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 …

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?

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 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 …

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 …

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?

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.

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.

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.”

McCain Campaign Spent $110,000 on Palin's Stylists  —  Gov. Sarah Palin's traveling makeup artist was paid $68,400 and her hair stylist received more than $42,000 for roughly two months of work, according to a new campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Feds taped Blagojevich  —  The circle appears to be closing in on ethically embattled Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.  The Chicago Tribune reports today that the governor's former congressional chief of staff, John Wyma, wore a wiretap to help federal investigators secure an indictment against him.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Daschle Says U.S. Health-Care Overhaul Will Help Spur Economy  —  A A A  —  Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) — Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle, the top health policy adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, said reworking the U.S. health-care system is a necessary part of an economic recovery plan.

Give me an S!  Give me an M!  Give me two O's . . . !!!  —  Dani Rodrik writes: … Prompting Tyler Cowen to add: … If I read him correctly, Dani Rodrik is suggesting that Smoot-Hawley made the New Deal more effective.  But of course, Smoot-Hawley was part of an ongoing round …

Stuart Taylor: Obama Should Conduct Illegal Surveillance  —  A pretty stunning Stuart Taylor column in the National Journal: … Kicking the term “Bush critics” around is a huge red herring in this context.  Bush is going to be out of office on January 20th.

Why Neo-Hooverism Now?  —  As I documented, the right initially tended toward a neo-Hooverite line on the economic crisis.  Then came a seeming shift and the emergence of a broad consensus in favor of strong action.  Recently, though, there's been a tilt back in the neo-Hooverite direction …

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 …