Iraqi Journalist Throws His Shoes At Bush During Press Conference In Baghdad (Updated)»  —  President Bush is in Baghdad today on a surprise farewell visit highlighting the security deal recently reached between the U.S. and Iraq.  CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware reports …

McCain scolds GOP for whacking Obama  —  In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

NYT wiretap source revealed  —  When the New York Times published its investigation of the NSA's warrantless wiretap program, the paper ignored President Bush's request to hold off on revealing details of the secret program.  In an Oval Office meeting, Bush gave the following message …

Biden to shrink VP role — big time  —  Joe Biden is laying plans to significantly shrink the role of the vice presidency in Barack Obama's White House, according to an official familiar with his thinking.  —  It's not just that Biden won't sit in on Senate Democrats' weekly caucus meetings …

Nazis in the military: 'I'm so proud of my kills'  —  [Shawn Stuart, Iraq War veteran, at a 2006 neo-Nazi rally in Olympia, WA.]  —  Two years ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center ran a devastating report describing the infiltration of neo-Nazis into the ranks of the American military.

Bush makes stop in Afghanistan to rally troops  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan - President George W. Bush got a firsthand look Monday at the deteriorating situation in the seven-year-old Afghanistan war, amid preparations …

The Lasting Effects of Political Poison  —  WASHINGTON — It came to John D. Podesta during a jog through the scenic Rock Creek Park over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  His boss was going to be impeached and there was no way around it.  It took Rahm Emanuel a little longer to reach that conclusion.

Illinois Is Trying.  It Really Is.  But the Most Corrupt State Is Actually . . .  Where is officialdom most crooked?  Last week, many guessed it must be Illinois, after news that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taped making brazen personal demands in exchange for his selection of a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama left with little time to curb global warming  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore.  Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.

State official says Blagojevich may step aside Monday  —  Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) may give up his seat on Monday, according to the state's attorney general.  —  “We have heard that there is a possibility that tomorrow he will make an announcement that he will step aside,” Lisa Madigan said Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.”