memeorandum: Defeat of immigration measure reveals failed White House strategy, advocates say (Shankar Vedantam/Washington Post)

8:45 PM ET, December 18, 2010

Top Items:

Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Advances — WASHINGTON — After a 17-year struggle, the Senate on Saturday cleared the way for repealing the Pentagon's ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military. — By a bipartisan vote of 63 to 33, the Senate acted to cut off debate …

Discussion: Poliglot, Riehl World View, Gothamist, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, Runnin' Scared, Associated Press, Truthdig and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Senate Blocks Bill for Illegal Immigrant Students — The Senate on Saturday blocked a bill that would create a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrant students who came to the United States as children, completed two years of college or military service and met other requirements including passing a criminal background check.

Discussion: The Note, Swampland, Don Surber, Sky Dancing, neo-neocon, Vox Popoli, Truthdig, GayPatriot, Outside the Beltway and The Reality-Based Community

Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:

Eight Republicans back 'Don't ask' repeal — Eight Republicans bucked their party in backing the repeal of the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy, potentially risking a backlash from the conservative base while giving the historic vote a stronger bipartisan finish than many expected.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Note

Bryan Fischer / afa.net:

Benedict Arnold Republicans destroy military and our national security — We are now stuck with sexual deviants serving openly in the U.S. military because of turncoat Republican senators. — (Dictionary definition of “deviant”: “departing from usual or accepted standards, esp. in social or sexual behavior.”

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Bold Faith Type and DownWithTyranny!

The Politico:

DREAM Act dies in Senate — The weeks of rallies, hunger strikes and sit-ins and the thousands of phone calls placed to Senate offices didn't pay off for immigration activists. — The decade-old DREAM Act once again failed to break a filibuster in the Senate on Saturday morning …

Discussion: Weigel, Michelle Malkin, Ben Smith's Blog, Liberal Values, The Gateway Pundit and FrumForum

Shankar Vedantam / Washington Post:

Defeat of immigration measure reveals failed White House strategy, advocates say — Whenever Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and other immigrant-rights advocates asked President Obama how a Democratic administration could preside over the greatest number of deportations in any two-year period …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Senate votes to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell' — The Senate voted 65 to 31 Saturday to repeal the “don't ask, don't tell” law, beginning the process of ending a 17-year ban on gays serving openly in the military and reversing decades of official military policy.

Discussion: Fox News, The Mahablog, The Moderate Voice, PostPartisan, Pam's House Blend, Taylor Marsh and The Gateway Pundit

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Senate Repeals Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Discussion: Examiner, Lean Left and Gawker

Scott Wong / The Politico:
'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal wins final passage

Discussion: The Hill, Power Line, FrumForum and Liberty Pundits Blog

USA Today:
Senate passes 'don't ask,' sends repeal to Obama

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Impolitic

CNN:
Senate passes 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Runnin' Scared and Pharyngula

The Hill:
Senate breaks GOP filibuster, advances 'Don't ask' repeal

Discussion: The Politico, NO QUARTER, Ben Smith's Blog, Sky Dancing, The Note, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, White House.gov Blog Feed, The Hill, ABCNEWS and National Review

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
DADT Breaks Filibuster

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and TPMDC

Bridget Johnson / The Hill: Pro-immigration groups decry ‘shameful’ vote; enforcement groups vow new push

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Advances In Senate — Final Vote Likely This Weekend

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, Feministing, Blue Wave News, Wake up America, Talking Points Memo and pandagon.net

Julia Preston / New York Times:
Bill to Grant Legal Status to Immigrant Students Heads to a Vote in the Senate

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Note, The Politico, NewsBusters.org blogs, America's Voice Blog, CNN and White House.gov Blog Feed

Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily:
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal Passes Senate, But Change Will Take Time

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Senate advances bill to lift military gay ban

Discussion: GayPatriot, The Other McCain and Patterico's Pontifications

CNN:
Senate to hold final vote on 'don't ask, don't tell,' DREAM Act fails

Discussion: Jezebel

Anne Flaherty / The Huffington Post:
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal Faces Senate Vote Today

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Manchin's whereabouts — Today's minor mystery was the location of newly-minted West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who missed key votes on the DREAM Act and the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.” (He says he would have voted “no” on both.) — The Gazette reports:

Alison Knezevich / Squawk Box:

Manchin skips votes on DADT, DREAM Act — Today is a big day in the U.S. Senate, and Sen. Joe Manchin isn't there. — Manchin missed key votes today on the repeal of “don't ask, don't tell” — which advanced and is headed for a final vote this afternoon — and the DREAM Act …

Discussion: The Note, TPMCafe, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, Washington Post, AOL News and Whiskey Fire

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:

Joe Manchin absent for two major Senate votes — When the Senate took two of its most highly anticipated votes of the lame-duck session on Saturday, West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin was nowhere to be found. — Manchin, who was sworn into office last month after winning …

Discussion: TPMDC and Daily Kos

Andrea Nill / ThinkProgress:

As DREAM Act Fails, Graham Tells Undocumented Youth They Wasted Their Time — Today, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Fourty-one mostly Republican senators voted against a bill which would have provided young undocumented immigrants …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
DREAM Act cloture fails, 55-41

Discussion: National Review, The Hill, The Anchoress and Don Surber

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
SENATE KILLS ‘DREAM ACT’.... It should have been an easy one.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Bold Faith Type

Carrie Dann / msnbc.com:
DREAM Act blocked in Senate

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Gothamist, USA Today, Crooks and Liars, iOwnTheWorld.com, Wake up America and Moe Lane

Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily: Immigration End Game: DREAM Act Defeated in the Senate

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

START treaty survives threat from McCain amendment on missile defense — The Senate voted 37 to 59 on Saturday to reject an amendment to the preamble of the New START nuclear treaty that Democrats say would have gutted it. — The amendment sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) …

Discussion: Blue Wave News and National Review

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Treaty Proceeds as Language Remains Intact

Discussion: The Hill

The White House:
Weekly Address: START is About the Safety and Security of America …

Discussion: Politics Daily

Army Court-Martial Defense Specialist / The Law Office …:

A Typical Day for PFC Bradley Manning — PFC Manning is currently being held in maximum custody. Since arriving at the Quantico Confinement Facility in July of 2010, he has been held under Prevention of Injury (POI) watch. — His cell is approximately six feet wide and twelve feet in length.

Discussion: The Confluence, Salon and Balloon Juice

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Obama's Long Game: 65 - 31 — Do gay activists, including myself, want to doubt it now? Of course, it's my job to push, to criticize, to explain, to shame, to encourage. But I did so precisely to advance what has happened today, and am glad that it was a small part of the climate that made it happen.

Discussion: Above the Law

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Whose Party Is It? — The far left is foaming at the mouth. — The near-apoplectic level of agita within the liberal screeching class over President Obama's tax-cut compromise has exposed a seismic crack in the Democratic monolith — outspoken liberal Democrats on one side and barely audible moderate Democrats on the other.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, INSTAPUTZ and Daily Kos

Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Conservatives Continue to Outnumber Moderates in 2010

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys and Wake up America

Paul Krugman:

Springtime for Hypocrites — It has been a great week on the hypocrisy front. A couple of high points: — The hypocrisy of the apparatchiks: Joe Nocera amplifies some of the points I made in my column. The determination of the Republicans on the crisis commission to lay the blame …

Discussion: Economist's View, LewRockwell.com Blog and Real Time Economics