Given the continued chaos with the financial markets, you would have though that finding a Treasury head to work with the outgoing administration would have been a top priority. 

Guess not.  The prez elect seems to be taking his good 'ol time, even as the markets reach new lows with each passing day.  How many candidates could they possibly be vetting? New York Fed President Tim Geithner and former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers seem to be the front runners, though that could change in a moments notice.

Time to get on with it.  The markets need some stability and reassurance, and having a new Treasury head would help.  The economy is going to dominate his first two yeras in office, and quite possible the entire first term.  If Obama gets the economy wrong, the other issues won't much matter because there won't be a second term.

For the second day in a row, the CEO's of Ford, GM and Chrysler went testifying before Congress with hat in hand looking for a bailout.

But the story today isn't necessarily about the $25 billion bailout, or what will happen if they all file bankruptcy ... The three morning shows and the cable programs led with the fact that they flew to Washington on their private jets, even though they're all practically bankrupt.

Congress and the media are having a field-day with this -- and rightfully so.  It looks ridiculous, and completely out of touch, for the three amigos to beg for handouts while maintaining a fleet of corporate jets.  It would be like taking a limousine to the unemployment line.

Come on guys, pretend that you get it; suffer the indignity of flying commercial.  You would think impending bankruptcy would bring a little humility to the almighty three, but evidently not.  It'll be interesting to see if they down size their corporate jet fleet or continue with "air bailout".

He's not sold on Hillary for State.  His reasoning:  the most important qualification for the chief diplomatic job is having the unequivocal and unwavering support of the President.  And the ability to counsel him candidly.  It's what separates the great diplomats -- Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Dean Achenson -- from the not so great.

I guess I sort of buy that.  There's no question that there will be trust issues between Obama and Hillary. There has to be -- it's only natural after a campaign that bitter.  But does that mean she won't speak with the full authority of the Obama administration.  I don't think that will be the case.  She's too well respected -- and powerful -- to be treated like just an ordinary diplomat.  

Some great diplomats simply carry out their President's agenda, while others shape it.  I think she'd be the latter more than the former. 

Kristol was brought on as a twice weekly columnist to share the house conservative duties with David Brooks, his former partner in crime at the Weekly Standard.  It would be a shame if they part ways, but totally understandable.  I don't think either was ever quite comfortable with the relationship.

In my opinion, Kristol is consistently one of the most insightful commentators out there -- left or right. He's sort of like George Will, but not nearly as intellectually narcissistic. He rarely, if ever, parrots conventional wisdom, and isn't shy about putting the conservative movement under the microscope.

Which is what makes his involvement in the Sarah Palin debacle all the more unsettling. By way of background, it has been rumored that Kristol played a major role in convincing McCain to put Palin on the ticket. He had been publicly lobbying for her as early as last June, and made what seemed like a compelling case.  What role he played behind the scenes is uncertain, but there's little doubt that he was advocating her cause.

Flash forward six months later, and Kristol has been in full spin mode following her disastrous turn as McCain's veep.  "I met her for the second time in my life," he told the New York Observer. "I know we're supposed to be such great friends, but the truth is I've met her twice... I've spoken to her on the phone once. For all our great closeness." Sounds almost verbatim like the line McCain used on Letterman just days before election: "I didn’t know her well at all. I knew her reputation."

Here's my problem with pundits giving counsel behind the scenes:  How are we supposed to know when their public utterances are advocacy or analysis.  Was Kristol raving about Palin's convention performance because it merited rave reviews, or because he had skin in the game?   I suppose this type of thing happens with pundits more than we'd like to believe, but it's still unsettling.  With politicos-turned-talking-head like Begala and Carville and Rove and Wolfson, you know where they stand:  They're partisans before they're pundits, and they don't really hide it.  They're cheerleading as much as they're analysing, and it's understood.

Kristol and his journalist cohorts come at it differently -- or at least they're supposed to.  We're not listening to them because they're fresh out of the game like a Rove or Wolfson; we're listening because they're well informed, insightful, and can see the bigger picture.   If they have a horse in the race -- the way Kristol seems to have had with Palin -- they might as well be transparent about it.  In the long run, their credibility will be the better for it.

My prediction:  Within 5 years, most daily newspapers will be exclusively online, except for a Sunday print edition.  I sort of Doris Kearns Goodwin'd this prediction from Garrett Graff, so hopefully it's not pure crazy talk.

Fortunately, they're leaving the archives up.  For those of you who have never been to the site, it's some of the most entertaining reading anywhere.  Hopefully, they'll come out of retirement someday, but for now its a sad goodbye.  I haven't felt this alone since Party of Five was cancelled. 

I think it'll happen. There's no way Obama floats a trial balloon of this magnitude and doesn't follow through; he'd offend half the party if he didn't offer her the job at this point.

It's a good move on several fronts.   It's very Lincoln-esque -- "team of rivals" to quote disgraced historian Doris Kearns Goodwin -- and is a magnanimous gesture by the new President.  She's certainly well qualified for the position, and brings a certain star power and gravitas to the administration.

Beyond that, it's a smart political move.  What's the old phrase -- "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer".  It allows Obama to keeps close tabs on her, and prevents Bill from creating too much mischief since Hillary will be part of the team.  And unlike the Vice President, the Secretary of State serves at the pleasure of the president, meaning Obama could dump her at any time for any reason. 

It's a big gesture -- a bold move frankly -- that exudes confidence.   It means we'll probably see a lot more of Doris Kearns Goodwin on the tube comparing Obama to Lincoln, but so be it.

The news-hook was that that McCain and Obama are meeting today -- a somewhat unusual move for the victor and the vanquished.  There is speculation that Obama might offer McCain a cabinet post -- perhaps state, or defense, or homeland security.

It's an interesting idea.  Obama, after all, ran as the post-partisan candidate, while McCain is all about being Maverick-y, to quote Tina Fey.  Whether or not Obama offers him a cabinet post is a different story -- my guess is that it would be too unorthodox, even for them. 

But on some levels it would make sense for both:  It would show that Obama truly wants a "team of rivals" cabinet, the likes of which haven't been seen since Lincoln (can you Imagine Hillary as Secretary of State and McCain at Defense or Homeland Security?).  And for McCain, it would be a chance at redepmtion.  He didn't run the campaign he wanted to -- it was much more negative and partisan than he would have preferred -- and this would allow him to get back to being the popular maverick.

But don't look for it to happen.  I think it's simply too out of the box, even for McCain.

As for Republicans in the cabinet, my guess is that Obama will keep current Defense Secretary Rbert Gates in his post -- at least through the resolution of the Iraq war.  Democrats seem to think he's doing a good job, and maintaining the continuity would make sense.   But if he doesn't stick with Gates, then perhaps it will be Senator Chuck Hagel, the outspoken war critic, or Senator Richard Lugar, the former chairman of the Foreign Relations committee.

One thing is for certain: there will be a Republican in the cabinet.  Obama promised as much on 60 Minutes last night.

The world's most annoying human being (sorry Spencer from "The Hills", maybe next year) is preparing a run for Governor of Virginia.

McAuliffe's game plan: to buy the vote.  He plans on raising upwards of $75 million for his gubernatorial race, which he'll liberally spread around to state legislators in need of cash in order to curry their support in the primary. 

Should we expect anything less from Terry the human ATM machine? Nobody would ever confuse him with a policy wonk, ideologue, or even a concerned citizen.  The spin-man has always been about power and access, and that only comes with boatloads of cash.   It'll be interesting to see how the voters of Virginia take to his campaign.