Baucus Nominated Girlfriend for U.S. Attorney  —  Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus' office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her to be U.S. attorney in Montana.

Met Office to re-examine 160 years of climate data  —  The Met Office plans to re-examine 160 years of temperature data after admitting that public confidence in the science on man-made global warming has been shattered by leaked e-mails.  —  The new analysis of the data will take three years …

Palin Gets Another Ethics Complaint (Read Her Staff's Emails)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Yet another ethics complaint has been filed against former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, this time on the grounds that both she and her staff used official state facilities and resources for “partisan political purposes.”

Is Erik Prince ‘Graymailing’ the US Government?  —  The in-depth Vanity Fair profile of the infamous owner of Blackwater, Erik Prince, is remarkable on many levels—not least among them that Prince appeared to give the story's author, former CIA lawyer Adam Ciralsky, unprecedented access …

Beck's ‘Christmas Sweater’ flops in major cities, just 17 tickets sold in New York and Boston.  —  Last night, Fox News host Glenn Beck premiered his new live show based on his book The Christmas Sweater, which was simulcast to hundreds of movie theaters across the country.

Obama delays Copenhagen, raises stakes  —  by Jim Tankersley and updated 4:50 pm EST  —  President Barack Obama will push back his visit to the international climate change treaty negotiations in Copenhagen from the first week of the conference to its final scheduled day, a senior White House official said this afternoon.

Parliamentary Speaker: Climate debate derailed?  —  The Speaker of the Danish Parliament has issued a damning criticism of the climate debate, saying politicians gullibly turn theories into facts.  —  TEKST  —  As the world prepares to converge on Copenhagen for the COP15 Climate Summit …

The $700 billion man  —  NEVADA COUNTY, CALIF. — He wears no coat though it's freezing, shines no light though it's near midnight, carries no shotgun though he's tramping on the pine-needled tracks of black bears.  —  He wants to be lost in these woods.  —  “Come on, you bums,” …

No Way, No How, to the Public Option  —  The Connecticut senator, free of partisan loyalties, has a pivotal role in the health-care debate.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  'About two months ago my wife and I were out with another couple, and they said 'So, how's it going?'—and I knew what they meant.

The Conformity Movement  —  IN A RECENT CNN POLL, THE REPUBLICAN RANK AND FILE PREFERRED IDEOLOGICAL PURITY OVER ELECTABILITY.  —  Republicans may soon get their own version of the Ten Commandments.  Led by James Bopp Jr. of Indiana, a group of conservative members of the Republican National Committee plans …

The only doctor in town  —  Health-care reform hits a small-town reality: Even with insurance, you need somewhere to go  —  POST, TEX. — Another morning at the clinic.  Far away in Washington, the debate over health-care reform drags on, while here in barren West Texas, Ben Edwards is moving fast.

Similarities to Iraq Surge Plan Mask Risks in Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama strongly opposed President George W. Bush's surge in Iraq during his presidential campaign, and even now he has never publicly acknowledged that it was largely successful.

The Lost Weekend  —  The Senate is going to be in session all weekend, debating the big health care bill and arguing about which direction the cost-curve is heading.  This is a positive development on two counts.  It keeps senators off the streets while providing much-needed employment in the chart-making sector of our economy.

Sen. Sherrod Brown joins Republicans in demanding that Congress go on ‘public option,’ too  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Whenever Democrats talk about their proposed federally backed insurance plan, or public option, in the ongoing health-care debate, critics pipe up.

NV-Sen: Dear Harry, Kicking Your Ass is Going to be Fun  —  Harry Reid has raised a small fortune for his reelection campaign, and it's not working: … I've been talking to a lot of people in Arkansas recently, and they all say that Blanche Lincoln traded her vote on health care for her chairmanship of the Ag Committee.