An Affordable Truth  —  Maybe I'm naïve, but I'm feeling optimistic about the climate talks starting in Copenhagen on Monday.  President Obama now plans to address the conference on its last day, which suggests that the White House expects real progress.

NPR reporter pressured over Fox role  —  Executives at National Public Radio recently asked the network's top political correspondent, Mara Liasson, to reconsider her regular appearances on Fox News because of what they perceived as the network's political bias, two sources familiar with the effort said.

Tea Party Tops GOP on Three-Way Generic Ballot  —  Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.  —  In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote.

Obama Silent On Public Option In Speech To Senators  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  As President Obama finished his speech to the Democratic caucus in the Capitol's Mansfield Room on Sunday afternoon, Joe Lieberman made his way over to Harry Reid.  —  The independent who still caucuses …

U.S. Forecasts Smaller Loss From Bailout of Banks  —  WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department expects to recover all but $42 billion of the $370 billion it has lent to ailing companies since the financial crisis began last year, with the portion lent to banks actually showing a slight profit, according to a new Treasury report.

McChrystal's plan for Afghanistan war remains largely intact  —  When he finishes testifying on Capitol Hill this week, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, will return to Kabul to implement a war strategy that is largely unchanged after a three-month-long White House review of the conflict.

Girlfriends and Double Standards  —  Before Max Baucus there was Paul Wolfowitz.  Will the ethical uproar be the same?  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Here's a poser: Suppose a public official is accused of recommending his girlfriend for a promotion, though he was the one who first flagged …

Pearl Harbor mini-submarine mystery solved?  —  Researchers think they have found the remains of a Japanese mini-submarine that probably fired on U.S. battleships on Dec. 7, 1941.  —  Japanese warplanes hit, from left, the USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee and USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

Palin's Father: She Left Hawaii Because Asians Made Her Uncomfortable  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Did Sarah Palin leave Hawaii because there were too many Asians?  In the New Yorker review of “Going Rogue,” Sam Tanenhaus writes that Palin's father suggested as much to the reporters who wrote “Sarah From Alaska.”

To really save the planet, stop going green  —  As President Obama heads to Copenhagen next week for global warming talks, there's one simple step Americans back home can take to help out: Stop “going green.”  Just stop it.  No more compact fluorescent light bulbs.  No more green wedding planning.

Supreme Court to take up corruption law  —  ‘Honest services’ called too vague; prosecutors call provision vital  —  The Supreme Court this week will consider whether to apply the brakes to what critics have called a vague and limitless law that has proved essential to federal prosecutors …