Letter from President Andy Stern to SEIU members: Where do we go from here?  —  A little over a year ago, you stood up and showed a nation that Yes, We Can.  You knocked on doors, picked up phones, wrote your friends and family and neighbors and helped ring in a resounding victory.

Axelrod: Left ‘insane’ to sink bill  —  Trying to stave off a sudden fusillade from the left, White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Thursday that Howard Dean's criticisms of health-care reform are “predicated on a bunch of erroneous conclusions” and that for progressives to torpedo the legislation …

Climategate goes SERIAL: now the Russians confirm that UK climate scientists manipulated data to exaggerate global warming  —  Climategate just got much, much bigger.  And all thanks to the Russians who, with perfect timing, dropped this bombshell just as the world's leaders are gathering …

Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones  —  $26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq; Iranian Backing Suspected  —  WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need …

Sarah Palin's McCain Cover Up  —  For the first time ever, Sarah Palin used her head to make a searing political comment — a frontal attack on Sen. John McCain.  —  The failed Vice Presidential nominee took time off from shilling her book to vacation with her son Trig …

20 Questions, 20 Responses  —  I'm happy that this debate seems to be evolving into something a little more civilized on all sides.  This is my response to Markos Moulitsas (DK) at Daily Kos and Jon Walker (JW) at FireDogLake who were kind enough to respond to the 20 questions I posed earlier.

Democrat Blues Grow Deeper in New Poll  —  For First Time, Voters Split Over Who They Want in Control After 2010 Elections, and Obama's Approval Rating Falls Below 50%  —  President Obama makes a statement on health care after meeting with Senators on Tuesday.

Success on health reform holds risks for Democrats  —  President Obama needs an exit strategy.  I am not referring to Afghanistan or Iraq (though there are quite a few similarities between the situation Obama is in on health-care reform and the political difficulties President George W. Bush faced on Iraq).

Dramatic American intervention brings climate deal closer  —  Ben Webster and Philippe Naughton in Copenhagen  —  The United States today pledged support for a $100 billion annual climate protection fund in a move that could clinch a global deal just as the Copenhagen summit appeared to be heading for failure.

Penny Wong jeered, Hugo Chavez cheered  —  THE Copenhagen climate summit was pretty much summed up in the high-level segment yesterday when Penny Wong's speech was interrupted by whistles and chanting and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez got a standing ovation.

Blizzard Dumps Snow on Copenhagen as Leaders Battle Warming  —  Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight.

Private Provision of Public Services  —  Ed Kilgore has a very interesting item essentially pleading for people to take the ideological disagreements inside the left-of-center camp more seriously.  He points out that one of the most controversial elements of “third way” …

Intelligence Improperly Collected on U.S. Citizens  —  WASHINGTON — In February, a Department of Homeland Security intelligence official wrote a “threat assessment” for the police in Wisconsin about a demonstration involving local pro- and anti-abortion rights groups.

Obama's war plan up, health plan down  —  Who would have thought that President Barack Obama, who campaigned with pledges to bring American troops home from Iraq and offer health care to millions of more Americans, would face growing public support for his decision to deploy more forces …

50% Now Say Global Warming Caused by Long-Term Planetary Trends, Political Class Strongly Disagrees  —  Public skepticism about the officially promoted cause of global warming has reached an all-time high among Americans.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% …