Exclusive: Gregory Craig to be White House counsel  —  Gregory B. Craig, a well-known Washington lawyer who quarterbacked President Bill Clinton's impeachment defense, has been chosen White House counsel by President-elect Barack Obama, according to Democratic officials.

Across U.S., Big Rallies for Same-Sex Marriage  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In one of the nation's largest displays of support for gay rights, tens of thousands of people in cities across the country turned out in support of same-sex marriage on Saturday, lending their voices to an issue that many gay men …

The world has never seen such freezing heat  —  A surreal scientific blunder last week raised a huge question mark about the temperature records that underpin the worldwide alarm over global warming.  On Monday, Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which is run …

Say Goodbye to BlackBerry?  Yes He Can, Maybe  —  WASHINGTON — Sorry, Mr. President.  Please surrender your BlackBerry.  —  Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65 days.

Rahm Emanuel Roasts Stephen Colbert (VIDEO)  —  White House chief of staff-designate Rahm Emanuel took some time off from the transition Friday night to hurl barbs at his longtime pseudo-nemesis Stephen Colbert (as well as Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, Joe Lieberman, et al...)

5 Myths About an Election of Mythic Proportions  —  The 2008 presidential election ended less than two weeks ago, but the mythmaking machine has already begun to churn.  President-elect Barack Obama transformed the face of the electorate!  The Republican Party will be a miserable minority in Congress for the next century!

‘Ordinary voter’ in New York Times recount story has strong GOP ties  —  A man presented as an “ordinary voter” in a New York Times article today about the impending recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race has strong ties to the Republican Party and conservative causes that the article does not reveal.

Rangel Plans Push to Cut Top Corporate Tax Rate to 28 Percent  —  Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — New York Representative Charles Rangel said he's revising his tax overhaul proposal to reduce U.S. corporate tax rates to 28 percent, down from the current rate of 35 percent.

Net Neutrality Advocates In Charge Of Obama Team Review of FCC  —  The Obama-Biden transition team on Friday named two long-time net neutrality advocates to head up its Federal Communications Commission Review team.  —  Susan Crawford, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School …

Obama's Lincoln  —  During the campaign, he pledged to be a unifying leader.  Good thing for Obama there are other presidents whose experiences he can draw on, including one, in particular, from his home state.  —  From the magazine issue dated Nov 24, 2008  —  It is the season to compare Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln.

The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla  —  Electronic devices dislike me.  There is never a day when something isn't ailing.  Three out of these five implements — answering machine, fax machine, printer, phone and electric can-opener — all dropped dead on me in the past few days.

Greta Gushes That Palin ‘Stole The Show This Week’ At The RGA Conference  —  For months, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren has been one of Gov. Sarah Palin's (R-AK) biggest fans, conducting more intimate interviews with her than any other member of the media.

Deaths uncounted in China's tainted milk scandal  —  LITI VILLAGE, China — Li Xiaokai died of kidney failure on the old wooden bed in the family farmhouse, just before dawn on a drizzly Sept. 10.  —  Her grandmother wrapped the 9-month-old in a wool blanket.  Her father handed the body to village men for burial by a muddy creek.

More than 20,000 flee flames in O.C. Fire destroys or damages more than 600 homes; thousands are threatened  —  More than 600 Southland homes have been damaged or destroyed.  Governor declares an emergency in L.A. County.  High winds drive flames through canyons in the San Fernando Valley.

Dems attach strings to auto bailout  —  Stymied by one last stalemate with the Bush administration, the Democratic Congress has released a scaled-back auto industry bailout that would force Detroit to embrace more fuel-efficient cars and new auto technologies.

The Saturday Cartoons  —  In “State-Run Sacrament,” Right-Wing Ralphie shows how anti-gay bigotry really does support heterosexual marriage...  Click on the screenshot above or go here to see it.  —  And our friends at Headzup give us their take on the get-together between Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Dick Cheney this week.

How to Ground The Street  —  President-elect Barack Obama will soon face the extraordinary task of saving capitalism from its own excesses, much as Franklin D. Roosevelt had to do 76 years ago.  Up until this point in the crisis, policymakers have appropriately applied the rules of triage …