A Force for Good — but Not at State  —  It may be moot and it certainly is presumptuous, but I would be less than honest with readers if I did not say what I believe: Making Hillary Rodham Clinton the secretary of state in Barack Obama's administration would be a mistake.

Giving Up on God  —  As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.  —  Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.  —  I'm bathing in holy water as I type.  —  To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing …

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt  —  IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye.  It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.  —  Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself.

Al-Qaida No. 2 says Obama betrays race  —  In first video since election, he says president-elect does bidding of whites  —  CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply does the bidding of whites.

ABOUT THAT CHENEY INDICTMENT.... At first blush, the headline looked pretty extraordinary: “Texas Grand Jury Indicts Cheney, Gonzales on Charges Related to Prisons.”  Wait, Dick Cheney's been indicted?  It sounded too good to be true, in large part because it is.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power …

Big Three CEOs Flew Private Jets to Plead for Public Funds  —  Auto Industry Close to Bankruptcy But They Get Pricey Perk  —  The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation's capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running …

How much was your vote worth?  Obama often outbid McCain  —  Bet you didn't know how much your vote cost to get.  —  Here's the kind of stuff real politics fans revel in: Which candidate spent the most TV advertising money per vote rec eived?  —  And where was that?

Emanuel Sets a Challenge  —  President-elect Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff challenged chief executives and other business leaders Tuesday night to join the new administration in a push for universal health care, saying incremental increases in coverage won't be acceptable.

Obama exerts his power  —  President-elect Barack Obama, in the latest of several moves to heal election wounds, persuaded Democrats to reject stiff punishment for Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) despite his campaign efforts for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).  —  Lieberman is the beneficiary …

Why is Barack Obama obsessed with reforming college football?  —  Barack Obama has revealed his first major policy initiative: college football reform.  In Obama's first televised interview since winning the presidency, he explained what's wrong with the current system …

Consumer Prices Fall on Drop in Energy Costs  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices dropped by the largest amount in 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount.  —  The Labor Department reports that consumer prices fell by 1 percent last month …

A Sea of Unwanted Imports  —  LONG BEACH, Calif. — Gleaming new Mercedes cars roll one by one out of a huge container ship here and onto a pier.  Ordinarily the cars would be loaded on trucks within hours, destined for dealerships around the country.  But these are not ordinary times.