Bush pardons 14 individuals  —  Outgoing president also commutes the prison sentence of two others  —  WASHINGTON - The Associated Press has learned that President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others.

GOP senator: We haven't learned  —  The Republican U.S. senator sits glumly across the restaurant table.  —  “I don't think we have learned much from the election in terms of what people want to see,” he says.  “We have the same gridlock.”  —  By the “same gridlock,” he means that party hard-liners …

Holy Land Foundation defendants guilty on all counts  —  jtrahan@dallasnews.com  —  A jury on Monday determined that the Holy Land Foundation and five men who worked with the Muslim charity were guilty of three dozen counts related to the illegal funneling of at least $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Paulson May Ask for Remaining $350 Billion of TARP  —  Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, less than a week after indicating he would let the Obama administration decide how to use the second half of the $700 billion financial fund, is considering asking for the money.

Geithner, Summers among key economic team members announced today  —  Chicago — President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden officially announced key members of their economic team today, naming Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury and Lawrence Summers as Director of the National Economic Council.

Politico poll: Chambliss up by three  —  Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss holds a narrow lead over Democrat Jim Martin in the Dec. 2 Georgia Senate runoff, according to a new Politico/InsiderAdvantage poll.  —  The poll shows Chambliss leading Martin by three points, 50 to 47 percent, with three percent of respondents undecided.

Minner naming Ted Kaufman to fill Biden's seat  —  Gov. Ruth Ann Minner said today she will appoint Ted Kaufman, a longtime, close adviser to Sen. Joe Biden, to fill the senator's seat until a 2010 special election, a move that some warned could leave Delaware Democratic Party feelings bruised for years to come.

Rice Likely to UN for Obama (Susan, Not Condi)  —  From Jake Tapper, George Stephanopoulos, and Martha Raddatz:  —  ABC News has learned that Dr. Susan Rice has emerged as the leading candidate to be President-elect Obama's nominee as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

For Collins, forgiveness may be tough  —  The tactics used by Democrats to secure at least 58 Senate seats may have damaged their chances of winning vital support from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in key votes in the 111th Congress.  —  Collins told colleagues at a small Senate prayer breakfast meeting …

The Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin XXV: The Turkey Massacre  —  The wack-job is once again denying reality.  Here's a sane person: … But Palin is now denying all of it, and implicitly calling the photographer a liar: … Who are you going to believe: Palin or your lyin' eyes?

Candidate For RNC Chair Was Member Of Whites-Only Country Club  —  Now here's a good way for the GOP to make the case that it hasn't been reduced to a southern regional rump party that's held hostage by intolerant crackpots: Elect as the new chairman of the Republican National Committee …

For Lobbyists, No Downturn, Just a Turnover  —  WASHINGTON — Richard Hunt, a top Republican lobbyist for the securities industry, was among the first to go, just a week after the election.  Marc Racicot, the president of the American Insurance Association and former Republican Party chairman, resigned a few days later.

Perriello Wins House Seat  —  The State Board of Elections certified Virginia's Nov. 4 election results, which includes a win for Democrat Tom Perriello over Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., a longtime incumbent in southern Virginia.  —  Goode has not conceded the close race and has 10 days to ask for a recount.

HISTORY MAKES WAY FOR OBAMA-WORSHIP AT THE NEW YORK TIMES  —  Obama-worship remains the order of the day at the New York Times, and the Times is more than happy to rewrite history on behalf of the candidate it worked so hard to elect.  —  Consider this piece by David Sanger.

Bigotry on the Bus  —  A week after the election, I was riding the bus home in Santa Monica when we went past one of the many protests around the city against the narrow passage of Proposition 8, which amended the California constitution to eliminate marriage rights for an entire class of people.

49% Say U.S. Should Keep Guantanamo Prison Open  —  Nearly half of U.S. voters (49%) say the United States should not close the terrorist prison camp at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, but the identical number (49%) also say Barack Obama is Very likely to close it in the first year of his presidency.

State high court opens door for prosecuting some medical pot suppliers  —  (11-24) 14:41 PST SAN FRANCISCO — Someone who supplies marijuana to a patient who has a doctor's approval for it can be prosecuted for drug-dealing, the state Supreme Court ruled today in a narrow interpretation of California's medical marijuana law.

Zimbabwe on brink of collapse as outbreak of cholera spreads  —  The situation in Zimbabwe may soon “implode” as a cholera outbreak spreads and basic services collapse, South African leaders and a group of international statesmen warned yesterday.  —  On the eve of talks in South Africa …

Hillary Clinton and the Emoluments Clause: There's been talk about whether Sen. Hillary Clinton is disqualified from a position as Secretary of State by the Emoluments Clause: … Adam Bonin's Daily Kos blog has a bit more on this, but the short version is that a Jan. 2008 executive order …

Transcript: Reps. Hoyer and Boehner on ‘FNS’  —  WASHINGTON — WALLACE: And we're back to discuss the possible auto bailout and how Congress will work with the incoming Obama administration.  —  Joining us, two men who will have a big say in all that, House majority leader Steny Hoyer, and the Republican leader John Boehner.

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Freedom's Watch effort winding down  —  Conservative group's future undecided  —  Freedom's Watch, the conservative group backed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, is pretty much kaput, sources with knowledge of the organization said.

MISSING BALLOTS IN MN?  —  From NBC's John Talty  —  In the hotly contested Minnesota Senate recount, missing ballots could provide another source of rancor between the two candidates.  In a Franken camp teleconference call this afternoon, lead recount attorney Marc Elias stressed the need …

Autism May Be Caused By “Chemical Exposures”  —  For years now, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and elsewhere have said that autism is probably a purely genetic disorder, and that the dramatic increase in numbers was due to better diagnostics, wider reporting and greater awareness …