The latest political news from newspapers and news magazines.  For more news, see Yahoo Political News and Digg's Top Ten below the headlines.

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November 21, 2008.

Washington Post:  financial system has a relapse.

New York TimesCitigroup has lost half its stock value in four days. 

ButAsian & European markets up on rumor that Citigroup is for sale & cheap commodities.

Wall Street JournalVerizon employees breached Obama's cellphone account.  (And yours, too?)

Mike Allen of Politico says two senior Obama aides confirm that Obama is "on track" to appoint Hillary Clinton Secretary of State after Thanksgiving.  AP story here.

But...Peter Baker & Helene Cooper of the New York Times:  Senate Democratic leaders are considering a leadership role for Clinton.

Washington Post:  Attorney General Mukasey collapses, is hospitalized.

November 20, 2008.

Helene Cooper of the New York Times:  Delay in decision over the Clinton appointment is holding up other Obama appointments. 

Reuters:  Barack Obama sends Rahm Emanuel to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican Senate and House leaders to enlist their help in solving the problems the nation faces. 

Washington Post: Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac will suspend mortgage foreclosures and evictions until after the first of the year.

New York Times: after bobbling between positive and negative territories all day, the markets took a swan dive in the closing hour. The Dow closed down about 444 points, or more than 5%, to its lowest point in nearly six years.

Washington Post: the Congress won't provide any rescue money for automakers this week, but may take up the issue again in December. "Until they show us a plan, we cannot show them the money," said Nancy Pelosi.

New York Times: in what may prove to be a major repudiation of the Bush Administration, a federal judge today ordered the release of five Guantanamo detainees.

Washington Post: environmentalist Henry Waxman defeats John Dingall to become chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

CNBC: Oil at $50/bbl and heading lower.

AP: U.S. jobless rate hits 16-year high.

Neil Irwin & David Cho of the Washington Post: key indicators show deep recession.

New York Times: with pension funds already weakened by the recession, some pension companies want Congress to roll back Congressional requirements to keep them solvent.

Boston Globe: Senator John Kerry is poised to take over the committee that brought him to national attention.

International Herald-Tribune: Iran now has enough material to build one nuclear bomb.

Peter Baker & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: Hillary hoohah and more: Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona may be named Homeland Security Secretary and Penny Pritzker, a Chicago businesswoman and longtime Obama backer, may be Commerce Secretary.

     Update:  MSNBC says Penny Pritzker says she's out; Laura Tyson, who served in the Clinton Administration, may be candidate for Commerce Secretary.

Dana Milbank: Congressmen have a field day slamming richy-rich auto execs who'd come begging for more.

Los Angeles Times: debates on how to battle high-seas piracy.

Annette Gordon-Reed won the National Book Award for nonfiction for The Hemingses of Monticello. The report names other National Book Award winners, including Peter Matthiessen for fiction. The National Book Award, though not too well-known among the public, is considered by many to be the most prestigious American literary prize.

 

Talking Points Memo's Day in 100 Seconds: 

 

Remainders

The New Yorker has three very good long pieces, by Editor David Remnick on race and the campaign, by George Packer on how the economic downturn can usher in a new liberalism, and by Ryan Lizza on how Obama won.

Link to Chapter 1 of Newsweek's in-depth story of the presidential campaign. The links to all chapters appear on the page. (This is a piece you might prefer to read in hard copy, but if you want to read it on-line, you can adjust the type size of the content.)

Obama's new website is Change.gov.

Newsweek has some nice photo galleries here. And here's a link to 82 behind-the-scenes election night photos by Obama's long-time photographer David Katz.

Los Angeles Times: how to get inaugural tickets.

Or, if you're looking for a job in the Obama-Biden Administration, you can start here.  The "Plum Book" is a primary source for folks looking for government jobs.

Quote of the Day: "Thus far, the bailout has been a disaster, in keeping with the Bush practice of abject incompetence in everything they touch — a final kiss-off from The Decider." -- Timothy Egan, New York Times blogger

Quote of Yesteday: "There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington D.C. and people coming off them with tin cups in their hands.... It's almost like seeing people showing up at the soup kitchens in high hats and tuxedos." -- Congressman Gary Ackerman to heads of the big 3 automakers who jetted into town -- separately -- to seek federal loans

Quote of Yesteryear: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" -- John Kerry to Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 22, 1971

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Michael Martinez produced this exceptional campaign montage.  I don't know who the performer is, but I've written to Martinez to find out. (If you know, please let me know. Thanks.)

Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes interviews Barack & Michelle Obama:


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Watch CBS Videos Online

Transcript of the interview here.  The Obamas' appearance gave 60 Minutes its highest rating in nine years.

Mostly MSM

Paul Krugman: absent governmental leadership, the economic crisis grows worse. "And it’s scary to think how much more can go wrong before Inauguration Day."

But...Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal says economic crisis is an opportunity for Obama.

David Brooks:  Hey, Obama IS an elitist!  And that's a good thing. 

Dana Milbank: the Senate bids goodbye to Felonious Ted -- and to the old gentlemen's club.

E. J. Dionne wonders about the future ofObama's vast left-wing grassroots network and how it might be best utilized.

     Constant Weader: maybe we in the vast wing will decide.

Francis X. Clines of the New York Times on the Inauguration.

Behaviorial scientist Dan Ariely proves big bonuses are bad for business.

Another historian, James Oakes, takes on the "mythology" of Lincoln's so-called"team of rivals."

Rosa Brooks of the Los Angeles Times looks at a few of the hundreds of land mines Bush is leaving for Obama.

New York Times Editorial Board: the Electoral College isn't just undemocratic, it's a vestige of appeasement ofslave states. Now's the time to get rid of it.

Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post: taxpayers are getting chumped.

This is hilarious. Mitt Romney, who won the Michigan primary by pandering to the auto industry and its employees, now writes an op-ed piece in the New York Times in which he advises, "Let Detroit go bankrupt."

Here's Mitt last spring promising to save Michigan (about 1:24 in):

Kathleen Parker dares to mention the elephant in the room: "... the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party...."

Maureen Dowd has her way with the Clintons. Again.

Peter Beinart of Time on the death and rebirth of American liberalism.

Not Exactly the News

Pamela Hess of the AP on the Global Trends 2025 report, which presents some interesting scenarios.  (Story links to the report, which I can't pick up today because my pop-up blocker is popping up in inappropriate places.)

Shailagh Murray & Chris Cillizza of the Washington PostObama team leaks disrupt game plans.

Dan Eggen of the Washington Post Bush does an about-face on the economy.

The Christian right, their national clout diminished, takes on Republicans at the state level, including Arnold Schwartenegger for his support of same-sex marriage.

Tom Kizzia of the Anchorage Daily News"the rise and fall of Ted Stevens."

Having Little or Nothing to Do with Politics:  Okay, maybe I picked up on this Newsweek story on urban egg farming for its title -- "the new coop de ville" -- but I have raised chickens for eggs and I recommend it to anyone who never leaves home. 

Entertainment News

TV Newser reports that E.D. Hill's contract at Fox News won't be renewed.  Could it be that her describing the Obamas' victory pop as a "terrorist fist jab" is not good for business?  Maybe even Fox execs consider it imprudent to suggest the future President and First Lady are terrorists.

2012? Another Republican also-ran slams his opponents and their supporters. Golly, Mike, is that what Jesus would do?

James Poniewozik of Time reviews "Meet the Obamas!"

Link to the Huffington Post's Late-Nite Jokes of the Week for the week ending Novemer 15.

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Linkenblogs

 

To view Election Results, click on the Election Results! link on the navigation bar below the masthead.  To view news about Obama Cabinet and staff appointments, click on White House/ Cabinet link on the navigation bar.  Click on Linkenblogs to return to the main page.

New stories in Election Results! & in White House/Cabinet Appointments today.

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Jay Leno likes to say Washington is Hollywood for ugly people.  Not any more.

 Getty Photo. 

Christopher Beam of Slate:  Henry Waxman's victory over John Dingall is a boon to the Obama Administration, which may have had a hand in the changeover.

Jonathan Martin of PoliticoObama irks NRA with Question #59.

The Constant Weader is way too classy to publish a video of Sarah Palin giving a press conference while men behind her -- and in camera range -- slaughter turkeys.  But the CW is not too squeamish to link to the video.  Palin, who had just "pardoned" one turkey, was reportedly okay with the scenic backdrop.

Gosh, looks like Treasury -- and therefore, we taxpayers -- got chumped again.  A South Carolina banker walks out the door with $18 million days before Treasury gives his bank $347 million bailout bucks. 

Senator Russ Feingold in SalonBush pardons of Administration wrongdoers would be unpardonable.

CNN Money:  with bailout prospects fading for automakers, GM finds another way to get under the TARP. 

Timothy Egan, blogging for the New York Times, on bailout fatigue.

The very clever Rick Hertzberg proves that Palinistas are pro-choice.

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post on the Obama transition sieve.

Ben Smith of Politico has a smart, (unintentionally?) funny column about the potential risks Hillary and her baggage (a/k/a Bill) present to the Obama Administration. 

Andy Borowitz is concerned about Obama's controversial tendency to speak in complete sentences.  He cites Sarah Palin's objection (at least it seems to be an objection -- hard to tell). 

Odious Joe tells Glenn Thrush of Politico that the Democratic caucus didn't sanction him; he gave up his subcommittee seat instead "in the spirit of cooperation."  Other Senators and aides disagreed.  CW:  are there any adjectives derogatory enough to describe Joe Lieberman?

Greg Sargent of Talking Points Memo: Obama appointments and other signals give healthcare reform advocates hope for early action.

The Hartford Courant is running a survey question:  "Do you think the Senate Democrats acted appropriately?" re:  Lieberman.  Please take a moment to vote here.

Natalie Sherman of Talking Points Memo searches the Eric Holder public record and finds he's no Gonzo.

Stan Simpson of the Hartford Courant on Lieberman & the Democratic "wimps" in the Senate. 

Jane Hamsher of the Nation pushes back against the Romney, Will, et al., advocates for letting U.S. automakers fall into bankruptcy.

Glenn Greenwald of Salon: the Senate (and Obama) betray their base.

Joan Walsh of Salon Pat Buchanan treats the left with more respect than do Senate Democrats.

Eamon Javers of Politico:  how Rahm got rich -- quick

Kenneth Vogel of Politico Hillary Clinton's campaign owes vendors $7.6 million.  Will she effectively declare bankruptcy?

Ted Kennedy offers Hillary Clinton a good job, too.

Here's NBC's report on Somalii piracy:

The Newt bangs the cultural war drum loudly, claiming, "there's a gay and secular fascism... that wants to impose its will on the rest of us...."  That's the future of the Republican party, folks.

Sam Stein of the Huffington Post reports on retiring Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, unleashed!

Marc Ambinder says the Obama transition chief John Podesta has laid down the law to leakers.

President-Elect Obama speaks to attendees of the Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles.

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz for Mother Jones on what the Bush years really cost

Jonathan Chait of the New Republic on the Obama mandate.

Christopher Hayes of the Nation on why Clinton's Treasury A-Team (Rubin & Summers) should not be reinstalled at Treasury.  And who should.

Glenn Greenwald:  Democratic leaders think angering their base is a good thing.

     Constant Weader:  that might be politic when they're in the minority, not so true when their base is the majority.  These old boys are none to quick to notice the times, they are a'changin'.

Doug Adams of NBC speculates on why Joe Biden hasn't resigned his Senate seat.

Rejoice!  Some recession news to savor.  The hard-right evangelical thugocracy Focus on the Family is laying off more than 200 employees, representing about 17.5% of their staff.

Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:  Treasury Secretary Paulson says he is likely to leave Obama with a chunk o'bailout change.

Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Obama taps his database to help victims of California fires; speaks to Gov. Schwartzenegger & LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic demonstrates how Sarah Palin is an apt role model for Alaska's educational system (ranked dead last on a couple of parameters).  Best line:  "...her youngest daughter, Piper, missed school all fall because she was being carted around the country in Neiman-Marcus underwear." 

Walter Shapiro of Salon interviews Bill Ayers.  CW:  Ayers makes plenty of excuses, most of them unconvincing.

Newsweek has a preview of its commemorative issue celebrating "Obama's American Dream."  The preview doesn't say much but has some excellent photographs.  (The audio comes on automatically, but you can turn it off at the right corner above the picture.)

CBS News:  the Bush Administration's Bureau of Land Management will hold what National Parks officials and environmentalists call a "shocking and disturbing" "fire sale" of oil and gas rights in national parklands in the West, compromising natural landmarks and wildlife habitats and spoiling pristine views. 

Obama on Faith. One of the more fascinating interviews of a public person I have read.