Person of the Year 2008  —  INSIDE:

LaHood considered for Cabinet post  —  Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) is in discussions with the Obama administration to take a Cabinet-level post — most likely secretary of the Department of Transportation, according to knowledgeable GOP sources.  —  When reached on his cell phone …

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.

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 …

Prostitution vs. war crimes: The real moral offense  —  In October, the extremely pro-war, neoconservative New York Sun ceased operations, and its journalists are now finding a warm and welcoming home, appropriately and revealingly enough, at The New Republic.

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.

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 …

Lincoln: ‘Card-check’ proposal not necessary  —  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Sen. Blanche Lincoln says she doesn't think federal legislation that would allow labor organizations to unionize workplaces without secret-ballot elections is necessary.  But in an interview with The Associated Press today …

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.

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 …

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.

CENTRAL NEW YORK NEWS  —  Real-Time News Updates for Syracuse and CNY  —  Caroline Kennedy meets with Syracuse mayor … SYRACUSE, NY — On the way out of Syracuse City Hall this morning, Caroline Kennedy briefly addressed about 20 reporters and photographers:

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.”

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.

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 …

KLEIN ACCOUNTABILITY WATCH: TESTING EDITION.  —  Yesterday, I joined Seyward Darby in lauding the impressive improvement in test scores during Arne Duncan's tenure as CEO of Chicago's public schools.  Dana Goldstein, however, has a useful corrective on this sort of thinking:

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.