Bill vetting could cost Hillary her Cabinet post  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is President-elect Obama's first choice for secretary of State but his aides are becoming exasperated by the Clinton camp's pokey response to demands for extensive information about former President Bill …

Bailing Out in the Real World  —  I feel like some of the commentary on the prospect of an auto industry bailout is starting to remind me of some of the stuff I fell for before we invaded Iraq.  The kind of thing where someone yes, “yes this sounds like a bad idea, but if we do it like this …

Chaos In San Francisco As Anti-Gay Christianists Are Chased Out Of The Castro  —  On Friday night, police in riot gear had to rush to the Castro District to protect a group of Christianists seeking to convert gays. … The Justice House of Prayer posted the above video on YouTube under their username …

A Giddy Sense of Boosterism  —  Perhaps it was the announcement that NBC News is coming out with a DVD titled “Yes We Can: The Barack Obama Story.”  Or that ABC and USA Today are rushing out a book on the election.  Or that HBO has snapped up a documentary on Obama's campaign.

Murdoch to media: You dug yourself a huge hole  —  With newspapers cutting back and predictions of even worse times ahead, Rupert Murdoch said the profession may still have a bright future if it can shake free of reporters and editors who he said have forfeited the trust and loyalty of their readers.

Huckabee Finally Settles His Campaign Scores  —  Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee  —  Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is not the sort of politician who likes to bite his tongue.  But that's just what he found himself doing in the eight months following his surprising and colorful presidential campaign.

EXCLUSIVE: Cantor says GOP is no longer ‘relevant’  —  Urges real solutions on health care, economy  —  Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, poised to ascend to House Republicans' No. 2 leader this week, said the Republican Party in Washington is no longer “relevant” to voters and must stop simply espousing principles.

New Dem Ad In Georgia — Which Backed McCain — Hits Chambliss For Not Backing Obama  —  Jim Martin, the Georgia Democrat who has an outside shot at picking off GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss in the upcoming runoff election, has a new ad with a very interesting strategy for a red-state Dem …

Obama Meets With McCain in Chicago  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama was meeting on Monday with another former adversary, sitting down in Chicago with Senator John McCain to explore areas where the two might make common legislative cause.  —  The private meeting with the Republican senator …

At National Review, a Threat to Its Reputation for Erudition  —  In a span of 252 days, the National Review lost two Buckleys — one to death, another to resignation — and an election.  —  Now, thanks to the coarsening effect of the Internet on political discourse, the magazine …

Obama interview sets ‘60 Minutes’ viewership record  —  Barack Obama's first televised post-election interview gave Sunday night's “60 Minutes” its biggest audience in at least nine years.  —  The CBS News program was seen by 24.5 million viewers and earned a 6.4 preliminary adults 18-49 rating.

Drama Club  —  How Obama handles people.  —  The morning after the presidential election, a group of top Obama staffers and consultants gathered for brunch at a restaurant a few blocks from their Chicago headquarters.  The mood was understandably emotional, and, before long, chief strategist David Axelrod rose to offer a valedictory.

SEC Files Insider Trading Charges Against Mark Cuban  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  2008-273  —  Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Dallas entrepreneur Mark Cuban with insider trading for selling 600,000 shares of the stock …

Sen. Carper: Lieberman should pay consequences  —  Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a close ally of Sen. Joe Lieberman, said the Connecticut Independent should pay a price for his campaign attacks against President-elect Barack Obama.  —  “There need to be consequences, and they cannot be insignificant …

Here There Bee (More) Pirates ... and Might the Obama Administration Take Them Out?  —  US Navy vessel confronts Somali pirates, 2006.  Photo credit Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Anderson, USN, open access DOD (no, not me, but we Ken Andersons really get around).

George W. Hoover?  —  Last week, assembled at Miami's InterContinental Hotel for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association, the governors seemed cheerful.  The G.O.P. had lost only one statehouse on Election Day.  The prospects for a Republican pickup in Virginia in 2009 were decent …

The Thrill of Defeat  —  Let's call John Kerry's loss in 2004 what it is: the luckiest thing to happen to Democrats in 40 years.  —  After the 2004 presidential election Democrats were crushed.  Four more years of George W. Bush seemed unthinkable, disastrous.

NO UAW BAILOUT  —  Jim Manzi has done some of the best analysis of the proposed bailout of GM, Ford and Chrysler—or, one should more properly say, bailout of the United Auto Workers, otherwise slated for extinction.  Here, he addresses the theory that the Big Three are in the midst of a turnaround …

Bill Ayers talks back  —  Sarah Palin called him a terrorist, Barack Obama called him an acquaintance.  A Salon editor who knew Ayers back when talks to the ex-Weather Underground member turned Republican talking point.  —  Video: Interview with Bill Ayers

Scoop: Palin book deal could rake in $7 million  —  Plus: Kanye West defends himself, stars don't help ‘30 Rock’ ratings  —  One McCain-Palin ad tried to paint Barack Obama as a celebrity, but it's Palin who's on the verge of a celeb-sized book deal.  —  The Scoop  —  msnbc.com

Obama Courted Federal Employees With Letters Before Election  —  Workers at Seven Agencies Got Detailed Letters Before Election  —  In wooing federal employee votes on the eve of the election, Barack Obama wrote a series of letters to workers that offer detailed descriptions of how he intends …

Republicans ask: Just how bad is it?  —  Party leaders agree that the GOP has had a rough go of it at the polls in recent years.  —  How could they not?  —  Since 2004, they've gone from 55 Senate seats to no more than 43 once this year's last winners are determined …