Progressive Indiana

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
AL QAEDA'S MOST EPIC FAIL EVER.  —  Al Qaeda plays a little identity politics: … The best part about this is that a knee-jerk patriotic response implicitly rejects the notion of black American culture as oppositional by definition.  And doing so is an act of solidarity with the future President of the United States!

Matt Canham / Salt Lake Tribune:
Election surprise: Obama won Salt Lake County voters' nod  —  Politics » Democrats say win is a big step for party's plans in Beehive State.  —  Updated election results released Tuesday show that Salt Lake County voters favored Barack Obama over John McCain — but just barely …

Jackie Kucinich / The Hill:
Boehner, McCotter prevail; Sessions takes over NRCC  —  House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) and Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.) held on to their GOP leadership positions Wednesday while Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas) is taking over Rep. Tom Cole's (Okla.) post.  —  During mostly predictable …

Associated Press:
Al-Qaida No. 2 insults Obama with racial epithet … CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites.

The New Republic:
Hooray for Holder  —  Eric Holder looks like Obama's pick for attorney general.  I've been impressed by him ever since interviewing him in the '90s, when he was U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and identified the phenomenon of the single “unreachable” D.C. juror …

Brendan Miniter / Wall Street Journal:
No Room for RINOs  —  Who will resurrect the GOP?  —  South Carolina's Mark Sanford is one of three GOP governors now being widely mentioned as potential saviors of the Republican Party between now and 2012.  All are conspicuous for calling on their own party to live up to its principles.

CNN:
Daschle the choice for Health and Human Services  —  CHICAGO (CNN) — Three sources close to the transition and in a position to know tell CNN that former Sen. Tom Daschle is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be Secretary of Health and Human Services and the former Senate Majority Leader has indicated he wants the job.

CNN:
Sources: Holder is Obama's choice for attorney general  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for the position of attorney general, according to two prominent Democrats involved in transition matters.

Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:
Emanuel Sets a Challenge  —  President-elect Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff challenged chief executives and other business leaders Tuesday night to join the new administration in a push for universal health care, saying incremental increases in coverage won't be acceptable.

ABCNEWS:
Big Three CEOs Flew Private Jets to Plead for Public Funds  —  Auto Industry Close to Bankruptcy But They Get Pricey Perk  —  The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation's capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running …

Malcolm X / MSNBC:
Al-Qaida No. 2 says Obama betrays race  —  In first video since election, he says president-elect does bidding of whites  —  CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites.

David S. Broder / Washington Post:
A Force for Good — but Not at State  —  It may be moot and it certainly is presumptuous, but I would be less than honest with readers if I did not say what I believe: Making Hillary Rodham Clinton the secretary of state in Barack Obama's administration would be a mistake.

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
ABOUT THAT CHENEY INDICTMENT.... At first blush, the headline looked pretty extraordinary: “Texas Grand Jury Indicts Cheney, Gonzales on Charges Related to Prisons.”  Wait, Dick Cheney's been indicted?  It sounded too good to be true, in large part because it is.

Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Steele chastises ‘country club’ GOP  —  Vows to help transform party  —  Republican National Committee Chairman candidate Michael S. Steele castigated Republican Party leadership Tuesday for having a “country club” mentality and being out of touch, and said if he is chosen to represent the party …

Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Former Prosecutor Eric Holder Called Obama's Top Pick for Attorney General  —  He Would Be the First Black Attorney General  —  Eric H. Holder Jr., a former Justice Department official who was President-elect Barack Obama's campaign co-chairman, is the leading candidate to serve …

Kathleen Parker / Washington Post:
Giving Up on God  —  As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.  —  Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.  —  I'm bathing in holy water as I type.  —  To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing …

Noam N. Levey / Los Angeles Times:
Ted Kennedy asks Hillary Clinton to head Senate healthcare team  —  She has not indicated whether she will take the job if she does not become Obama's secretary of State, but expanding coverage has been one of her goals for years.  —  Reporting from Washington — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Mitt Romney / New York Times:
Let Detroit Go Bankrupt  —  IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye.  It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.  —  Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself.

Erin Aubry Kaplan / Salon:
First lady got back  —  I'm a black woman who never thought I'd see a powerful, beautiful female with a body like mine in the White House.  Then I saw Michelle Obama — and her booty!  —  Michelle Obama waves to the crowd at the Democratic convention in Denver on Aug. 25, 2008.  —  Free at last.

Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
Won't Take Yes for an Answer  —  What is best in life?  To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.  —  This is precisely what the Democratic party achieved with Barack Obama's historic victory on November 4.