FROM THE BLOGS:
The Problem With Israel-Palestine Blogging - Megan McArdle
Jews Soul-Searching About Gaza? - A. Horowitz, Huffington Post
Floridistan: Hatred of the Good - Pamela Gellar, Atlas Shrugs
Fitzgerald Wants 90-Day Delay - Joe Sudbay, AMERICAblog
Fitz Asks For Extension on Indictments - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Bobby Rush on CNN - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Torture Prosecutions Finally Begin in U.S. - Glenn Greenwald
Nat Hentoff Laid Off From Village Voice - C.P. Estes, Moderate Voice

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
White House Says Cease Fire Depends on Hamas - Associated Press
U.S. Attorney Wants More Time to Indict Blagojevich - Associated Press
Pelosi Steers Stimulus to All-Democratic Panel - The Hill

New York Gov. David Paterson (D) is considering appointing a caretaker to take the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton (D), according to the Associated Press.

A caretaker appointee would be someone who would serve for two years and then step aside after the 2010 election. The appointee would also have enough clout to make an impact for New York during his brief tenure, Democratic advisers "who are close to the discussion" on the Senate vacancy told the AP.

Two names that have been raised are Bill Clinton and former Gov. Mario Cuomo (D). A spokesman for the former president said that Clinton isn't interested in the post and will continue his foundation's work. Cuomo's office didn't respond to the story.

Del. Donna Christensen (D-V.I.) defended Roland Burris as free of taint and said that it would be difficult for lawmakers to deny his Senate appointment.

Christensen, in an interview with WNYC, said that many people would like to see another African-American senator take the seat, vacated by President-elect Obama, and that Burris is qualified to do so. She added that it will be "very difficult" for the Senate to deny a seat "to a person like Roland Burris, who is, as far as I know, and I've known him for 20 or so years, is of impeccable character."

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) announced Burris, a former Illinois state attorney general, as his Senate appointment on Tuesday. Senate Democrats have said they won't honor the appointment because of the legal trouble the governor faces. Federal prosecutors said that Blagojevich tried to trade the Senate appointment in exchange for personal and political benefits.

Christensen, however, said that Blagojevich still has the power to make the appointment.

"Well, given the present circumstances, it might have been better for the governor, I mean for everyone, for the impeachment proceedings to have proceeded," she said. "However, the governor of Illinois is still within his right to make that decision and to make that call as long as he's governor and he made it. He chose an outstanding person. And, I don't think that that person necessarily comes under his cloud, it's just under these unfortunate circumstances."

Christensen, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, also denied that Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) has backed himself into a corner by urging the Senate to seat Burris, who would be the only black member of the upper chamber. Christensen noted that the group has lobbied the Senate on appointments before.

"I don't know what the caucus will decide on this particular issue, but clearly the governor of Illinois, and rightly so up to this point, feels that he is the governor and it's within his authority to appoint a person to replace Sen. Obama," she said. "He's chosen a good person, although as you well know, the Congressional Black Caucus has several members who, outstanding members, who, any of whom we would have hoped he would have chosen."

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) used campaign funds to pay for $1,450 in parking fines, and his office said there's "nothing unethical" about it, reports CQ Politics.

Rangel used money from his campaign committee and his political action committee to pay the parking tickets, collected while driving his Chrysler PT Cruiser in Washington. A Rangel spokesman told the the New York Daily News that members of Congress routinely use campaign donations to pay off parking violations.

Rangel faces a House ethics investigation looking into his failure to pay taxes on real estate he owns in the Dominican Republic. The probe will also look at accusations that he improperly used a rent-controlled apartment as an office and that he used his position to help raise money for an educational center in his name. Rangel has said that he hasn't done anything intentionally wrong.

FROM THE BLOGS:
The Cycle of Cease Fires - Noah Pollak, Contentions
Netanyahu on Gaza, Hamas - Hugh Hewitt, Townhall
Israel Rejects Meaningless 48-Hour Cease Fire - JammieWearingFool
Israel's Woes - Booman, Booman Tribune
The Hunted Child - Spencer Ackerman, ATTACKERMAN
Gonzales Feels Sorry for Himself - Steve Benen, Political Animal
Seating Burris - Matthew Yglesias
The Powell Precedent - S. Lemieux, Lawyers, Guns and Money
Moving Day For The Obamas - Peter Baker, The Caucus

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Continuing Jobless Claims Rise Sharply in December - Associated Press
Lobbyist Sues 'NYT' Over McCain Romance - AFP
Obama to Face Critical Immigration Test Early - The Hill

President-elect Obama and his family will stay at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel near the White House before his inauguration, reports The New York Times.

Obama, Michelle Obama and their two daughters will stay at the hotel, across from Lafayette Park, starting this weekend. Sasha and Malia Obama begin classes at Sidwell Friends School on Monday.

The family had hoped to use the Blair House, the residence for presidential guests, but the Bush administration had it booked until Jan. 15.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) on Wednesday again warned senators seeking to block the Senate appointment of Roland Burris, saying that such a move would be like blocking black children from attending desegregated schools.

Rush, on CBS's "Early Show," dismissed suggestions that Burris shouldn't be seated because he was appointed by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D).

"Well, let me just say this: You know, the recent history of our nation has shown us that, sometimes, there can be individuals and there can be situations where school — where you have officials standing in the doorway of schoolchildren," Rush said. "You know, I'm talking about almost — almost back in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas. I'm talking about George Wallace, Bill Connors. And I'm sure that the U.S. Senate don't want to see themselves placed in the same position."

Blagojevich on Tuesday announced Burris, an African-American and former Illinois state attorney general, as his selection for the seat, which was vacated by President-elect Obama. At the governor's news conference, Rush told Blagojevich's critics not to "lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer." But Senate Democrats said they'll refuse to seat Burris because he was chosen by Blagojevich, who faces charges that he tried to sell the Senate appointment for personal and political benefits.

Rush responded Wednesday by saying that Blagojevich's opponents "need to take a chill pill" and that Illinois needs two U.S. senators to help Obama pass a stimulus package. "And the people of the state of Illinois should not be deprived of a representative in the U.S. Senate to be on the table to help decide where that money should go," Rush said.

He added that the "real political tragedy" and "moral issue" is that there are no black senators.

"There are two Asians, three Latinos, 11 women, but no African-Americans," he said. "And I just must applaud the people in the state of Illinois, because in the last 150 years, we have sent two of the three African-Americans to the Senate, and no one's been there for 150 years. Now, something is really, really wrong with that."

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) wanted to appoint Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) to the Senate, but Davis told him that he wouldn't accept an appointment to the open seat, reports the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet.

Davis told Sweet that he met with Blagojevich's lawyer last week out of respect for the governor's office. But Davis told the lawyer that he would not take the job if he was offered it.

"It would be difficult to generate the trust level people would have to have in me," Davis told Sweet. "I just decided there was too much turmoil, too much disagreement. It was something I wanted to do, but I said I would not take an appointment from the governor."

Blagojevich faces federal charges that he tried to sell the open seat, which was vacated by President-elect Obama. The governor said he would appoint Roland Burris, a former Illinois state comptroller and attorney general, to the seat on Tuesday. Senate Democrats have said they would refuse to seat Burris or any other Blagojevich appointment.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) appointment of Roland Burris to the Senate turns what was already a bad situation into a political nightmare, writes Chris Cillizza. The best House campaigns of 2008 include the ones by Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Reps.-elect Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) and Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Cillizza writes.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's news conference announcing the appointment of Roland Burris to the Senate featured race-baiting and was a surreal transmission from Bizarroland, writes Allahpundit. Vicki Iseman, the lobbyist who is suing The New York Times for linking her romantically to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), only needs to prove in court that the Times was guilty of negligence in its reporting since she is a private citizen, writes Allahpundit.