united states

mccain said in an interview that he may not support a Palin 2012 bid, even though during his campaign he said she was the next-best candidate for president.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/14/mccain.senate/index.html

...unsurprising that he feels that way.  surprising that he said so.

Obama has an incredibly high 79% approval rating (source).  That's more than 50% better than Bush and 15-20% better than the last two presidents' transition ratings.

The 9/11 attackers rescinded their earlier motions in anticipation of a guilty plea, throwing the court into confusion because no one really knew how to procede.  The law governing the tribunal requires a unanimous jury decision for the death penalty, which would not occur with a guilty plea.  Further, the new motion is in large part a taunt of the judge, effectively asking him to martyr the defendents.  The judge granted three of the requests and turned down the other two because of questions of mental competency.

Today, President-elect Obama promised a new approach to finance--namely, increased regulation.  He said this is "at the center" of his policy, which is encouraging since decreased regulation is largely seen as the major reason for the current crisis.  But he also noted that the economy has "a big problem, and things are going to get worse before it gets better."  He also criticized the current state of Washington's politicians and briefly discussed the necessity of restructuring the auto industry.

Republican Saxby Chambliss beat Democrat Jim Martin in a runoff vote in Georgia on Tuesday.  It is no longer possible for the Democrats to reach the 60-seat filibuster-proof majority they had hoped for.  The one remaining senate race, between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota, is still in a dead tie as the recounts wind down.  Without contested ballots, Coleman would win by 303 votes; but some 6000 votes are being contested.  If none of the challenges to those votes from either campaign suceeded, Franken would win by 22 votes.

U.S. elected officials scored a dismal 44% on a 33-question civics quiz administered by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).  Try the quiz yourself!

If America were truly a free country there wouldn't have been a proposition 8 to vote on.

It's true: Senator Hillary Clinton will be Obama's new Secretary of State, Timothy Geithner will be the Secretary of the Treasury, and Governor Bill Richardson will be the Secretary of Commerce.  There are also unconfirmed rumors that Gen. Robert Gates will stay on as Secretary of Defense.

Geithner is a highly qualified economic authority who is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and was a central player in this year's financial rescue plans.  We all know Clinton, and Richardson is the Governor of New Mexico with enormous experience.

Congratulations, all.  Obama's cabinet is certainly shaping up to be a powerful one, for better or worse.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081027/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_plot_5

Two people were going to rob a gun store and shoot as many "non-Caucasians" as possible, including Obama.

Ugh.

Home sales rose 5.5 percent last month - the biggest rise since mid-2003.  It doesn't mean the crisis is over; the stock market is still volatile, credit is still weak, and there are still too many houses on the market.