the appellate court to release Pinkney on bond while his appeal is pending. [more ...]

The Republican Party's latest gripe involves legislation drafted by, of all people, John McCain.

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan said Wednesday that he wants the courts to eliminate restrictions on coordinated spending by national parties and federal candidates and to permit the national organizations to raise money for state parties.

Duncan said he planned to file suits Thursday in federal courts in Washington D.C. and in Louisiana. His goal, he said was to "strengthen the Republican Party and bring a more level playing field to campaign finance."

Duncan complains that the RNC's inability to coordinate with its candidates causes "results where candidates are often upset with the message that is going out." When the Party has to guess at the candidate's message (or when, as in McCain's case, the candidate doesn't speak for the campaign), it's easy to see how a conflict could arise. The remedy: nominate candidates who have a clear message.

Top Chef has its season premiere tonight on Bravo.

I'll be watching the Country Music Awards which will have performances by the Eagles, Kid Rock and Keith Urban, among others. Full list of nominees is here.

What are you watching tonight?

I posted it in the Open Thread but I think it is worthy of its own post - Greenwald on John Brennan:

It simply is noteworthy of comment and cause for concern -- though far from conclusive about what Obama will do -- that Obama's transition chief for intelligence policy, John Brennan, was an ardent supporter of torture and one of the most emphatic advocates of FISA expansions and telecom immunity. It would be foolish in the extreme to ignore that and to just adopt the attitude that we should all wait quietly with our hands politely folded for the new President to unveil his decisions before deciding that we should speak up or do anything.

Speaking for me only

More bad news on the economic front. The Dow Jones dropped more than 410 points today.

The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 410 points, and all the major indexes lost more than 4 percent. The stock market has lost about $1 trillion over the past three days, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, which reflects the value of nearly all U.S. stocks.

Among the reasons:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he was backing away from buying troubled mortgage assets and would focus on the capital needs of both banks and non-bank financial institutions.

[More...]