Gates agrees to stay on under Obama  —  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has agreed to stay on under President-elect Obama, according to officials in both parties.  Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Exceptional news: John Brennan won't be CIA Director or DNI  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  This is really exceptional news on multiple levels — the best political news I've heard since the election: … Brennan's self-defense here is quite disingenuous.

Is Clinton barred from State job?  —  Pete Williams of NBC raised the question on MSNBC this afternoon: Is Hillary Clinton barred by the Constitution from accepting the post of secretary of state?  —  Article One, Section Six of the U.S. Constitution says:

Scientists urge caution on global warming  —  Climate change skeptics on Capitol Hill are quietly watching a growing accumulation of global cooling science and other findings that could signal that the science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant cap-and-trade legislation.

Barack Obama chafes inside the ‘bubble’  —  Barack Obama wants his BlackBerry back - or at least some good way to communicate better with people outside the immediate circle of the president-elect.  —  And Obama isn't too impressed with the way that automakers have conducted themselves …

The Anti-Obama Ad Campaign That Never Happened  —  What if the McCain campaign had run ads using footage of Barack Obama dancing with Ellen DeGeneres to show his coziness with celebrity?  Or followed up on its Paris Hilton ad with others featuring Donald Trump and Jessica Simpson?

WE HEAR . . . WE HEAR  —  THAT although we didn't think it would be pos sible to silence Ann Coulter, the leggy reaction- ary broke her jaw and the mouth that roared has been wired shut . . . THAT the Tel Aviv Hilton was abuzz Saturday with the arrival of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock …

State justice confirms he yelled “Tyrant!” at Mukasey before AG collapsed  —  Richard Sanders, a justice on the Washington State Supreme Court, has never been one to shy from controversy or blunt language.  And last week, as he sat at a Federalist Society dinner and listened …

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes: A final blog entry  —  Today President-elect Obama announced his intention to nominate me as director of the Office of Management and Budget.  I am therefore resigning as director of CBO and this will be my final blog entry.  —  I have absolutely loved my time at CBO.

Missing ballots concern Franken camp  —  Things are getting even dicier in the Minnesota Senate recount.  —  Al Franken's campaign is contending that Minnesota election officials may have lost several dozen ballots across the state.  Their basis for the charge is that the number …

Citi's Taxpayer Parachute  —  Why are Robert Rubin and other directors still employed?  —  Another Sunday night, another ad hoc bank rescue rooted in no discernible principle.  U.S. taxpayers, who invested $25 billion in Citigroup last month, will now pour in another $20 billion in exchange for preferred shares paying an 8% dividend.

Norquist: 'The Economy's In The Present State' Because Democrats Took Control Of Congress In 2006  —  On CNBC this morning, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist claimed that the current financial crisis facing America is rooted in the fact that Democrats took control of the House and Senate in 2006.

Great Engine of China Slows  —  MA'ANSHAN, China — The Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Company recently opened a giant $3 billion steel mill on the outskirts of this city.  The mill, which covers one and a half square miles and has its own power plant and shipping port, was built to help meet China's seemingly insatiable appetite for growth.

The Truth About the Election  —  As he demonstrated in his campaign for the presidency, Barack Obama thinks long.  Hence, the new President-elect is better prepared to take office than any other newly elected chief executive in the history of the modern presidency.

Fundraiser canned on claims disease affects only whites  —  Carleton University won't be holding a popular fundraiser to benefit cystic fibrosis, it was confirmed Tuesday, after the student council passed a motion falsely claiming the disease affects only white men.

DISGUSTING WHINING  —  You've probably noticed Mark Halperin's claim that the level of pro-Obama bias in the election coverage this year was so bad it was “disgusting.”  I'll leave it to others to analyze what “disgusting” means when deployed by someone who takes his journalistic cues from Matt Drudge.

RUSSIAN ANALYST PREDICTS DECLINE AND BREAKUP OF USA  —  A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.  —  Professor Igor Panarin …