Meanwhile, three former service members have filed suit in federal court arguing that the policy is unconstitutional. And the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has two more lawsuits in the pipeline. Repeal via the courts looks more likely now than it ever has before. While Republicans might enjoy that, because it would give them a chance to complain about activist judges, the Pentagon -- and lawmakers like Sen. Lieberman -- would much prefer legislative repeal to judicial repeal.

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No one seems to know exactly where everyone stands. It looked like Maine Senator Susan Collins agreed to vote for the defense authorization bill in exchange for four days of floor debate and 15 amendments, but Reid might think that's just another delaying tactic. So... Reid may hold a vote today, or this week, in which case Collins will almost certainly vote against it.

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The DREAM Act provides a lengthy and fairly arduous path to citizenship for people who immigrated to America as children and then attended college or served honorably in the armed forces, providing they spend a decade on their very, very best behavior. Olympia Snowe has come out against it. Because there are too many immigrants:

"Millions of illegal immigrants could attempt to become legal residents as a result of this proposal, according to some estimates, and it is incumbent upon the Senate to ensure our policies never again lead to a situation where we are confronted with upwards of 12 million illegal immigrants residing within our borders."

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Primary Republican negotiator Sen. Jon Kyl would like to delay the vote until the new Congress begins, so that Rand Paul has a chance to vote "no," but if the Obama administration can round up enough moderate Republican "yes" votes, they'd really like to get this thing done during the lame duck session. What would help Susan Collins make up her mind, exactly?

"It would be wonderful if President [George H.W.] Bush would come out for the treaty. That would be so powerful and definitely help," Collins said in a telephone interview last week.

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Republicans will filibuster, and attempt to add other amendments. Reid's plan:

Democrats have said Reid planned to allow votes on only three significant amendments: one to strip the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal language, one to add the DREAM Act and another to end the practice of secret holds on legislation and nominations.

It will take 60 votes to bring the authorization bill to the floor with DADT repeal attached, and 60 votes to add the DREAM act.

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(Assuming the House approves this, that is, after they return from recess. Unless they revolt over something like the fact that the bill is funded in part by rolling back food stamp benefits and gutting a renewable energy investment fund.)

Republicans -- who "support" state aid, as long as it's paid for -- then tried to kill this paid-for state aid with the usual rules tricks, but that failed. And now everyone is moving on to making grandstanding speeches about Elena Kagan, which should be entertaining. (Like, here's Roland Burris! Enjoy every minute of this, Roland.)

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President Obama nominated Southers for the post back in September. Even after the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day, though, Southers' confirmation has been stalled. First, it was held up because Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., was concerned that the nominee would allow TSA workers to unionize. Now, DeMint and other Republicans say they're worried about inconsistencies in Southers' account of a decades-old incident in which he inappropriately accessed confidential information.

Meanwhile, despite -- or perhaps because of -- the substantial amount of attention Southers has gotten as a result of his stalled nomination and the Christmas attack, the details of his career prior to being nominated have remained unexplored. Regardless of political agendas on either side of the aisle, Southers does have impressive qualifications: He'd bring over three decades of experience in law enforcement, counterterrorism and airport security to the job.

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One member of the Senate's Democratic caucus, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., has already said he intends to support a filibuster if the bill includes a public option. And he's not the only one saying something like that -- Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska are also talking defection.

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In a statement, Collins said, "I know that I will not agree with every decision Justice Sotomayor reaches on the Court, just as I disagree with some of her previous decisions. However ... I have concluded that Judge Sotomayor understands the proper rule of a judge and is committed to applying the law impartially without bias or favoritism."

On Friday, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said he would support Sotomayor. Maine's other senator, Olympia Snowe, has also said Sotomayor has her vote, as has Florida Sen. Mel Martinez.

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I've written previously about the various stimulus funding for disease prevention and other health-related programs that was opposed by the GOP for one reason or another. As I said back then, I think that money was -- despite what critics said -- stimulative, and should have remained in the bill: Not only would jobs have been created as programs were created or expanded, but many of them would have led to future savings. And I do think this is a good time to remind voters why this kind of spending is something worth supporting.

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Gen. David Petraeus: If we arrived at that point a year from now, that is something that I would have to think very, very hard about, and that is my honest answer to you right now. That would be a very, very difficult recommendation to make at that time.

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In committee chambers, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was scheduled to address Lieberman and his colleagues on home-front progress in the "war on terror." On the Senate floor, his colleagues were beginning debate on a bipartisan port security bill that Lieberman had nurtured for months. And in the afternoon, Lieberman was scheduled to unveil a new painting to commemorate the Connecticut Compromise of 1787, when America's forefathers agreed to set their differences aside to hammer out the structure of the U.S. Constitution. At every stop along the way, Lieberman planned to take a moment to praise moderation and compromise, his campaign theme as he runs an independent campaign against the liberal upstart Lamont.

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Unwilling to throw their support behind the Democrats' proposal, the backtracking Republicans sponsored their own amendment to close the loophole. Not wanting to let Republicans get away with it, however, most Democrats in turn opposed the Republican amendment. It narrowly passed the Senate on Friday, 48-47, with only one Democrat, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, supporting it.

The loophole, backed by the National Rifle Association, allows the purchase of firearms at gun shows without background checks. The Democrats' original proposal, an amendment to the Juvenile Justice bill sponsored by Sen Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., would have closed the loophole. Only six Republicans supported the Democrats' original measure, however, and it lost in Wednesday's vote, 51-47.

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There were a few notable exercises in hyperbole. Recognizing the profound unpopularity of the impeachment proceedings, especially among women and minorities, Republicans are now going to great lengths to remind Americans that the Monica Lewinsky mess grew out of the president's alleged efforts to obstruct a federal civil rights case -- and that's Civil Rights, with a capital C and R. To hear Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R.-Wisc., defend the House case, you might have thought Clinton was on trial for bringing back Jim Crow, not lying about a sexual liaison with an office subordinate. After recounting the civil rights gains of this century, Sensenbrenner told senators "it's not time to abandon" the country's heroic struggle for civil rights. He challenged them to follow in the footsteps of those "who achieved equal rights for all Americans during the 1960s in Congress, in the courts and on the streets and in the buses and at the lunch counters."

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But as senators basked in the glow of bipartisan accommodation, most insiders knew it marked a pleasant calm before a storm of partisan warfare returns to Washington.

Senators who were friends on Friday are already plotting against one another. And this time, there doesn't seem much that can save either side. Friday, we were all on Noah's Ark singing happily, wearing our raincoats. But by Monday it was clear: This is one leaky boat, and there aren't any bipartisan life preservers.

The devil is in the details, they always say. Upon further reflection, both sides now have to view the details as a map to the river of no return. We should have known. When Ted Kennedy and Phil Gramm are crafting bipartisan treaties, the apocalypse is upon us.

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