Caroline Kennedy Is Seeking Seat Held by Clinton  —  ALBANY — Caroline Kennedy, the deeply private daughter of America's most storied political dynasty, will seek the United States Senate seat in New York being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.  —  Ms. Kennedy ended weeks of silence …

Obama Picks Arne Duncan for Education Post  —  President-elect Barack Obama will name Arne Duncan, the superintendent of schools in Chicago, to be his Secretary of Education, a senior Democratic official and a second person close to the decision said.  —  Mr. Duncan is a Harvard graduate whose friendship …

Urgent, just reported: Al-Zaidi in U.S. run Camp Cropper prison  —  Iraqi TV al-Sharqiya just reported on the news that AL-Zaidi is transferred to Camp Cropper prison [the Airport prison, managed by the American forces].  —  The TV Channel announced that Al-Zaidi is in a difficult condition …

Sarah Palin: Blagojevich's nerve?  —  Sarah Palin, Republican governor of Alaska, says she has wondered how long Rod Blagojevich, Democratic governor of Illinois, thought he might “get away with” an alleged scheme to sell the Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama of Illinois.

Biden TIME  —  Outgoing newsmag bureau chief Jay Carney to be assistant to the vice president and his director of communications.

Review shows no contact with Blago  —  Below is a statement from Obama Transition Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer:  —  “At the direction of the president-elect, a review of Transition staff contacts with Governor Blagojevich and his office has been conducted and completed and is ready for release.

On Making Mitch McConnell Wet His Pants  —  User B.R. writes in: … B.R. raises several interesting points, but they ultimately point back to one thing: Harry Reid has been exceptionally ineffective as the Democrats' majority leader.  —  The number of cloture votes skyrocketed …

Senate Democrats May Return Thousands In Madoff Contributions  —  Bernard Madoff built a major investment shop largely on smoke and mirrors — convincing investors that his fund was a safe and consistent return when it was mostly a house of cards.  —  And yet the relationship between Bernard …

PATERSON IN A BLIND RAGE OVER ‘SNL’ SKIT  —  Gov. Paterson didn't see the humor in a “Saturday Night Live” bit that mocked his blindness.  —  During the “Weekend Update” segment of NBC's irreverent comedy show, actor Fred Armisen played Paterson, imitating his wandering eye, gravelly voice and blunt, self-effacing demeanor.

Orwell in Bailoutland  —  Oh, FireDogLake: … Did we all follow that one?  Failing to funnel billions to a failing business is a form of authoritarian punishment.  As an alternative, we're offered the proposition that we “want affordable, safe, fuel-efficient, environmentally sound cars built …

Accelerant poured around Palin's church  —  WASILLA - Whoever torched Gov. Sarah Palin's home church tried to start fires in several places around the building, the federal agency assisting in the investigation said Monday.  —  Accelerants were found in multiple locations on the outside …

Pellicano gets 15 years in wiretapping case  —  The private investigator's sentence was longer than the five-year, 10-month term recommended by the Probation Department.  Four co-defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in January.  —  Former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano …