Exclusive: Obama's Blago Report: Only One Rahm Call to Governor  —  Sources tell me that the Obama team's review of contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will show that Rahm Emanuel had only one phone conversation with Blagojevich.  —  The contact, described as a “pro-forma” …

Cheney: I told Leahy to ‘f*ck’ himself because ‘I thought he merited it.’  —  This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Vice President Cheney about his now infamous June 2004 exchange with Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), when he told Leahy to “f*ck yourself.”

Birth Of The Professional Obama Haters  —  Every President has had his contingent of seemingly professional haters, sometimes stemming from policy but sometimes stemming from the need to market an opposition persona, increase readership or an audience, or rally partisan followers to do battle to halt specific polices.

Biden to oversee efforts aimed at middle class  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - As vice president, Joe Biden will oversee an Obama administration effort to find ways of building up the ranks of the middle class, that ambiguously defined segment of society most Americans identify with.

Illinois governor seems to be growing stronger  —  Igot a call from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich the other day.  The first thing I said to him was, “You know, this call is probably being taped.”  —  Blagojevich said he had read my column in The Chronicle last week, in which I raised questions about the …

Bush attacker ‘incensed by bullet-riddled Koran’  —  THE young Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President George W Bush had been incensed by a story he covered about an American soldier who used a copy of the Koran for target practice, according to his family.

Police raid Iran Nobel Laureate's office  —  Iranian police Sunday raided and closed the office of a watchdog group led by Iran's Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi ahead of a celebration to mark International Human Rights Day.  —  Iran's judiciary confirmed the closure …

Bush E-Mails May Be Secret a Bit Longer  —  Legal Battles, Technical Difficulties Delay Required Transfer to Archives  —  The required transfer in four weeks of all of the Bush White House's electronic mail messages and documents to the National Archives has been imperiled by a combination …

Making Congress Moot  —  A new Capitol Visitor Center recently opened, just in time for the transformation of the Capitol building into a tomb for the antiquated idea that the legislative branch matters.  The center is supposed to enhance the experience of visitors to Congress, although why there are visitors is a mystery.

AP study finds $1.6B went to bailed-out bank execs  —  Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals.  —  The rewards came even at banks where poor results …