American Morning
Madoff: Victim vs. victim
By Allan Chernoff, CNN Sr. Correspondent
NEW YORK (CNN) - Bennett Goldworth thought he was set for life when he retired three years ago at age 50. He bought a waterfront apartment at the high-end Four Seasons Condominium in Fort Lauderdale, and said goodbye to New York and his job selling real estate.
"I felt I had everything I wanted in life, which was great," said Goldworth.
A decade of investing with Bernard Madoff had given Goldworth the financial security to enjoy the "good life" in Florida, until Madoff's arrest last Dec. 11. "I didn't just have money stolen, I had my whole life stolen," he said.
Today the condominium is in contract to be sold. Goldworth is living with his father in Manhattan and grateful to be back at the Corcoran Group selling homes again.
He's also among the first to receive a full half-million dollar insurance settlement from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which insured direct accounts of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. "I'm one of the fortunate ones," said Goldworth at his office where fellow realtors all were trying to sell million-dollar apartments. "I was very happy, very pleased."
But, other Madoff victims - like Judy and Don Rafferty, senior citizens who've had to come out of retirement - have gotten nothing.
Avlon: Wingnut's Facebook rant is fear-smear
Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://am.blogs.cnn.com/files/2009/12/wingnuts-reid-wiseman-art.jpg caption="Sen. Harry Reid and Mayor Russell Wiseman (Photos: Senate.gov / Townofarlington.org)"]
By John Avlon, Special to CNN
Wingnut comments are often characterized by unhinged anger and a complete lack of historic perspective – and that’s what we saw this week from Arlington, Tennessee Mayor Russell Wiseman on the right, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the left.
Mayor Wiseman was sitting down to watch "The Charlie Brown Christmas Special" with his children when he found the program pre-empted by President Obama’s speech at West Point announcing the troop surge in Afghanistan.
His conclusion? The timing was a deliberate affront to Christians and the Constitution from a “Muslim president.” His next move was to post his feelings on Facebook.
“Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation (sic) about it....w...hen the answer should simply be 'yes'....”
In an extensive thread unearthed and excerpted by the Memphis Commercial Appeal this week, Mayor Wiseman went on to widen his attacks, writing: “...you obama people need to move to a muslim country...oh wait, that's America....pitiful.”
At another point he wrote, “you know, our forefathers had it written in the original Constitution that ONLY property owners could vote, if that has stayed in there, things would be different.”
Obama receives Nobel Peace Prize
Oslo, Norway (CNN) - President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway on Thursday but acknowledged the questions surrounding the award.
Obama, along with first lady Michelle Obama, walked into Oslo City Hall at 1 p.m. to a trumpet fanfare and sustained applause.
"I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility," he said. "It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations - that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.
"And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage." Read more
Transcript of Obama's speech | Award is about 'highest aspirations' 
Al Gore reads a poem from his new book
Editor’s Note: Newsmakers roam the hallways of CNN every day. Sometimes, they make the news on the way out. This is the first installment of “The Halls,” American Morning’s new Web series.
He’s the face of the war on global warming – former Vice President Al Gore – and he joined us exclusively on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday to talk climate change and the summit taking place in Copenhagen.
Gore also has a new book out titled , “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.” It’s a follow-up to Gore’s New York Times bestselling book “An Inconvenient Truth,” which details the case for global warming. In “Our Choice,” Gore lays out the tools he says are needed to solve it.
The book also includes something unexpected: a poem, written by Gore.
On Friday, some blogs reported that Gore wrote the poem because his editor had removed a chapter on the impacts of climate change. We caught up with Mr. Gore in the hallways of CNN and asked him about the poem’s true origin, and even got a personal reading.
Google CEO on job creation
Who better than the man in charge of Google to come up with some new ideas. Google CEO Eric Schmidt was at the president's job summit last Thursday, and he says the jury is still out on his plan.
Our Kiran Chetry sat down with Schmidt and asked him where the jobs are and how the president should spend the remaining bailout cash.
CNNMoney: Need jobs now – White House
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