The recounting is done (with one exception)  —  The last of the ballots were stored away in Wright County late this morning.  So, except for 133 missing ballots from Minneapolis, the recounting from the U.S. Senate race is over.  —  By Curt Brown cbrown@startribune.com Except for 133 missing ballots …

One More Question...  Incoming Obama administration director of speechwriting Jon Favreau (L) and a friend pose with a cardboard cutout of incoming Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at a party.  (Obtained by The Washington Post)  —  Updated 9:22 p.m.  —  By Al Kamen

A New Attorney Scandal?  Bush-Appointed U.S. Attorney Won't Vacate Office Under Obama  —  Mary Beth Buchanan was appointed by President Bush to serve as U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh in Sept. 2001.  Buchanan has held several significant posts within the Bush/Ashcroft/Gonzales Justice Department …

The Note, 12/05/08: Another Senator Kennedy?  —  ABC News' Jonathan Karl, filling in for Rick Klein today Reports: The Big Three can't win for losing and it seems Barney Frank is already fed up with Barack Obama.  But first, an exclusive from The Note.  —  Another Senator Kennedy?

A Fourth Picture  —  As Dish readers know, there are only three public photographs that I could find of Sarah Palin pregnant with Trig (the McCain campaign insisted there were “loads” and then was forced to retract).  But we now have another.  The date of this photograph …

Shall We Call it a Depression Now?  —  Today's employment report, showing that employers cut 533,000 jobs in November, 320,000 in October, and 403,000 in September — for a total of over 1.2 million over the last three months — begs the question of whether the meltdown we're experiencing should be called a Depression.

Justices Take Case on President's Power to Detain  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide the most fundamental question yet concerning executive power in the age of terror: Can the president order the indefinite military detention of people living in the United States?

Obama Birth Certificate Protest at SCOTUS  —  Four days ago, Roger Bredow uploaded a video to YouTube beseeching like-minded people to come to Washington, D.C. and stand with him outside the Supreme Court.  “[Barack] Obama was born a dual citizen,” Bredow said, “British, and a citizen of the United States, at birth.”

Team of Heavyweights  —  President-elect Barack Obama has appointed an extraordinary team for national security policy.  On its face, it violates certain maxims of conventional wisdom: that appointing to the Cabinet individuals with an autonomous constituency, and who therefore are difficult to fire …

‘At Least Bush Kept Us Safe’  —  The two words Democrats don't want tacked onto that sentence.  —  Washington  —  To drive through the suburbs of Northern Virginia is to marvel still at the widespread wealth, the mansions and mini-mansions that did not exist a quarter-century ago and that now thicken the woods and hills.

Missing atheist sign found in Washington state  —  (CNN) — An atheist sign criticizing Christianity that was erected alongside a Nativity scene was taken from the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington, on Friday and later found in a ditch.  —  An employee from country radio station KMPS-FM …

Wake Up America  —  Will you pardon an occasional rant?  Isn't that partly what blogs are good for?  My subject today is the failure of Congress and the Bush administration to bail out the American auto industry.  If today's news stories are accurate, any bailout will have to await …

Obama goes upscale in Hawaii for holiday  —  President-elect will return to home state with family and friends  —  President-elect Barack Obama, returning to his home state of Hawaii for the holidays, plans a beachside vacation at one of Oahu's most exclusive properties, according to an islander involved in the planning.

On The Left Hand  —  Jared Bernstein, a first-rate guy with what I'd say is a clearly more left-wing orientation than the members of the Obama economic team that have been announced thus far, was just announced for the new position of Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to the Vice President.

Cheney Personally Thanked Chris Wallace For Defending Bush; Promises Him ‘Special Exit Interview’ As Reward  —  Last Monday, at a screening of Ron Howard's new film “Frost/Nixon,” Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace vociferously defended President Bush against criticism by Howard that Bush …

House will return to five-day work week in 2009  —  House Democratic leaders have decided to lengthen the congressional workweek next year as they try to implement President-elect Obama's agenda and clear a backlog of priorities no longer subject to the veto of President Bush.

Liberal groups are ceding a key way to influence the Supreme Court.  —  In its last term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard fewer cases than it has in any single term in more than 50 years.  This means that getting your case heard at the high court is about 10 times harder than getting into Harvard.

Climate scientists say 2008 will be coolest year of the decade  —  This year is set to be the coolest since 2000, according to a preliminary estimate of global average temperature that is due to be released next week by the Met Office.  The global average for 2008 should come in close to 14.3C …

AP Exclusive: Pentagon to recruit aliens on visas  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Struggling to find enough doctors, nurses and linguists for the war effort, the Pentagon will temporarily recruit foreigners who have been living in the United States …