Author: Andrew Sullivan

Politifact notes John McCain's total reversal from his previous, oft-stated position on DADT. How much bitter can be compressed into one soul before it implodes?

David Frum counters Will Wilkinson in three posts (one, two, three). In his final post Frum explains how he would like to change DREAM:

Here would be my three main suggestions:

1) Lower the age of entry into the US. Even the new versions of the law extend amnesty to people who entered the US up to age 16. That allows too many people who entered on their own impetus rather than as part of a family group – and too many people whose first language will never be English. I’d lower to 12, to ensure we really are talking about children who have spent half or more of their lives in the US.

2) False statements in the application should be prosecutable. As written, lying on the forms is still a good one-way option: it might help, and it can’t hurt.

3) For those who choose enlistment rather than college, I’d require honorable discharge rather than 2 years service as a prerequisite for regularization. For those who choose college rather than enlistment, I’d like to see some measure- I’m not sure how to write such a rule myself – to prevent the emergence of a huge industry of fly by night institutions that will enroll (and keep enrolled) all paying customers regardless of how terribly they perform. As the law is now written, that last is an all too likely consequence.

With those changes, DREAM could be genuinely useful as part of a package of immigration reforms …

 

A reader writes:

You can too take a date out on a bike, especially if he or she also rides a bike.  In fact, going for a bike ride is a great date in and of itself.  The lack of imagination of car-centric people in this country makes me crazy.

Another writes:

I wooed my wife on my bicycle.  My bike accommodates an adult passenger, and I rode her up Capitol Hill after taking in some art at the Hirschorn.

Another:

Living in Portland, a city well-designed and continuously improved for bike commuting (we even have a fantastic, well-respected blog dedicated to news about biking and the riding community), I have to agree with the reader's list of ways that having a car is helpful. However, the other readers' comment about taking a date out on a bike is less true all the time; I had one of my best days out with the dog, the sweetie and a rented cargo bike.

Another:

Dates by bike are liberating – no car to park, the freedom to have a couple of drinks with no remorse, the endorphins of a little exercise, and, in our case, extremely intimate when we ride tandem. (Here's a photo of one of our rigs.) There's time to talk and enjoy your surroundings together. Plus, like a convertible, the top is always down on a bike. With the right bike, even dressing up for the symphony or theater is not a problem. A midnight ride home on a warm summer night is about as alive as you can feel. With the right clothes, even a little inclement weather can't stop the fun. 

Another:

Several years ago I was working outside the town of Parma, Italy. I met a wonderful woman whose terrible English matched my terrible Italian. But we liked each other, and after some strained conversation, she asked if I "like bicycles," to which I said, "Yes," and that evening found us on a pair of bikes, flowing down the streets of Parma. A few days later we parted ways for good, but that date stands as one of these most idyllic in my young life. I remember every cobblestone and streetlight.

Actually, a half-dozen of them.

Tis the season for kick-ass Christmas lights:

 

Jonathan Bernstein responds in detail.

Drum agonizes:

During the lame duck session, a continuing public dedication to bipartisanship might make sense because there may still be a few bills that he can pass with just a few Republican votes. And it's easier to get those votes if he's not out in the Rose Garden every day telling the world that Republicans are all obstructionist assholes.

But — starting next year that won't be true anymore.

Republicans will control the House, and in the Senate it will take a significant chunk of the GOP caucus to get anything passed. Sweet talking Olympia Snowe will no longer even arguably be a viable strategy. Obama's only hope is to draw dramatic contrasts with Republican orthodoxy, call them out relentlessly on their obstructionism and corporate obeisance, and try to rally public opinion to his side. It might not work, but there's no better alternative.

My view is that this will only work if Obama outflanks the GOP on long-term debt-reduction. He needs to make it the signature reform of his last two years just as health insurance reform was the lodestar of his first two. And they are bookends – united by being tough, difficult questions which need addressing now by a president who can use his bully pulpit to insist on long-term debt reduction in the next two years. When he has more concrete plans for this than the GOP, the tea party heads will explode.

Ed Rollins, who worked in the Reagan administration, isn't a fan of the former half-term governor from Alaska:

Ms. Palin, serious stuff needs to be accomplished in Washington.

If you want to be a player, go to school and learn the issues. Put smart people around you and listen to them. If you want to be taken seriously, be serious. You’ve already got your own forum. If you want to be a serious presidential candidate, get to work. If you want to be an imitator of Ronald Reagan, go learn something about him and respect his legacy.

If you want to be a gadfly, just keep doing what you’re doing.

"People Hate Kim Kardashian's Tweets More Than AIDS," – Max Read, Gawker.