Person of the Year 2008  —  INSIDE:

The Great Unraveling  —  The stranger, a Western businessman, slipped into the chair next to me at an Asia Society lunch here in Hong Kong and asked me a question that I can honestly say I've never been asked before: “So, just how corrupt is America?”  —  His question was occasioned …

Obama's Pressers: No Comment — and NoDoz  —  A month from now, the nation will say farewell to its sports-obsessed president who doesn't like tough questions.  And it will replace him with, well, another sports-obsessed president who doesn't like tough questions.

Nepotism Nation: Dems embrace dynasty politics  —  Barack Obama's path to the presidency included beating what had been one of the nation's most powerful families.  But, in an unusual twist, his election last month is helping accelerate the trend toward dynasty politics.

Bush Prepares Crisis Briefings to Aid Obama  —  WASHINGTON — The White House has prepared more than a dozen contingency plans to help guide President-elect Barack Obama if an international crisis erupts in the opening days of his administration, part of an elaborate operation devised to smooth …

Blago drama for Obama  —  President-elect Barack Obama's incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was pushing for Obama's successor just days after the Nov. 4 election, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.  —  Emanuel privately urged Gov. Blagojevich's administration to appoint Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett …

George Tenet, Drunk in Bandar's Pool, Screaming about Jews  —  I just picked up Patrick Tyler's forthcoming book, A World of Trouble, about America's tortured relations with the Middle East, and the prologue contains this whopper of a scene, one that is quite devastating, if true …

Scientists Call AP Report on Global Warming ‘Hysteria’  —  Scientists skeptical of the assertion that climate change is the result of man's activites are criticizing a recent Associated Press report on global warming, calling it “irrational hysteria,” “horrifically bad” and “incredibly biased.”

Obama's List Doesn't Quite Match Emily's  —  Perhaps the plummest appointment in President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet went to a woman: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was nominated for secretary of state.  But his track record on picking women for his Cabinet is no different from that of the two presidents who preceded him.

Bush Abortion Rules Face Possible Reversal  —  Obama Team Looks at Regulation Set to Be Finalized This Week Letting Medical Staff Refuse to Take Part in Practices They Oppose  —  WASHINGTON — The outgoing Bush administration this week will finalize a regulation establishing a “right of conscience” …

Rep. Eshoo to push for Fairness Doctrine  —  Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (pictured), D-Palo Alto, said Monday she will work to restore the Fairness Doctrine and have it apply to cable and satellite programming as well as radio and TV.  —  “I'll work on bringing it back.

In Fraud Case, Middlemen in Spotlight  —  As a go-between who shepherded clients and their money to Bernard L. Madoff, Walter M. Noel became so prosperous that he was only too happy to show off his good fortune to the world.  —  In 2002, Vanity Fair dispatched the photographer Bruce Weber …

MEDIAN WAGES....So let's assume that we manage to stabilize the economy sometime soon via whatever combination of stimulus spending, tax cuts, and bailouts you think is best.  What's next?  Where will demand come from to get the economy moving normally again?  Paul Krugman comments:

RUDY TO RADIO?  —  EVERYONE knows Bill O'Reilly is quitting his radio show to concentrate on his Fox News TV program.  Now, Page Six has learned the leading candidate to succeed him is Rudy Giuliani (above).  Westwood One, which syndicates the O'Reilly show, is negotiating with the former mayor.

Who Will Bail Out Uncle Sam?  —  By EXAMINER EDITORIAL HOT ZONE  —  The United States of America is bankrupt.  Don't believe it?  Consider this: Federal obligations now exceed the collective net worth of all Americans, according to the New York-based Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

Blagojevich talks: ‘Hang loose’  —  CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Wednesday that he “can't wait to begin to tell his side of the story.”  —  In the week since Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges, there have been repeated calls for his resignation.

VILSACK TO BE NAMED SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.  —  Contrary to a statement he gave to the Des Moines Register a few weeks ago, Tom Vilsack will indeed be appointed Secretary of Agriculture.  As I've argued before, the pick is not necessarily comforting.  Vilsack is the former governor of Iowa.

Holder omitted Blagojevich link from questionnaire  —  Announced as a ‘special investigator to the Illinois Gaming Board’ in 2004  —  Before Eric Holder was President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be attorney general, he was Gov. Blagojevich's pick to sort out a mess involving Illinois' long-dormant casino license.

Insurer: Victims of Houston office fire died from ‘pollution’  —  Company says smoke that killed 3 was ‘pollution’  —  An insurance company with a potential $25 million liability from a 2007 Houston office fire is claiming smoke that killed three people was “pollution” …

Card Checkin' Across The Universe  —  That's.... 57 votes in favor of cloture now.  In-cycle Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas formally opposes the Employee Free Choice Act.  She says it's “not necessary” right now.  BTW: Lincoln's potential GOP opponent?  Tim Griffin, the former White …

Jackson, Jr. an informant to Blago investigations  —  SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (CNN) — Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. — who was cited in a criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich — has been an informant for at least a decade with the U.S. Attorney's office, and has informed on the embattled governor of Illinois …

Trips to Caribbean appear to have broken House rules  —  For at least five of the last six years, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and several other members of the Congressional Black Caucus have spent a few days each fall at a different luxurious Caribbean island resort.

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999.... Last week, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the #3 person in the House Republican leadership, argued that “welfare reform” should be near the top of the GOP list of policy priorities.  A few days earlier, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, considered something of a “rising star” …