Obama Dines With Conservative Opinion Leaders  —  It's true.  —  He motorcaded to a house in Maryland this evening, and if the press pool report is accurate, he is breaking bread with William Kristol and David Brooks.  (If Brooks and Kristol seem to be unusually briefed about Obama's thinking, you'll know why.)

Senators Raise Questions About Geithner's Nomination at Treasury  —  Sen. Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is raising questions about a housekeeper who worked briefly for Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner without proper immigration papers …

Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official  —  Trial Overseer Cites ‘Abusive’ Methods Against 9/11 Suspect  —  The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned …

Obama backed same-sex marriage in 1996  —  A document has emerged suggesting that Obama had taken more public, liberal stands in the past than had been revealed in the digging of reporters and opposition researchers over two years of campaigning, the latest of several pointing to a rightward shift as he moved into national politics.

Australia offers ‘best job in world’ on paradise island  —  SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls “the best job in the world” — earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.  —  The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars …

Obama Issues First Veto Threat  —  President-elect Barack Obama made his first veto threat Tuesday in a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats.  Obama told his former colleagues that if Congress passes a resolution blocking release of the second half of the financial bailout funds he will veto it …

Palin slams ‘bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie’  —  (CNN) — Sarah Palin fired a new salvo in her war on the media, unloading in a new interview on her home state paper and “bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie.”  —  The Alaska governor, who has granted a steady stream …

Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown  —  The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all.  —  A high-profile task force created by 49 state attorneys general to find a solution to the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded …

CANADA VOTES AGAINST RESOLUTION  —  Yesterday, Canada was the sole member of the UN Human Rights Council to vote against a resolution, which passed in a 33-1 vote, condemning Israel over its actions in Gaza.  —  The vote crystallized Canada's emergence under Stephen Harper's government as one of Israel's firmest supporters.

Europe baffled by broken gas promises  —  By Isabel Gorst in Moscow, Joshua Chaffin in Brussels and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev  —  The bitter gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine descended into near-chaos on Tuesday, leaving European Union diplomats baffled as promises to restart supplies fully …

My Dinners with Dubya  —  When a college drinking buddy invited C. Brian Smith to hang out with her parents, he tried not to sweat the fact that they lived in the White House.  He even had fun—until 9/11 made watching bad movies with the president feel like a guilty pleasure America couldn't afford.

Nazi?  You?  —  Ever thought about how you would have reacted had you lived in Nazi Germany?  Ronald Bailey reflects on a famous experiment that meant to discover whether it could happen here, in America.  His conclusion is instructive: … In other words, American culture …

Bush appointee saw Justice lawyers as ‘commies,’ ‘crazy libs,’ report says  —  Bradley Schlozman, who supervised civil rights and voting rights lawyers, broke the law by considering political affiliations in deciding who can serve, an inspector general's report says.

Video: Freudian slip of the day  —  Slog through the interminable platitudes of her prepared remarks or WaPo's joyless running account of the Q&A and you'll see that this really was the most interesting thing said all day.  Somehow the closing of Guantanamo and what it would mean …