Does Obama Have a Secret Lame-Duck Strategy?

They say the blog form encourages the piling up of discrete, unorganized little thoughts on relatively obscure topics of obsessive interest. You got a problem with that?  ...

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1."White House Continues Appeal for DREAM Act"

"Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday that Congress can’t afford to wait to pass the DREAM Act, even as immigration allies acknowledge there’s little hope of getting the bill done in the lame-duck session."

Indeed, there was a White House "youth webchat" on the subject Monday and there's an off-record conference call at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday (800-398-9402—ask for "DREAM Act Call"). But no vote in either house of Congress, apparently.

Which raises the question: Is it really in the Obama administration's interest to flail around for weeks on this issue—instead of concentrating on other debates more pertinent to the voters' No. 1 concern, the unemployment rate—if DREAM is going to lose?

If I were cynically optimistic, which I'm not, I might conclude that Nancy Pelosi is having trouble even rounding up a majority for DREAM in the House. (Perhaps the half of the Blue Dog caucus that got wiped out in the midterms is less than grateful to Pelosi at this point.)

If I were paranoid, which I am, I might conclude that the White House or Hill Democrats are dragging it out because they actually hold out some hope of winning--perhaps by attaching DREAM to a bigger bill in some sort of insidiuous tax-cuts-for-amnesty grand bargain. ... Update: If so, they're being very quiet about it, I admit ...

Backfill: More on the DREAM threat here. My overall position on immigration is here ... 1:14 a.m.

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2. Mexico City is "The Bubble": A capital city

once obsessed with its own crime problem has now become a safe haven, spared the public shootouts, street blockades, and dismembered bodies ravaging the border, where the violence no longer offers any warnings or obeys any rules.

Mexico faces an unusual historical moment in which the most critical national issue is playing out nearly everywhere but the place where decisions get made.

The whole, clear-eyed dispatch from Cecilia Balli is here ... 1:11 a.m.

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3. Where is Maximin When You Need It?  Former INS chief Doris Meissner argues that greater immigration only hurts those at the bottom. So, hey, what's the problem? ... 1:10 a.m.

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4. I might go along with the idea that Rep. Luis Gutierrez is a Latino "Martin Luther King figure"  when—in "his confrontational style"—he does something that actually threatens to hurt his political career. ... P.S.: I always thought Cesar Chavez was the Latino Martin Luther King. But then Chavez opposed illegal immigration for much of his career, so he won't do. ... P.P.S.: Newsweek quotes Gutierrez as saying:

“I have only one loyalty,” he says, “and that’s to the immigrant community.”

Really? He can he get away with that? He's a U.S. congressman and has no loyalty to nonimmigrant Americans, or America as a whole? Michelle Obama couldn't get away with the African American equivalent ... Note: I'm not saying Gutierrez has opened himself up to a charge of "dual loyalty." He's declaring single loyalty. Dual loyalty would be an improvement ... 1:08 a.m.

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5. Tamar vs. Luis: Tamar Jacoby only now realizes that her cause—amnesty for illegal immigrants, as part of "comprehensive" reform—is fueled by identity politics? ... 1:07 a.m.

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6. I had an enjoyable interview with independent-minded Joe Hicks on his PJTV show. Here's Part 1, which covers me running for office, Obama running General Motors, and ... the DREAM Act. Also whether the president is burdened with being an "affirmative-action baby"... P.S.: High production values! Compared with bloggingheads, anyway. They had a greenscreen as big as the Ritz ... 1:05 a.m.

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