Indicted Louisiana congressman loses re-election bid  —  (CNN) — Nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has been battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years, appears to have lost his bid for re-election.  —  Republican challenger Anh “Joseph” Cao …

Rove planning to ‘name names’ of Bush haters in his new book.»  —  Karl Rove is reportedly one of the key architects overseeing the “Bush legacy project,” predicting that the President will be remembered as a “far-sighted leader.”  In a new interview with Cox News …

Caroline Kennedy?  Thanks But No Thanks  —  digg it  —  Everyone seems to be salivating because Caroline Kennedy called David Patterson and is apparently interested in the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton.  —  It's a truly terrible idea.  —  Her leadership could have been really helpful …

Biden unwelcome in Senate huddles, where Cheney wielded power  —  WASHINGTON — In a move to reassert Congressional independence at the start of the new presidential administration, the vice president will be barred from joining weekly internal Senate deliberations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

Remembering Pearl Harbor 2008 I write this as I look out my 29th floor hotel room in the direction of Pearl Harbor.  My wife and I came to Oahu, Hawaii to celebrate our 29th anniversary on December 2nd.  Although it is a coincidence that we are still here on December 7th, it still feels eerie.

Obama Picks Shinseki to Lead Veterans Affairs  —  President-elect Barack Obama today will introduce retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as his nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, bringing to his Cabinet a career military officer best known for running afoul of the Bush administration …

Legal Organization May Become Influential Beyond Its Dreams  —  The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy was founded seven years ago to counter a growing right-leaning legal philosophy that has reshaped the American legal landscape on issues from the reach of federal regulation to the separation of church and state.

Abortion Politics Didn't Doom the G.O.P.  —  AN iron law of recent American politics dictates that any Republican setback at the polls will be quickly pinned on the pro-life movement.  You might think that the Republican Party's 2008 debacle would be an exception to this rule.

In Praise of Bureacrats  —  One underappreciated aspect of the American system of government is that we have way more political appointees in the executive branch than is common in most democracies.  Political appointees will go three or four levels deep into the org charts of agencies …

Supply trucks hit in brazen attack in Pakistan  —  Suspected Taliban insurgents attacked two truck stops, destroying more than 150 vehicles carrying supplies bound for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.  —  In one of the biggest and most brazen attacks of its kind to date …

Ten Things David Gregory Needs to Know  —  10.)  Monday night is the new Saturday  —  9.)  Saturday Night Live is a pretty cool wake-up call  —  8.)  Dennis Kucinich is a biter  —  7.)  You'll never have to anchor another car chase — ever  —  6.)  No more OJ stories either  —  5.)

Christmas Lights ... scrooge or savior?  —  Do you love those displays of Christmas (or Hannukah or Kwanza or ...) lights?  Are you awed by those so impassioned that they string up 1000s of lights in awesome displays worthy of a city center?  I once did, pausing on cold winter nights …