THE COUNTDOWN

FOUR DAYS TO THE AGE OF OBAMIUS

Posted at 6:45 a.m. ET

It's getting so close.  Can you feel the progress?  Can you feel the change we can believe in?  Can you feel the ethical purity - Hillary Clinton, Roland Burris, Timothy Geithner, Eric Holder? 

Do you feel good enough for the coming of Obama? 

We can report the following exciting developments:

- Inspired by Attorney-General-designate Eric Holder's claim that he became a better person because of his involvement in the Marc Rich pardon scandal, Barack Obama pledged to recruit people to his administration who've made major mistakes. 

- It is rumored that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, having made major mistakes, is in line for a seat on the Supreme Court.

- It is rumored that Bernard Madoff, having made major mistakes, may be the next secretary of commerce.

- CIA Director-designate Leon Panetta reports that he successfully infiltrated Fox News and placed a listening device under Bill O'Reilly's anchor desk - so that every word O'Reilly utters on the air will be heard at CIA headquarters.

- Treasury-Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, already in hot water over unpaid taxes, admitted that he got his weekly allowance twice one week when he was eight years old, after his dad forgot that Tim had already received it.  Geithner asserted that it was an administrative error common to eight years olds, but that it made him a better person.

- President-elect Obama said that because of Hillary Clinton's past ethical lapses, she is probably the best person in the world.

January 16, 2009.