Editors' Note  —  Earlier this morning, we posted a letter that was signed by Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris, sharply criticizing Caroline Kennedy.  —  This letter was a fake.  It should not have been published.  —  Doing so violated both our standards and our procedures in publishing signed letters from our readers.

Putting a CAP on Yglesias  —  It's been awhile since there's been a good, old fashioned “you can't do that in the blogosphere” controversy, but this morning Memeorandum brings us one in the form of a public rebuke to nomadic Center for American Progress (CAP) blogger Matthew Yglesias by CAP interim chief executive Jennifer Palmieri.

EXCLUSIVE Interview With Sarah Palin  —  “Thank you, sir.  It is an honor to be named your “Conservative of the Year.'”  —  That's how Sarah Palin began her third interview this year with HUMAN EVENTS Political Editor John Gizzi.  She spoke to Gizzi last April as the first of 16 Republicans …

With most ballot challenges settled, Franken leads by 48  —  With most ballot challenges settled, Democrat Al Franken holds a 48-vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in the U.S. Senate recount, according to a Star Tribune analysis of a draft report from the Secretary of State's office.

5 men convicted of conspiracy in Fort Dix plot  —  CAMDEN, N.J. - Five Muslim immigrants accused of scheming to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix were convicted of conspiracy Monday in a case that tested the FBI's post-Sept. 11 strategy of infiltrating and breaking up terrorist plots in their earliest stages.

Obama Shirtless In Hawaii (PHOTOS)  —  BAUER GRIFFIN'S SITE IS HAVING SOME TEMPORARY SERVER ISSUES, BUT KEEP TRYING FOR MORE PHOTOS  —  From Bauer Griffin: … Today's pool report (below) confirmed that the President-elect went to the gym despite being on vacation.

President Bush has an MRI on shoulder  —  Exam done while president visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed  —  WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush had an MRI of his left shoulder on Monday in an attempt to understand why he has experienced pain recently.

The top ten media blunders of 2008  —  The media took its share of lumps this year, with persistent claims of bias and complaints about often wrong-headed speculation from a seemingly endless parade of talking heads.  Of course, there was great reporting, with journalists breaking news …

Poll finds public split on Obama aides' contacts with Blagojevich  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new national poll indicates Americans are split on whether aides to President-elect Barack Obama did something inappropriate in their contacts with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

‘Watermelon Roll’: More Racism from ‘Team Sarah’  —  There is something very ugly happening out there in the hinterlands these days—a brewing cauldron of racist anger being directed at President-elect Barack Obama as he and his family get ready to move into the White House.

Toyota Expects Its First Loss in 70 Years  —  TOKYO — Toyota Motor, the Japanese auto giant, said Monday that it expected its first operating loss in 70 years, underscoring how the economic crisis was spreading across the global auto industry.  —  On Monday, Toyota said it expected …

Obama's Cabinet To The Right Of Democrats in Congress  —  In the 110th Congress, there were 236 Democrats in the U.S. House, 49 in the Senate, and two “Independents” who caucused with Democrats.  Of those 287 congresscritters, 74 were members of the New Democratic Coalition, which is affiliated with the DLC.

Washington Is Killing Silicon Valley  —  Entrepreneurship was taken for granted.  Now we're seeing a lot less of it.  —  Even as economic losses and unemployment levels mount, America's most effective engine for wealth and job creation is being dangerously — perhaps fatally — compromised.

Bush v. Gore Still Influencing Court Decisions  —  The Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, issued eight years ago this month, was widely understood to work like that tape recorder in “Mission: Impossible.”  It was meant to produce a president and then self-destruct.

Arabs lavish jewels on Secretary of State Rice  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's foreign policies may be unpopular in the Middle East, but Arab leaders showered his top diplomat with jewelry worth far more than a quarter of a million dollars last year.