Stocks Hit Record Lows & More

AP: A relentless sell-off in the stock market Monday blew through barriers that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago, and investors warned there was no reason to believe buyers will return anytime soon.  The Dow finished below 7,000 for the first time since 1997.  More...

WSJ: The stock slide that pushed indexes to new 12-year lows picked up speed in the afternoon on fears that economic recovery may still be a long way off. The Dow has fallen 7,401.24 points from the October 2007 record, a 52% drop.  More...

Reuters: U.S. companies, consumers and communities may grow so addicted to government financial help that cutting them off could trigger another recession soon after the current one ends.  More...

WSJ: Brutal February for blue chips.  More...

Times: Brown woos Obama on global deal.  More...

IHT: Economic crisis threatens the idea of one Europe.  More...

RNIA: Obama ready to drop shield plans for Russian help on Iran.  More...

CBS: Jewis leaders blast Clinton of Israel criticism.  More...

WSJ: Tough questions dog healthcare overhaul.  More...

FoxNews: Chicago man arrested for allegedly targeting Obama with HIV-infected blood.  More...

SF Chronicle: U.S. to yield marijuana jurisdiction to states.  More...

WND: Radio chip coming soon to your driver's license?  More...

BBC: Designer baby row over US clinic.  More...

The Sun: Scumdad Millionaire.  More...

ANI: Eastwood thinks political correctness has made society humourless.  More...

OPINION:

Kudlow: Obama declares war on investors, entrepreneurs, businesses, and more.   More...

WSJ: The Obama revolution- paid for by the people.  More...

Krauthammer: The Obamaist Manifesto.  More...

Brooks: A Moderate Manifesto.  More...

Morris: Obama's budget dooms his recovery plan.  More...

Heritage: The Obama tax and spend economy is here.  More...

Brooks: The uncertain trumpet.  More...

Limbaugh: It just keeps getting worse.  More...

WSJ: Obama's Bush vindication- the President's good turn on Iraq.  More...

WSJ: Declining Defense- Obama's budget does cut one federal department.  More...

Moore: 'Atlas Shrugged'- from fiction to fact in 52 years.  More...

Congressman Ryan: A Republican road to economic recovery.  More...

The Fix: Ten Republicans to watch.  More...

Noonan: Obama dons the presidential cloak.  More...

Fleming: Was George W. Bush the worst president?  More...

Ryall: Our hail mary pass- why we ran the "Godless" ad.  More...

Louis CK: Comedian talks to Conan about our spoiled generation.  Video

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Transition from W to O

NYT: The thaw in the resentful relationship between the most powerful woman in the Democratic Party and her younger male rival began at the party's convention this summer.  By this past Thursday, when Obama reassured Clinton that she would have direct access to him and could select her own staff as secretary of state, the wooing was complete.  More... 

NYT: With the financial crisis looming as a priority of his term, President-elect Barack Obama sought to put his imprint on efforts to stem the turmoil as he introduced his economic team on Monday.  More...

Politico: President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors.  More...

Fix: The great thing about elections is that as soon as the last one ends, the next one begins.  We are going to start ranking the 10 Republicans to keep an eye on over the coming months and years.  More...

WSJ: With sports fans still getting used to their high-definition television sets, the National Football League is already thinking ahead to the next potential upgrade: 3-D.  More...

OPINION

Romney: If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye.  More...

Friedman: This is the real “Code Red.” As one banker remarked to me: “We finally found the W.M.D.” They were buried in our own backyard — subprime mortgages and all the derivatives attached to them.  More...

Rove: A Way Out of the Wilderness- We've been walloped in consecutive elections, but we can't just dwell on the past. The future is already here.  More...

Rove: History Favors Republicans in 2010- The 2008 election numbers are not as stark as the results.  More...

The Sit Down & More

Reuters: U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and vanquished rival John McCain met for the first time since the November 4 election on Monday, pledging to work together to face the financial crisis and other national challenges.  More...

Friedman: And so it came to pass that on Nov. 4, 2008, shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern time, the American Civil War ended, as a black man — Barack Hussein Obama — won enough electoral votes to become president of the United States.  More...

Times: Barack Obama is warned to beware of a ‘huge threat’ from al-Qaeda.  He is being given ominous advice from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to brace himself for an early assault from terrorists.  More...

WP: District and federal officials are preparing for as many as 4 million people for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, a crowd that would be three or four times larger than previous big events on the Mall.  Only a fraction of those people will be close enough to get a good look at the action. But officials are planning extra JumboTrons at the Mall and along the inaugural parade route so that spectators can feel a part of the historic day.  More...

Politico: Hillary Rodham Clinton isn’t certain she would accept the Secretary of State post even if Barack Obama offers it to her, several people close to the former first lady say.  Press reports that portray Clinton as willing to accept the job – once the Obama transition team vets Bill Clinton’s philanthropic and business ventures – are inaccurate, one Clinton insider told Politico.  More... 

AP: Iraq's Cabinet overwhelmingly approved a security pact with the United States on Sunday, ending prolonged negotiations to allow American forces to remain for three more years in the country they first occupied in 2003.  More...

Cook: What did we learn from this election? The results certainly confirmed that Republicans are demoralized. We also learned that there are two Souths. There is a "New South," which includes Virginia, North Carolina, and, to a lesser extent, Georgia. In this South, which has lots of suburbs, transplants, and younger college graduates, Obama and other Democrats won or ran well above the norm for their party.  More...

Friedman: Barack Obama surely has one of the toughest leadership challenges any incoming president has ever faced.  Now is when we need a president who has the skill, the vision and the courage to cut through this cacophony, pull us together as one nation and inspire and enable us to do the one thing we can and must do right now: Go shopping.  More...

WSJ: The chief executives of Detroit's Big Three auto makers appealed in dire language for U.S. taxpayers to help their industry, but couldn't dispel doubts in Congress that have clouded prospects for a government-led rescue.  More...

Roll Call: After much speculation that his failed presidential bid would be his last campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has decided to run for re-election to his Senate seat in 2010.  More...

N&O: A U.S. Senate seat representing North Carolina is looking like an increasingly rickety political perch these days.  Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole's loss to Democratic challenger Kay Hagan is only the most recent failure of an incumbent to win a second term.  More...

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BREAKING: Hillary Will Be Secretary of State

Guardian: Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.

Obama's advisers have begun looking into Bill Clinton's foundation, which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development, to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. But Democrats do not believe that the vetting is likely to be a problem.

Clinton would be well placed to become the country's dominant voice in foreign affairs, replacing Condoleezza Rice. Since being elected senator for New York, she has specialised in foreign affairs and defence. Although she supported the war in Iraq, she and Obama basically agree on a withdrawal of American troops.  More...

Clinton Possible Secretary of State & More

NYT: The end of the presidential campaign seemed to signal the completion of the Obama-Clinton drama. But now it turns out there could be a surprise ending.  Advisers to the onetime rivals for the Democratic nomination confirmed Friday that President-elect Barack Obama had met with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday afternoon at Mr. Obama’s transition office in Chicago and discussed the secretary of state job.  The prospect of Mrs. Clinton as secretary of state, perhaps the most prestigious cabinet position in any administration, sent people buzzing.  More...

WP: 5 Myths About an Election of Mythical Proportions... The 2008 presidential election ended less than two weeks ago, but the mythmaking machine has already begun to churn. President-elect Barack Obama transformed the face of the electorate! The Republican Party will be a miserable minority in Congress for the next century! Cats and dogs are now living together! We explode the five biggest myths that have already sprung up around the election that was.  More...

NYT: Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry.  Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65 days.  More...

WSJ: Global leaders showed a united front against the financial crisis at an emergency summit here Saturday, but offered mostly promises of future cooperation to nudge the world out of its economic funk.  More...

AP: Senate will debate $25 billion bailout of the auto industry Monday.  More...

WP: The day after the 2008 election ended, the 2010 cycle began for political junkies.  A quick glance at the playing field, however, suggests that Republicans could -- yet again -- be in for a difficult time in 2010.  More...

Dome: Is U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler gearing up for 2010?  The Waynesville Democrat told the Hendersonville Times-News that he hasn't ruled out running against Sen. Richard Burr in two years.  More...