memeorandum: Joe Manchin absent for two major Senate votes (Felicia Sonmez/Washington Post)

9:30 AM ET, December 19, 2010

Top Items:

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, Confederate Yankee, Bold Faith Type and DownWithTyranny!

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

John McCain at his fieriest before 'don't ask, don't tell' vote — If John McCain gets any more hostile toward his Senate colleagues, they might consider having him go through the metal detector before he enters the Capitol. — Saturday's debate on the repeal of the “don't-ask-don't-tell” …

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast, The Atlantic Online, Balloon Juice, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Manu Raju / The Politico:

John McCain's new role: GOP agitator — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is getting under the skin of Democrats these days - and he seems to be relishing it. — After Democrats scrapped a massive $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill on Thursday, McCain gloated about its defeat — and Democrats fumed.

Discussion: Pat Dollard

ABCNEWS:

Democrats Confident that 9/11 Health Bill Will Pass — One More Republican Vote Needed to Pass Bill for Responders and Victims — The first responders still suffering health effects more than nine years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks could get a “Christmas miracle” this year, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said today.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times, ThinkProgress and Raw Story

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: Washington Monthly, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Hill, Ben Smith's Blog, Liberal Values, The Note, Hot Air and Crooks and Liars

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Advances

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
START treaty survives threat from McCain amendment on missile defense

Discussion: Blue Wave News and National Review

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

Discussion: Off the Kuff, ACS Blog, Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Feministing, Blue Wave News, Lean Left, Gawker and Wake up America

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
DADT repeal wins!

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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

Discussion: Poliglot, Box Turtle Bulletin, Associated Press, The Impolitic, Michelle Malkin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, HotAirPundit and The Other McCain

CNN:
Senate votes to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'

Discussion: This Just In, The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway, Runnin' Scared and Pharyngula

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

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

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: America's Voice Blog, Don Surber, TPMDC, Daily Kos, FrumForum and HotAirPundit

Alison Knezevich / Squawk Box:
Manchin skips votes on DADT, DREAM Act

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

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog: Manchin's whereabouts — Today's minor mystery was the location …

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Gays in the Military, ROTC back on Campus? — Now that the lame duck Democratic Congress has repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), the new Congress will have to see to it that the Obama administration manages the implementation of repeal responsibly, and that the concerns of military leaders and troops are taken seriously.

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Ivies moving toward restoring ROTC — Some top universities moved quickly Saturday to respond to the vote repealing the ban on gays in the military, and those who don't restore their ROTC programs in the wake of the vote are likely to face immediate pressure on the issue.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

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

Andrea Nill / ThinkProgress:
As DREAM Act Fails, Graham Tells Undocumented Youth They Wasted Their Time

Discussion: The Hill and Left Coast Rebel

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

Discussion: National Review, The Anchoress, Bookworm Room, The Politico, msnbc.com and Moe Lane

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Senate Blocks Bill for Illegal Immigrant Students

Discussion: Swampland, The Note, Sky Dancing, Don Surber, No More Mister Nice Blog, neo-neocon, Washington Monthly, Vox Popoli, The Reality-Based Community, Truthdig, GayPatriot and Outside the Beltway

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 Independent, The Greenroom, The Moderate Voice, Agence France Presse, The Confluence 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: White House.gov Blog Feed

Michael Kinsley / New York Times:

Bush on Bush — They call themselves, smugly, “41” and “43,” meaning the 41st and 43rd presidents of the United States. You're supposed to prefer the father, all graciousness and handwritten little notes, over the son, who — even in memoirs written at age 64 after two terms as president — seems callow.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs

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: LewRockwell.com Blog, Economist's View, The Big Picture and New York Times

Associated Press:

Gays see repeal as a civil rights milestone — NEW YORK (AP) — Allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as gay marriage still lies ahead. — The Senate voted Saturday to end …

Discussion: Informed Comment and Patterico's Pontifications