Before He Goes  —  What President Bush could accomplish in his final days in office.  —  Amid the cold gusts of winter, Republicans will soon be ushered out of power after controlling Congress, the White House, or both for 14 years.  Here's a further chilling thought: Since 1896 …

Mumbai Terrorist Siege Over, India Says  —  MUMBAI, India — The full scope of the horror and desperation of the terrorist attack on Mumbai began to come into focus on Saturday after Indian commandos finally took control of the last nest of resistance.  —  The Mumbai police said Saturday afternoon …

Adviser Who Insulted Clinton Has Role in Transition  —  Samantha Power, the Harvard professor who was forced to resign from Barack Obama's presidential campaign last spring after calling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton “a monster,” is now advising the president-elect on transition matters relating …

Sarah Palin: A digital superstar  —  Three weeks after the Republican ticket suffered a sweeping defeat at the polls, Sarah Palin continues to dominate search engine queries, cable news and online video sites.  —  The only American politician who generates comparable interest is President-elect Barack Obama.

Bush Shows a Reflective Side to an Unusual Interviewer  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush has been described by his wife, Laura, as a man not comfortable with introspection.  But he opened up a bit in a recent interview, reflecting on life in office and beyond.

Nobody Could Have Predicted...  Robert Rubin speaks up for himself: … This seems like a pretty serious dodge here.  Presumably the reason the top executives at a giant financial services firm get paid such extravagant salaries is that it's their job to be prepared for the stuff that “nobody” is prepared for.

Bush Through the Obama Prism  —  I think Obama may do more for George Bush's reputation than anyone thinks.  —  I've collated the dozens of articles from liberal thinkers that explain why so far Obama—the candidate of hope and change, and cleaning out the entrenched status quo that so warps …

What's next for the GOP?  —  People usually think more about what went right and what went wrong after a loss than after a victory.  Accordingly, Republicans will have a lot of thinking time over the holidays.  —  We would be wise to start with the bblical notion of first taking the log …

Sought: Wal-Mart shoppers who trampled NY worker  —  NEW YORK - Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Obama's Good Students  —  A dissent on the ‘valedictocracy’.  —  Last week the excellent David Brooks, in one of his columns in the New York Times, exulted over the high quality of people President-elect Barack Obama was enlisting in his new cabinet and onto his staff.

The Krugman Recipe for Depression  —  Massive government spending is no solution to unemployment.  —  Paul Krugman of the New York Times has been on the attack lately in regard to the New Deal.  His new book “The Return of Depression Economics,” emphasizes the importance of New Deal-style spending.

National Security Pick: From a Marine to a Mediator  —  WASHINGTON — James L. Jones, a retired four-star general, was among a mostly Republican crowd watching a presidential debate in October when Barack Obama casually mentioned that he got a lot of his advice on foreign policy from General Jones.

The Obamas: A more perfect union  —  First Couple-to-be could be relationship role models for nation, experts say  —  It started with the fist bump seen 'round the world.  Soon there were stories of rousing family Scrabble battles and date nights, in spite of election mayhem.