Obama On Rick Warren Pick: We Have To Be Able To Agree To Disagree  —  Obama, at his presser today, defends the decision to choose Rick Warren to deliver the invocation as his inauguration with a restatement of his commitment to gay rights and, more broadly, to the principles of unity that have been a hallmark of his rise to power:

The Torture Report  —  Most Americans have long known that the horrors of Abu Ghraib were not the work of a few low-ranking sociopaths.  All but President Bush's most unquestioning supporters recognized the chain of unprincipled decisions that led to the abuse, torture and death in prisons run …

Conservative Leader Paul Weyrich Dies; First to Lead Heritage  —  Paul M. Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and first president of The Heritage Foundation, died this morning around 1 a.m. He was 66 years old.  Weyrich was a good friend to many of us at Heritage, a true leader and a man of unbending principle.

Emanuel's deeper involvement in pressing for Jarrett Senate appointment  —  My Sun-Times colleagues Natasha Korecki and Fran Spielman in a story in the Thusday paper report Rahm Emanuel's involvement in pushing Gov. Blagojevich to appoint Valerie Jarrett to replace President elect Barack Obama was deeper than previously known.

Dodd's rating drops after White House run  —  Sen. Chris Dodd's failed presidential campaign appears to have hurt him in Connecticut according to a new survey that showed the Democrat with his lowest poll numbers in 14 years.  —  The poll by Quinnipiac University shows the Senate Banking Committee chairman …

With economy in shambles, Congress gets a raise  —  A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay.  —  Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase …

Gay man backed for Navy secretary  —  Foes cite 'Don't ask, don't tell'  —  Some top retired military leaders and some Democrats in Congress are backing William White, chief operating officer of the Intrepid Museum Foundation, to be the next secretary of the Navy - a move that would put …

Kennedy visits Rochester as part of effort to learn about upstate New York  —  In her first visit to Rochester, U.S. Senate hopeful Caroline Kennedy met Wednesday with Mayor Robert Duffy and Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, asking questions about upstate but not asking for an endorsement.

Obama's Chief Speechwriter, 27, Works on Inaugural Address While Making His Own Transition  —  The job requires him to work unnoticed, even in plain view, so Jon Favreau settles into a wooden chair at a busy Starbucks in the center of Penn Quarter.  Deadline looms, and he needs to write at least half a page by the end of the day.

Sources: John Holdren to be Nominated as Obama's Science Adviser  —  Strong indications are that President-elect Barack Obama has picked physicist John Holdren to be the president's science adviser.  —  A top adviser to the Obama campaign and international expert on energy and climate …

Big News in Washington, but Far Fewer Cover It  —  WASHINGTON — A new president arrived from a new party.  The balance of power shifted in Congress.  Legions of fresh new faces showed up in the nation's capital with new ideas, eager to upend the way the country does business.

Frigid Storm Closes California Freeways, Drops Snow in Malibu  —  LOS ANGELES — Snow snarled major mountain highways and even dusted Malibu on Wednesday as a cold storm hit parts of California.  One person was killed by a wind-related helicopter crash, and an overflowing river …

Questions That Are Too Hard for Me  —  Kevin Drum raises the specter of the trade deficit: … This goes back to the fraught issue of global savings imbalances.  For reasons that I don't think people understand very well, we not only have a number of high-savings perpetual-surplus countries …

Hold Your Horses, Minnesota  —  The State of Minnesota's Canvassing Board has finished adjudicating challenges brought to the Board by Al Franken.  They will begin evaluating challenges brought by Norm Coleman's campaign tomorrow.  —  The Star Tribune has logged 391 challenges made by the Franken campaign.