From the White House Briefing Room, a Swan Song  —  President Bush's last press conference opened with cordial words for the reporters who have covered his remarkable eight years in office.  —  Acknowledging that relations have been strained at times - that some had “misunderestimated me …

Portman running to succeed Voinovich  —  Former Republican congressman Rob Portman will announce that he is running for the Senate soon after Ohio Sen. George Voinovich's retirement announcement, according to multiple Republican sources.  —  Portman's official announcement is expected to take place on Wednesday.

House Republicans Invite Obama to Address Them  —  House Republicans have invited President-elect Barack Obama to speak before the entire GOP conference, hoping to set a different tone to the partisan wars of the last two years in which congressional Democrats battled President Bush.

RNC Chair Candidate: “Homosexuality is a compulsion that can be contained, repressed or changed.”  —  Yes, that's what Ken Blackwell, the sketchy former Ohio Secretary of State who now has a good shot at running the Republican National Committee, told me a few months back, among some other very interesting and kooky things.

Iran warns Hamas not to accept Egyptian truce proposal  —  Iran is exerting heavy pressure on Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, an Egyptian government official said on Sunday.  —  The official told The Jerusalem Post by phone that two senior Iranian officials …

Obama climate czar has socialist ties  —  Group sees ‘global governance’ as solution  —  Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society …

NYT reporter warns of one-term Obama  —  White House reporters for The New York Times predict that the market collapse will force President-elect Barack Obama to abandon for now many of his campaign promises.  —  If his stimulus plan “doesn't work out, he may very well be a one-term president …

The bleeping Golden Globes  —  Some of the acceptance speeches were saltier than usual this year, thanks to Mickey Rourke, Tina Fey and others.  —  The Golden Globes are supposed to be loose, but so loose that it could spur FCC sanctions?  The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn …

A COUPLE IN CHICAGO … MICHELLE OBAMA: There is a strong possibility that Barack will pursue a political career, although it's unclear.  There is a little tension with that.  I'm very wary of politics.  I think he's too much of a good guy for the kind of brutality, the skepticism.

Ideas for Obama  —  Last week President-elect Barack Obama was asked to respond to critics who say that his stimulus plan won't do enough to help the economy.  Mr. Obama answered that he wants to hear ideas about “how to spend money efficiently and effectively to jump-start the economy.”

Obama Plans to Keep Estate Tax  —  Democrats Want to Freeze Levy at Current Levels Instead of Letting It Expire Next Year  —  President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders plan to move soon to block the estate tax from disappearing in 2010, suggesting the levy might outlive the …

Gay bishop will open inaugural weekend  —  The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop in 2003, will deliver the invocation for Sunday's kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said.

Continuity We Can Believe In  —  Barack Obama made news Sunday on ABC's “This Week”: The White House dog will likely be a Labradoodle or a Portuguese water dog.  —  I've got to say I'm a little disappointed.  These are nice, friendly, generally obedient breeds (or in the case of the Labradoodle, a crossbreed).

Land mines ahead for Hillary  —  Hillary Clinton, ever the preparation junkie, is cramming for Tuesday's confirmation hearing — intent on downplaying old disagreements with Barack Obama and parrying questions about her husband's overseas entanglements, aides say.

THE BEAST 50 MOST LOATHSOME PEOPLE IN AMERICA, 2008  —  50. Barack Obama  —  Charges: Beyond a few token acts of bipartisan marketing, Barry's major duty in the Senate was to avoid legislating, so he could pretend Washington-outsider status and nullify attacks on his non-existent policy positions.

An inside story of how the US magnified Palestinian suffering  —  The covert push to empower Fatah failed.  And isolating Hamas just made things worse.  But it's not too late to change course.  —  CHERRYFIELD, MAINE; AND WASHINGTON -  —  A million and a half Palestinians are learning …