ABC announces Oprah-Obama Christmas special  —  The queen of daytime will interview the president of the country during an ABC holiday special that brings together Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.  —  The network has announced “Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special,” …

Blog Removes Offensive First Lady Image That Topped Google  —  Web Site Hosting Offensive Image of Michelle Obama Appears to Have Taken it Down  —  An offensive image of first lady Michelle Obama that had topped Google Image search results appears to have been removed.

Dobbs Reaches Out to Latinos  —  Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, pondering a future in politics, is trying to wipe away his image as an enemy of Latino immigrants by positioning himself as a champion of that fast-growing ethnic bloc.  —  Mr. Dobbs, who left the network last week …

How a letter from 1964 shows what's wrong with the Senate today  —  One of the challenges in arguing about the use of the filibuster is that the filibuster has changed drastically in recent decades, but it's done so quietly.  Quietly enough that people don't really understand that it's changed at all.

Help Wanted, No Private Sector Experience Required  —  A friend sends along the following chart from a J.P. Morgan research report.  It examines the prior private sector experience of the cabinet officials since 1900 that one might expect a president to turn to in seeking advice about helping the economy.

Obama to Offer Firm Pledge on Emissions Cuts in Copenhagen  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is pledging a provisional target for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, the first time in more than a decade that an American administration has offered even a tentative promise …

Briefing by Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell  —  Washington, DC  —  MR. WOOD: Good afternoon, everybody.  Welcome to the briefing.  As promised, Senator Mitchell is here, and he is going to give you an update on the recent announcement by the Israeli Government with regard to settlements.

Phil Carter's resignation from key detainee policy post  —  Phillip Carter is a lawyer, a former Army Captain, a veteran of the Iraq War and a very harsh critic of the Bush administration's detention and interrogation policies.  He was a vigorous supporter of Barack Obama's campaign …

Palin Suggests Reforming Canada's Universal Health Care System: ‘Let The Private Sector Take Over’  —  Canadian comedian Mary Walsh (playing the character of Marg Delahunty) attended a Sarah Palin book signing in the United States last week and asked the “thrilla from Wasilla, the Alaskan Aphrodite” …

Palin: 'We'll see' about run with Beck  —  Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday did not rule out running for president alongside Fox News host Glenn Beck in 2012.  —  Palin was asked during an interview with Fox News's “Fox & Friends” about the chances that she …

Brooks' Error  —  Yesterday's David Brooks column featured an interesting, but factually inaccurate, critique of health reform legislation: … I suppose his out here is the use of the word “could funnel” but you're clearly supposed to understand that as will funnel.

REPORT: At Least 40 GOP Lawmakers Fail A Principle Of The ‘Purity Test’  —  Yesterday, Republican National Committee member Jim Bopp unveiled a resolution to deny funding of candidates who do not uphold right-wing conservative values.  The resolution, termed a “purity test,” …

The behavioral economics of Thanksgiving  —  This column originally appeared in the Food section.  —  It happens every year.  It's not that you resolve to be virtuous on Thanksgiving, just reasonable.  Two plates of food, and no more.  One piece of pie, and that's enough.

Pretending the climate email leak isn't a crisis won't make it go away |  George Monbiot  —  Climate sceptics have lied, obscured and cheated for years.  That's why we climate rationalists must uphold the highest standards of science  —  I have seldom felt so alone.