12/9 Roundup: Czarship, Damning Documents, The Nanny Senate

Politics

- President-Elect Barack Obama (or PEBO, as he is coming to be known), will meet with his eminence Albert Gore this morning. Climate change will top the agenda, but it doesn't seem that Gore is interested in any Cabinet position, Czarship, or Poobahdom.

- The insiders are pointing to Kevin Gover, the director of the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian.  As a member of the Pawnee tribe, Gover would be the first American Indian ever appointed to the cabinet.

- Caroline Kennedy has emerged as the frontrunner to take over Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, and with people like Michael Bloomberg and Uncle Ted shilling for her, her odds can't be bad. Richard Bradley at State doesn't think it's such a great idea.

Economy

- Congress is close to agreeing on a plan to bail out GM and Chrysler with $15 billion.  Ford has announced it will not be seeking short-term assistance.

- David Brooks has an oddly progressive column in the NY Times, calling for less of the stimulus package to be spent on old, 20th century infrastructure projects, and more on infrastructure that will make transportation networks more of a network, instead of a hub and spoke system. Additionally, he calls for the creation of socially sustainable suburban "town centers."

National

- Five Guantanamo detainees accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks said they would plead guilty to murder and war crimes, but then retracted the offer when they discovered they might not be sentenced to execution.

- Damning court documents were unsealed yesterday, detailing the government's case against the five Blackwater guards accused of opening fire on a crowded square in Baghdad and killing 17 civilians.

International

- Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan, has an Op-Ed in today's NY Times. He is at pains to argue that the Mumbai terrorists seek to undermine peace and stability in Pakistan, as well as India.

- Riots in Athens continue to get worse. With the funeral of the boy who was killed coming up soon, things may get worse before they get better.

One More Thing

- Karl Rove says he's going to "name names" in his new book of people who were "unrecieving" of President Bush.  Evidently, this is supposed to be a bad thing.

- The WaPo gives us the lo-down on inaugural balls. If you ask me, Tuesday, January 20th sounds like a great day to go visit your friends in not-DC.

- Fran Drescher would like to be appointed to the US Senate, please.  (Seriously)

- Last, ok, it's a slow news day. It's also a slow video day.  Here is a squirrel waterskiing: