Obama's Afghan policy speech at West Point  —  Following is the transcript of President Obama's speech Tuesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. (The Post's report on the president's address is here.)  —  Thank you.  Please be seated.  —  Good evening.

In praise of George W. Bush  —  Since the results of the 2008 election became clear, the 43rd President of the United States has behaved in a way that brings honor to him, his family, his office, and his country.  By all reports he did what he could to smooth the transition to his successor …

UK climate scientist to temporarily step down  —  LONDON — Britain's University of East Anglia says the director of its prestigious Climatic Research Unit is stepping down pending an investigation into allegations that he overstated the case for man-made climate change.

Tanner To Retire  —  Rep. John Tanner (D-TN), a leading Blue Dog Dem, will retire at the end of his current term, Dem sources tell Hotline OnCall.  —  [UPDATE: Tanner released a statement late tonight confirming the news.  “Betty Ann and I had considered retiring in 2007 at the end of the 110th Congress …

Obama lunches with top political writers  —  On the day of his major Afghanistan speech, President Obama had lunch with a group of top political writers at the White House, according to a source familiar with the lunch.  —  There were some attendees today who write extensively on foreign policy …

8 Million Reasons for Real Surveillance Oversight  —  Disclaimer: The information presented here has been gathered and analyzed in my capacity as a graduate student at Indiana University.  This data was gathered and analyzed on my own time, without using federal government resources.

ClimateGate III: The Mystery of the Missing Data  —  Over the weekend, I came in for some probably deserved criticism from Clive Crook over my initial, somewhat airy, reaction to ClimateGate.  In my defense, he quotes my first post on the topic, not the follow up.

A Bravo Contract Delivered White House Gatecrashers to the Today Show  —  NBC News didn't pay the Salahis for their exclusive Today appearance this morning.  They didn't have to: According to rival bookers trying to land the Salahis, they already have a contract with Bravo preventing them from talking to anyone else.

New public option plan  —  A new measure on the public option will be unveiled next week, which Senate Democratic leaders hope will break the logjam on healthcare reform.  —  Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who has been tapped by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to come up with a Plan B approach …

Leaving the Right  —  It's an odd formulation in some ways as “the right” is not really a single entity.  But in so far as it means the dominant mode of discourse among the institutions and blogs and magazines and newspapers and journals that support the GOP, Charles Johnson is absolutely right …

Gutsy progressive congressman Alan Grayson leads a double life  —  Since defeating an incumbent in Florida's Republican-heavy 8th congressional district last year, Rep. Alan Grayson has emerged as one of the progressive movement's most vocal champions.  His attacks on Republican obstruction …

Palin blasts media for bus tour stories  —  Sarah Palin fired back at the media today for a series of stories on her travel arrangements.  —  Over the last few days, several outlets have picked up on the story that Palin actually flew to some of the stops on her “bus tour.”  (Here, here, and here, for example.)

November 30, 2009  —  There are news reports that on Decembers 1st, Obama will be at West Point to announce that he is sending tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, this despite our rallies, vigils, petitions, phone calls and e-mails saying NO to MORE WAR.

Grassley: 'I've lived off the public tit' as a congressman.  —  On C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was asked if he thought the health care reform bill before the Senate amounted to socialism.  “No,” Grassley said, but he then attacked the public option aspect of the bill, calling it “socialism.”

Climategate: Imminent Demise of Glaciers Due to ... a Typo!  —  The IPCC has been claiming Himalayan glaciers could be gone by 2035.  The research paper they used concluded 2350.  —  “Climategate” is now more than the massive misconduct of one research institution.