Unraveling The Mystery Of Clinton's Secret Chicago Trip  —  On Wednesday, the call came in from Chicago: President-elect Obama wanted to meet with Sen. Clinton, in private, the next day.  —  According to Democratic sources, Clinton disclosed the information to only three people and swore them to secrecy.

Sen. Carper: Lieberman should pay consequences  —  Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a close ally of Sen. Joe Lieberman, said the Connecticut Independent should pay a price for his campaign attacks against President-elect Barack Obama.  —  “There need to be consequences, and they cannot be insignificant …

More layoffs at Focus on the Family  —  Focus on the Family founder and president James Dobson.  (Photo/Focus on the Family)  —  UPDATE: Focus on the Family announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide.  Initial reports bring the total number of employees to around 950.

Chaos In San Francisco As Anti-Gay Christianists Are Chased Out Of The Castro  —  On Friday night, police in riot gear had to rush to the Castro District to protect a group of Christianists seeking to convert gays. … The Justice House of Prayer posted the above video on YouTube under their username …

SEC Files Insider Trading Charges Against Mark Cuban  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  2008-273  —  Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Dallas entrepreneur Mark Cuban with insider trading for selling 600,000 shares of the stock …

Obama Meets With McCain in Chicago  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain agreed on Monday, in their first meeting since the election, to work together on some of the nation's most pressing challenges, from the financial crisis to national security problems.

Huck unloads on Mitt; Romney camp hits back  —  Mike Huckabee is using his new book, out this week, to settle a few scores, not the least of which is with his fierce primary rival, Mitt Romney.  —  Per Michael Scherer, Huckabee picks up where he left off earlier this year …

California Fires Rage As Gay Marriage Protesters Defy God  —  God keeps trying to get their attention.  They, for their part, are shouting so loud for the acceptance of homosexuality, that they cannot hear the thunderous warnings of God: “Repent!  For the judgment comes soon!”

Obama interview sets ‘60 Minutes’ viewership record  —  Barack Obama's first televised post-election interview gave Sunday night's “60 Minutes” its biggest audience in at least nine years.  —  The CBS News program was seen by 24.5 million viewers and earned a 6.4 preliminary adults 18-49 rating.

Bush Said to Tell Aides He Won't Seek Bailout Funds  —  Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) — The Bush administration told congressional aides it won't ask lawmakers to release $350 billion remaining as part of the $700 billion U.S. financial- rescue package, people familiar with the matter said.

At National Review, a Threat to Its Reputation for Erudition  —  In a span of 252 days, the National Review lost two Buckleys — one to death, another to resignation — and an election.  —  Now, thanks to the coarsening effect of the Internet on political discourse, the magazine …

A Giddy Sense of Boosterism  —  Perhaps it was the announcement that NBC News is coming out with a DVD titled “Yes We Can: The Barack Obama Story.”  Or that ABC and USA Today are rushing out a book on the election.  Or that HBO has snapped up a documentary on Obama's campaign.

EXCLUSIVE: Cantor says GOP is no longer ‘relevant’  —  Urges real solutions on health care, economy  —  Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, poised to ascend to House Republicans' No. 2 leader this week, said the Republican Party in Washington is no longer “relevant” to voters and must stop simply espousing principles.

The Thrill of Defeat  —  Let's call John Kerry's loss in 2004 what it is: the luckiest thing to happen to Democrats in 40 years.  —  After the 2004 presidential election Democrats were crushed.  Four more years of George W. Bush seemed unthinkable, disastrous.

SOUP WITH PRINCE  —  The thirty-thousand-square-foot Italianate villa, built this century by Vanna White's ex-husband, looks like many of the other houses in Beverly Park, a gated community in L.A., except for the bright-purple carpet that spills down the front steps to announce its new tenant: Prince.

Bailing Out in the Real World  —  I feel like some of the commentary on the prospect of an auto industry bailout is starting to remind me of some of the stuff I fell for before we invaded Iraq.  The kind of thing where someone yes, “yes this sounds like a bad idea, but if we do it like this …

Gingrich: “[T]here is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us” … On the November 14 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, in reference to actions by individual protesters of Proposition 8, the recently passed California ballot initiative amending …

BIDEN AIMING TO KEEP SEAT IN FAMILY?  —  From NBC's Doug Adams  —  With President-elect Obama having resigned his Senate seat yesterday, folks may be wondering about what Vice President-elect Biden might do.  —  Biden told a local TV station right before Election Day he didn't want to resign …