Some reads from across the Web, 12/9

1. A watchdog group has found the $700 billion bailout has worked, sort of.  The group determined that the money helped avert a major economic meltdown, but failed to achieve most of the goals set by Congress.
2. The specifics of the Senate’s compromise on the public option are beginning to leak.
3. Gen. McChrystal said something in yesterday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing that should have everyone concerned, writes Slate’s Fred Kaplan.
4. In 2006, Dick Cheney reportedly said, “If there’s a 1% chance that Pakistani scientists are helping Al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response.” Tom Friedman thinks this doctrine should be applied to climate change.
5. The Washington Post is getting heat today for publishing an op-ed by Sarah Palin calling for the president to boycott Copenhagen.  Marc Ambinder rehashes the piece with some annotations.