From Ron Reagan:

With the Rahm Emanuel pick today for White House chief of staff and David Axelrod also announced as White House senior advisor, the new administration is getting its ducks in a row. On the line with more details will be Sam Stein, Politics Reporter at the Huffington Post... followed by your calls on how aggressively progressive you think the new team should be

Do you think, as David Corn writes this week that, "maybe an agent of change needs someone who can move the bureaucracy (and the trash) to get change done," -- ?

And, John Cusack, producer, writer, actor will be talking with us about WAR, INC, his political satire about who profits from chaos and war. His film opened last year and is now out on DVD.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

Every moment presents us with an opportunity to change for the better, as individuals, as a nation. Some moments are more significant – at least more noticeable – than others. This is one of them.

Election night reminded us how far we have come as a nation: less than 150 years ago, the Obama family might have been somebody’s property; only 20 years ago, a black man serving in the White House as something other than a steward would have been, practically speaking, unimaginable. Yet, here we are.

None of this means we have arrived at that “more perfect union” our founders envisioned through their own imperfect lens. Bigotry and intolerance still weigh on us – witness the success of Prop. 8 in California. Economic injustice remains an unfortunate reality. The environment suffers grievously.

But we now have a chance to be a better version of ourselves. In driving the monsters from the castle, we have given ourselves an opportunity we can’t afford to squander. The monsters still lurk, thwarted and angry, itching for revenge. We dare not let them back in. Above all, we must not let the temptations of power turn us into the very thing we deplore. We are better than that.

Now, all we have to do is prove it. Let’s get to work!

RR

From Ron Reagan:

Victory.

How sweet it is.

Catch us an hour early today -- I'm hosting The Rachel Maddow Show starting at 7 pm ET, followed by our regular broadcast

Hour 1: An update on the controversial ballot initiative, Prop 8, which passed yesterday with Rev. Susan Russell (Prop 8)
And behind-the-scenes details on team Palin, McCain and Obama with Newsweek reporter, Nick Summers

And stick around for hour 2 : John Nichols, from The Nation, on the obstacles ahead and the historical nature of the Obama win
And Darcy Burner (running for Washington State’s 8th Congressional District) on the yet undeclared results this local race

Plus your calls throughout the show

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE

From Ron Reagan:

Our condolences to the Obama family for their loss. According to the NYT, Senator Barack Obama’s grandmother, a central figure in his life who helped raise him during his teen-age years, died in Hawaii today.

On the show tonight: Mark Blumenthal, editor and publisher of Pollster.com will bring us up to speed on the latest polls and any late breaking trends in the crucial battleground states. Followed by your calls: Do you believe the polls? What are you seeing and hearing in your town/city/neighborhood?

Plus, my thoughts on being a sometime campaign insider & and the meaning behind my support of Obama

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

A message from Chris Owens:

This weekend:

With our regular and urgent report on voter protection: Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP President & CEO, on the NAACP’s legal ground work to protect votes before and after the election.

** If you have problems voting call 866-OUR-VOTE and a legal expert will be there to take your call, answer questions and if necessary, come down to your voting station. **

And Ludovic Blain, Project Director, StopDogWhistleRacism.com, based in Oakland, California, joins me to explain how campaigns have often been shaped by the “dog whistle” tactics that seek to divide and spread fear. StopDogWhistleRacism.com is a non-partisan research project of the Center for Social Inclusion, which seeks to examine the ways that race figured implicitly in the 2008 campaigns, ballot initiatives and policy debates.

That’s this weekend on Black Politics.

From Ron Reagan:

Happy Halloween, I've finished carving my holiday pumpkins, seriously. Who doesn't like Halloween? -- I want to hear from you today

And big news: I have an endorsement to make . . .

Plus, comic Joy Behar, feisty co-host of The View on why she thinks Bill O'Reilly has trouble making friends

And it wouldn't be Friday without Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, on The Week That Was

We're taking your calls. 866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

Tonight, from Ron Reagan:

Rachel Maddow on her BIG get: Obama!

Plus Sonja Eddings Brown, Rev. Susan Russell, Chris Carlson, on some of the more controversial ballot proposals:

- Prop 8 California Constitutional Amendment to eliminate same-sex couples from marriage.

- Prop 1000 in Washington State "Right to Die"

Plus, linguist George Lakoff & filmmaker Eugene Jarecki later in the show on framing talk about war and politics.

And your calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

From Ron Reagan:

Rachel Maddow on her BIG get: Obama!

Plus Sonja Eddings Brown, Rev. Susan Russell, Chris Carlson, on some of the more controversial ballot proposals:

- Prop 8 California Constitutional Amendment to eliminate same-sex couples from marriage.

- Prop 1000 in Washington State "Right to Die"

Plus, linguist George Lakoff & filmmaker Eugene Jarecki on framing talk about war and politics.

And your calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

Tonight:

- The latest slime in campaign, plus an inquiry into John McCain's involvement in a 1964 car crash. Sam Stein, Politics Reporter at the Huffington Post has a report.

- The end of the road for Sen. Ted Stevens – and why Obama needs a Democratic-controlled Congress with John Nichols, Washington Correspondent for The Nation magazine & Author "The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism" (2006) &"Dick: The Man Who is President" (2004)

And your calls

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

ps. & we won't take it personally if you tune in to the Obama broadcast at 8 pm.

On today's show:

- First, the breaking news: Sen. Ted Stevens found guilty in corruption case

- And later, your money:
o on the bailout – what happens if the banks just pocket the money?
o what might a "global recession" mean for you and me?
o How to define socialism?

"Alaskan senator Ted Stevens was found guilty today of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor. The Senate's longest-serving Republican was convicted on all seven counts of making false statements on Senate financial documents." Seth Colter Walls, reporter for the Huffington Post has the latest on this breaking news

And, we'll take a look at the economy with Robert Reich. What will a "global recession" mean for you and me? And on the bailout – what keeps the banks from just pocketing the bailout money? Reich is Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. And his latest book, "Supercapitalism "(2007) is now out on paperback.

Plus, your calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.