Patrick R. Donahoe began his first congressional hearing as postmaster general-designate on a sunny note.

“Despite recent headlines, the Postal Service remains a very strong and motivated organization,” he told a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee on Thursday.

Motivated for sure.

But moments after Donahoe’s brief bit of optimism, he described an organization that is financially very weak.

“Our total loss for [fiscal 2010] year was $8.5 billion,” said Donahoe, who officially becomes postmaster general Saturday.

Read More of this Article by Joe Davidson in the The Washington Post…