Free Republic

Exelon's John Rowe has been planning for expensive carbon for a decade. Now it's time to push for the payoff. On a cold December Chicago afternoon John Rowe stands at a window in his office, a dim, quiet, three-room suite lined with history books and sprinkled with objets d'art, including a stone horse from the Tang Dynasty and an Egyptian sarcophagus. From his 54th floor perch he is looking north to the high-rises of the Gold Coast below and the frigid waters of Lake Michigan shimmering with weak, fading winter light beyond. "You can't sit up here in the afternoon...

In addition to the 40% who Strongly Approve of Obama’s performance so far, another 12% Somewhat Approve. That brings his total approval to 52%, an unsurprising figure since the Democrat earned 52% of the vote on Tuesday night.

Transition: Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to change the partisan tone in Washington. So why did he pick a take-no-prisoners partisan for his chief of staff?The high-level White House selection of fellow Chicagoan Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the sharp-elbowed, foul-mouthed head of the Democrat caucus, doesn't exactly augur well for the kind of noncynical air-freshening Obama voters had hoped for. After Emanuel helped the Democrats win Congress in 2006, he told a gathering of celebrating staffers and campaign workers that Republicans "can go f*** themselves," according to Chicago Tribune reporter Naftali Bendavid in her book, "The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel...