Modern Flourishes at Obamas' State Dinner  —  WASHINGTON — It is an old tradition, a White House dinner governed by ritual and protocol that happens to be this city's hottest social event.  But at their first state dinner on Tuesday night, President Obama and his wife, Michelle …

ABC announces Oprah-Obama Christmas special  —  The queen of daytime will interview the president of the country during an ABC holiday special that brings together Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.  —  The network has announced “Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special,” …

Google won't exclude distorted Michelle Obama image from its site  —  ‘We have, in general, a bias toward free speech,’ a Google spokesman says, explaining that offensiveness alone is not a reason to remove the image from the search index.  —  A crudely altered photograph of Michelle Obama …

Dobbs Reaches Out to Latinos  —  Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, pondering a future in politics, is trying to wipe away his image as an enemy of Latino immigrants by positioning himself as a champion of that fast-growing ethnic bloc.  —  Mr. Dobbs, who left the network last week …

Phil Carter's resignation from key detainee policy post  —  Phillip Carter is a lawyer, a former Army Captain, a veteran of the Iraq War and a very harsh critic of the Bush administration's detention and interrogation policies.  He was a vigorous supporter of Barack Obama's campaign …

How a letter from 1964 shows what's wrong with the Senate today  —  One of the challenges in arguing about the use of the filibuster is that the filibuster has changed drastically in recent decades, but it's done so quietly.  Quietly enough that people don't really understand that it's changed at all.

Help Wanted, No Private Sector Experience Required  —  A friend sends along the following chart from a J.P. Morgan research report.  It examines the prior private sector experience of the cabinet officials since 1900 that one might expect a president to turn to in seeking advice about helping the economy.

Palin Suggests Reforming Canada's Universal Health Care System: ‘Let The Private Sector Take Over’  —  Canadian comedian Mary Walsh (playing the character of Marg Delahunty) attended a Sarah Palin book signing in the United States last week and asked the “thrilla from Wasilla, the Alaskan Aphrodite” …

Brooks' Error  —  Yesterday's David Brooks column featured an interesting, but factually inaccurate, critique of health reform legislation: … I suppose his out here is the use of the word “could funnel” but you're clearly supposed to understand that as will funnel.

Palin: 'We'll see' about run with Beck  —  Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday did not rule out running for president alongside Fox News host Glenn Beck in 2012.  —  Palin was asked during an interview with Fox News's “Fox & Friends” about the chances that she …

The Uncertainty Economy  —  Tim Geithner is not the Democrats' biggest problem.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Preparing to write about yesterday's downward revision in third-quarter GDP, we were tempted to say the Obama Administration has hit a speed-bump on its promised exit out of the recession.

The behavioral economics of Thanksgiving  —  This column originally appeared in the Food section.  —  It happens every year.  It's not that you resolve to be virtuous on Thanksgiving, just reasonable.  Two plates of food, and no more.  One piece of pie, and that's enough.

REPORT: At Least 40 GOP Lawmakers Fail A Principle Of The ‘Purity Test’  —  Yesterday, Republican National Committee member Jim Bopp unveiled a resolution to deny funding of candidates who do not uphold right-wing conservative values.  The resolution, termed a “purity test,” …

Thanks for the Memories  —  At his Cabinet meeting Monday afternoon, President Obama took a moment to give thanks to his team.  —  Sipping a glass of water, the president offered special gratitude to the woman on his right.  —  “I advised this hard-working Cabinet to get a little bit of rest this week …