I do not know what ultimately persuaded Caroline Kennedy to withdraw her name from consideration for the U.S. Senate. Maybe it was something about taxes or a housekeeper, the two rumors that seem to have the most "juice" as I write this. To be honest, I don't care.
I have been holding my breath for a while, sending out little messages, waiting for the updates on Sen. Kennedy.
President-elect Barack Obama will no doubt ask for many things in the coming weeks -- from Congress, from the states, from banks and businesses, and from the American people. He will ask for new legislation, new programs, new regulations, not to mention confirmation of all his new people.
I don't hate George Bush. I never have. I voted against him twice. I disagree with him, sometimes passionately. I think the country is in worse shape now than it was eight years ago, and that history will not be kind to him.
"Go back to the oven," the woman in her hijab in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., yelled to the Jewish Americans demonstrating their support for Israel. "You need a big oven, that's what you need."
As the weeks pass since Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was publicly drawn and quartered by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the man has simply refused to give up. The Energizer bunny has nothing on this guy.
When I was younger, New Year's was a time fraught with frantic uncertainty revolving around the seemingly critical questions of whether I would have a date and-or something to do.
Energy czar-designate Carol Browner's husband does it. So does Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle's wife. Congressman John Dingell's wife has been doing it for years.
The news that Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president and much-dubbed Princess of Camelot, is seeking to replace Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate has set many tongues to wagging.
Trying to sell a Senate seat is dumb. Not realizing that getting caught means you have to give up your seat as governor is dumber.
In Los Angeles, where I live, there was plenty of snickering this week about Tribune Company's decision to file for bankruptcy protection. Tribune owns the Los Angeles Times, which in recent years has seen its staff cut even more than its circulation and advertising.
Doris Kearns Goodwin could not have asked for more. The author of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," published in 2006, is making headlines once again for her foresight, as well as her knowledge of history, in light of President-elect Barack Obama's decision to surround himself with his former rivals, including Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, and now Secretary of Commerce-designate Bill Richardson.
You can tell a lot about a person by the people who surround them. In theory, the "bigger" you are, the bigger and better the people around you should be. What makes a great leader is a great team. All that.
The woman going up in the medical building elevator with me was so young and beautiful and carefree that it took my breath away. Young and beautiful is not so unusual in Beverly Hills. But carefree?
As the fires burned across Southern California this weekend, the all-news radio station I listen to kept running tape of a guy advising people about what to put in their "grab-and-go" boxes. He was from some insurance association, so -- big surprise -- his focus was on insurance documents.
I saw it on election night, as I scrolled through the exit poll that somehow made its way online (at least at cbsnews.com) even before the polls closed in Ohio.
For years I've been dining out on the story of the 1988 vice presidential debate, where Lloyd Bentsen literally cleaned Dan Quayle's clock -- "You're no Jack Kennedy" -- resulting in a huge increase in his own approval ratings and virtually no bump at all for the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket.
For many California voters, especially those who supported Barack Obama's presidential bid, election night had a bright beginning and a bitter end. The state overwhelmingly supported the next president.
Four years ago, he was a State senator from Illinois. Four years ago, the idea of electing a black man as president of the United States was a fantasy.
It is time for this election to be over. It is time because it has been going on for what feels like a lifetime, because the final days have been full of noise and fury and very little light, and because we need to start solving problems rather than just debating them.
