Are you one of those people who wants to see what has been done in your name by the outgoing Bush administration? Are you frustrated by all the "we need to look forward, not backward" language from Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders? Well, now you can do something about it, by calling up your House member today and telling them to support John Conyers' H.R.104, a bill to "establish a national commission on presidential war powers and civil liberties."

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President George Bush gave his final press conference today. Lest I be accused of "Bush Derangement Syndrome," I'm reproducing some of the most interesting answers Bush gave today, with a minimum of snarky commentary. Actually, what I (and many others) have would properly be called "Bush Fatigue," as even his final week in office seems somehow endless. But I think it's worth taking one last peek inside Bush's thinking because it is so interesting to hear how his views of his term in office differ so significantly from the way others see him. If you'd like to read the entire transcript of the press release, the White House website has it up.

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The American television news media is slipping out of Iraq, as quietly as they can. This story was reported by the New York Times over the holidays, and it may prove to be a consequential part of the way the war ends. Because it might actually make it easier for President Obama to wind the war down, and avoid a lot of squabbling over how he does so.

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Three names suggest themselves in this category. The first, sad to say, is Sarah Palin. While some dismiss her with the term (which she herself uttered on Saturday Night Live) "Caribou Barbie," my educated guess is that we have not seen the last of Alaska's governor on the national stage. Because while the list of things Palin lacks is long and daunting, she has one star quality which may prove to be strong enough to cancel all the rest out -- charisma. A politician can learn about such mundane things as world events and how to speak with political finesse, but charisma can't really be learned -- it's more of an innate quality. And Palin's got it. For those laughing at the prospect of Sarah Palin ever reappearing, I caution that when Ronald Reagan first ran for president, we all laughed at him, too. An actor becoming president? Pre-pos-terous! So don't underestimate charisma, or Palin's ambition.

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Welcome to our annual awards! For the past three years, this column has paid homage (translation: "ripped off their gimmick") to the McLaughlin Group television show by handing out our own year-end awards (while using the same categories). This will be a two-part column, with the second installment appearing one week from today. And feel free to watch the McLaughlin Group on your local PBS station this weekend, to compare my picks with theirs.

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I know it's a lot more interesting to talk about two shoes getting thrown at President Bush in Iraq, but two more important stories are getting ignored as a result. These are two metaphorical "shoes" thrown at Bush, by the Senate and by Bush's own Inspector General in Iraq. And they're going to have a much more lasting impact on how history sees our Iraq adventure than one video clip of a guy hucking his footwear at President Bush. Because they deal with torture, and the failure of the Iraq reconstruction effort.

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The history of profanity in American political discourse is an untold story out there just waiting for someone to research and write about -- although finding a willing publisher might be a bit of a problem. Because it seems we're back to the Nixonian days of "[expletive deleted]."

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So while some have decried this timetable for withdrawal, I think it is going to wind up facilitating a much faster overall American withdrawal than would have happened without the six month deadline. Events may prove me wrong, but that's how I see it now.

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There has been a lot of ink spilled over the ramifications of the agreement recently struck between the United States and Iraq on our presence there for the next three years. The Status Of Forces Agreement ("SOFA") was passed by the Iraqi Parliament and signed by all three members of the Iraqi Executive Council, meaning it will have the force of law come the first of January, 2009. President Bush has decided that his signature was enough for America to enter the agreement, so Congress never got their say on the document. But with such commentary flying left and right, I thought I would go to the document itself to see what it actually says (versus how people are interpreting it).

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Brian Williams, NBC's talking head extraordinaire, is probably a decent guy, a guy with whom you could sit down and have a beer. [More on the alcohol subject at the end, I promise.] But that doesn't excuse something he said last night on Jay Leno's show.

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