The End of 2008: Air Raids in Gaza & More

Reuters: Israel Monday expanded its fiercest air offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in decades and prepared for a possible ground assault, after a three-day bombardment which has killed more than 300 Palestinians.  More...

AP: Investors are preparing to close out the last three trading days of 2008 with Wall Street's worst performance since Herbert Hoover was president.  More...

Politico: Stepping into deeper waters to help the auto industry, Treasury Monday night added $6 billion to the $17.4 billion bailout announced Dec. 19, chiefly to help the financial arm of General Motors Corp.  More...

WSJ: Top Republican lawmakers are positioning themselves for battle over President-elect Barack Obama's economic recovery plan, signaling Monday that they will cast themselves as guardians against excessive spending rather than outright opponents of the Democrats' stimulus package.  More...

Politico: The campaigns of Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Democrat Al Franken are far apart in resolving the thorny issue over counting absentee ballots in the disputed Minnesota Senate race.  More...

WSJ: Sen. Reid Hits the Ground Running in Uphill Re-Election Bid.  More...

WSJ: As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.  More...

AP: Mrs. Bush and Rice say Bush presidency not a failure.  More...

AP: Rice says Obama election encourages people worldwide.  More...

Politico: Top 10 Political Upsets of 2008.  More...

Telegraph: 2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved.  More...

Chinese Paper: Marked changes in world's political, economic landscape.  More...

Flying Shoes & No Bailout

Reuters: President George W. Bush made an unannounced farewell visit to Baghdad on Sunday, just weeks before he leaves office and bequeaths the unpopular Iraq war to President-elect Barack Obama.  More...

Politico: Welcome to Baghdad. An Iraqi reporter set off pandemonium Sunday by hurling two shoes at President Bush during a news conference that was the centerpiece of his secret good-bye visit.  More...

AP: With Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich defying calls for his resignation, state officials pondered reducing his power or forcing him from office amid an intensifying criminal investigation… a day after he was arrested on charges that he put President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat up for sale.  More...

WSJ: Throwing a lifeline to Detroit's ailing automakers, the White House reversed course Friday and said it would consider using the $700 billion financial-rescue plan to avert a bankruptcy of the Big Three that could deepen the U.S. recession.  The announcement came hours after negotiations collapsed in Congress over a compromise bailout plan fiercely opposed by Senate Republicans.  More...

Politico: President-elect Barack Obama added sweep and meat to his economic agenda… tying his key initiatives – education, energy, health care –back to jobs in a package that has the makings of a smaller and modern version of FDR's New Deal.  More...

Baltimore Sun: On Jan. 20, an unobtrusive military officer carrying a small leather-bound metal briefcase will follow President George W. Bush up to Capitol Hill. After the inauguration ceremony, he will accompany President Barack Obama back to the White House.  Inside the attaché, known as "the football," are the codes to identify and authenticate a presidential order that could launch nuclear weapons and ignite a global holocaust.  More...

OPINION:

WSJ: Mitch McConnell's Finest Hour: The same can't be said for President Bush on the auto bailout.  More...

Friedman: Obama's Iraq Inheritance.  More...

Noonan: The Children Are Watching: America makes history, but the mandate is for moderation.  More...

Rove: Thanksgiving Cheer from Obama: He's assembled a first-rate economic team.  More...

Noonan: Turbulence Ahead: Some things to be thankful for in depressing times.  More...

Barone: The Limits of Success--and Failure.  More...

Rove: How the GOP Should Prepare for a Comeback: Organization and ideas are what matters.  More...

And finally, the quick ducking reflexes of W... watch the clip below.

Terrorists Strike & Warning in NYC

NYT: Coordinated terrorist attacks struck the heart of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, on Wednesday night, killing dozens in machine-gun and grenade assaults on at least two five-star hotels, the city’s largest train station, a movie theater and a hospital.  More...

WSJ: Federal authorities are warning law enforcement personnel of a possible terror plot against the New York City subway and train systems during the holiday season, and police are beefing up security in preparation.  More...

AP: President-elect Barack Obama will keep Defense Secretary Robert Gates in that job for at least a year, according to an official familiar the two men's discussions.  Obama is expected to announce the selection of Gates and other members of a national security brain trust next week. Gates has served as President George W. Bush's defense chief for two years.  More...

AP: Russian warships sailed into port in Venezuela on Tuesday in a show of strength as Moscow seeks to counter U.S. influence in Latin America.  More...

AFP: Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili said Wednesday that Russian forces were erecting a "Berlin Wall" as part of a campaign to cut off rebel regions from the rest of the country.  More...

Fox: Despite bells and whistles, 'Office of President-Elect' holds no authority.  The props that decorate the stage for the Office of the President-elect serve as just that, since Barack Obama will hold no actual authority in the Executive Branch until Jan. 20.  More...

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...