Sweet Home Chicago Will Stay That Way for Obama

So there he was, sitting in that big room with scores of other local residents, doing his civic duty. We're told he even got so far as to be called for voir dire for a criminal trial. A kindly judge let him off the hook until after the inauguration. Podesta got back shortly after lunch and the transition train chugged off down the track.

Straight Talk Excess

Run, don't walk, to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign headquarters in Arlington for an amazing Blowout Sale! Computers, BlackBerrys, televisions, desks, you name it -- everything must go. Hurry while the offer lasts!

Our colleague Mary Ann Akers reports on her fine blog, The Sleuth, that the failed McCain-Palin campaign is having a fire sale this week on leftover equipment. An e-mail sent over the weekend to all campaign staff, which was subsequently forwarded to The Sleuth, reads:

"Starting Monday December 8, 2008 the prices will be slashed to 36% of the original price for furniture, office supplies, blackberries, and many campaign computers," announced the e-mail. "This is a great opportunity to own a piece of history, finish your Christmas shopping, or simply replace your old laptop."

The hot deals on the price sheet include a Dell Latitude D620 laptop for $417, a fine Brother printer for $189, a BlackBerry 8700c for $30, and folding chairs for $3.60 each. But wait! There's plenty more, including flat-screen TVs, a black microfiber sofa, lamps, end tables and a mission-style coffee table from Target (at the low, low price of $60).

Alas, nothing from the Sarah Palin $180,000 extreme makeover paid for by the Republican National Committee.

Short on cash? No problem. "We accept cash, checks, and credit cards," the price sheet says.

Moving Out

National Archivist Allen Weinstein, who has Parkinson's disease, has submitted his resignation effective Dec. 19, citing health reasons. Weinstein's 2005 appointment by President Bush sparked controversy, especially over concerns that he would be an independent archivist. There were allegations that President Bush sacked his predecessor for political reasons.

While the archivist is keeper of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, he also is charged with making sure that highly sensitive presidential papers are open and available to the public.

In that regard, said Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, Weinstein "always rose to the challenge." When his group found the CIA trying to reclassify open public documents, he said, "Allen put a stop to it. When we caught the Nixon library pulling the plug at the last minute on a conference" because they didn't want Nixon critics to attend, "Allen used it as leverage to get the Nixon library to agree to restore" numerous records Nixon had gotten the courts to remove from public access.

On the other hand, Blanton felt Weinstein didn't change the Archives' "inferiority complex and use its leverage by law" to block the current administration from dropping its archiving system of e-mails."

Deputy Archivist Adrienne Thomas will serve as acting archivist until a successor is named and approved by the Senate, most likely next year.

With Philip Rucker