EARLYBIRD

Thursday, December 11, 2008 8:30 AM

Top Transition News - 12/11

President-elect Barack Obama's transition site Change.gov has already received around 1,000 questions from supporters and 70,000 votes on which ones they most want answered, all part of the site's "Open For Questions" tool. (New York Times)

But Obama supporters seem to already be abusing a feature of that tool, which lets them flag comments to remove questions about disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (Politico)

Obama sharpened his tone on Blagojevich Wednesday, calling for the resignation of the embattled governor, whose follies have turned the spotlight from the transition effort to the dark side of Chicago politics. (Chicago Tribune)

Obama's approval ratings are at their highest mark ever, thanks in part to overwhelming support for his transition efforts and support from plenty of voters who didn't back him on Nov. 4. (Wall Street Journal)

Obama transition team member and former Google executive Sonal Shah renounced her former ties to a Hindu group accused of violence against Muslims and Christians, an association which had garnered her increasing criticism in the South Asian press and blogosphere. (National Journal)

Former President Jimmy Carter argues that Obama should pass tough energy legislation during his post-inaugural honeymoon. (Wall Street Journal)

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2008 cycle, said the party's fortunes in 2010 will rise and fall on the ability of Obama and Congress to jump start the economy. (Washington Times)

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty will sign a law allowing bars to stay open until 5 a.m. from Jan. 17- to 21, despite a recent plea from Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Robert Bennett, R-Utah, that the city reconsider for security reasons. (Washington Post)

A top United Nations human rights official, Navi Pillay, predicts that the U.S. will rejoin the "international family" under Obama. (Financial Times)

The commander of the Guantanamo Bay detention center said Tuesday night he doubts the facility will be closed quickly after Jan. 20, as some Obama supporters hope, but will rather be the subject of "vigorous debate" in the U.S. because of the legalities and logistics that are involved with closing the facility. (AP)

Stocking The Cabinet

Obama has tapped Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as the next Energy secretary, adding a staunch advocate for action on global warming to his Cabinet. (Washington Post)

Filling out his energy team, Obama appears poised to name Carol M. Browner, Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President Clinton, as the top White House official on climate and energy policy and Lisa P. Jackson, New Jersey's commissioner of environmental protection, as the head of the EPA. (New York Times)

Former Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., is expected to be formally nominated as Health and Human Services secretary today (Washington Post), a post that Blagojevich allegedly once hoped for himself. (AP)

Members of the American Constitution Society, the liberal counterweight to the right's Federalist Society, are already flooding the ranks of the new administration. (New York Times)

Online safety advocates want Obama to appoint an Internet sheriff with a $100 million annual budget to keep kids safe from child pornography, cyberbullying and other harassment. (Washington Post)

The Whole Truth

While spouses normally attend confirmation hearings to act as "window dressing," Senate Republicans may ask Bill Clinton to testify about his globe-trotting post-presidency and any potential conflicts of interest for Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Politico)

Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, Obama's choice for secretary of Veterans Affairs, has been fast-tracked for confirmation hearings and could be voted on by the Senate as soon as Jan. 20. (Army Times)

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., wants to put the brakes on Attorney General-designate Eric Holder's nomination hearing, citing concerns about his role in the 2001 pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. (The Hill)