Does Obama err by leaning on Lincoln?

Then Sen. Barack Obama at the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, Ill., April 2005. (Chicago Tribune photo by Pete Souza.)
by Frank James
President-elect Barack Obama really has a thing for Abraham Lincoln.
The latest manifestation of what appears to be his Lincoln envy is the way Obama intends on arriving in Washington [...]

He Ducked Back Down the Alley …

By Jack Healy

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, center, leaves his home through a back ally Wednesday. (Mark Carlson/Associated Press)
They wrote songs about the “Streets of Philadelphia” and “The Sidewalks of New York.” But as Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich demonstrated this morning, Chicago is a city where the alleys rule.
With hordes of reporters and photographers camped [...]

Clean Body, Clean Mind?

Columnist Lee Dye reports:
Maybe what the world really needs is a hot, sudsy bath.
Researchers in Great Britain have found that even just washing your hands may make you less harsh in your judgment of others. Their study, published in the journal Psychological Science, asserts that feeling clean can “reduce the perceived seriousness of moral transgressions.”
The [...]

Obama’s New World Order

By Karen Tumulty and Mark Thompson
It was hard to miss the message that Barack Obama was sending with the powerful tableau lined up behind him onstage in Chicago. “I assembled this team because I’m a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions,” the President-elect said of his national-security picks. The top three members of [...]

A 4.5 percent mortgage for all?

by Frank James
Who wouldn’t want one of those 4.5 percent mortgages that are now being considered as a way to revive the economy? Sign me up.
But there’s evidently some disagreement about whether such mortgages would be available to those who would be refinancing, like me, or available only to those purchasing a home.
Financial-industry lobbyists want [...]

A Pragmatic Pair Chosen to Confront Terrorism Threat

By Carrie Johnson and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
In nominating former federal prosecutors to lead the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, President-elect Barack Obama yesterday selected two Democrats with sterling law-and-order credentials but less experience in detecting threats and gathering intelligence in the age of international terrorism.
Eric H. Holder Jr., the candidate [...]

Bush: ‘I Was Unprepared for War’

By Kate Phillips
In what might be considered one of the first exit interviews, President Bush told ABC News’s Charles Gibson that during the eight years of his administration, the thing he was most “unprepared” for was the war in Iraq after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But he also said that he felt he would [...]

Out for Obama: Gay Rights Group Plans Mega Inaugural Shindig

Cyndi Lauper scheduled to headline the Out for Equality inaugural extravaganza. (AP Photo)
The “Out for Equality” ball (though its gay-rights organizers don’t want to call it a ball) is shaping up to be one of the single hottest tickets on inauguration night. And you don’t have to be L, G, B or T to want [...]

Obama’s confidence-rating: High, steady

by Mark Silva
Perhaps it is the alacrity with which President-elect Barack Obama has set about assembling a Cabinet and army of advisers – an economic team named this week, defense coming next week.
Or perhaps it is the expertise of the nominees – with a “towering” economic team that includes the six-foot-seven Paul Volcker, and a [...]