Today on the Dish, Andrew examined the differences between his appearance on Charlie Rose and the WSJ’s editorial, hoped that the benefits of marriage would soon be equal opportunity, parsed the arguments, and celebrated the early signs of a moderate outcome. Elsewhere, Douthat described a world without the Iraq war and Boris took a beating from the British press.
As the Supreme Court heard arguments in Perry v. Brown, past SCOTUS decisions bucked popular opinion, Cass Sunstein explained the benefits of a narrow ruling, and Greenwald heralded the defeat of defeatism. Josh Barro made the fiscal case for marriage equality as Frum completed his turnaround, McArdle connected marriage equality and “traditional morality,” and Allahpundit looked ahead to marriage equality’s role in the 2016 primaries. Nate Silver found hope in marriage equality’s steady polling advances, as Republicans divided along demographic lines and Christie picked the wrong side of a Jersey wedge issue. We took Twitter’s temperature on the hearing, compared Perry to Roe as readers chimed in, and applauded straight allies. Scalia and Olson exchanged questions, we reviewed “standing,” Lyle Denniston played out the possibilities in a deadlock, and Dale Carpenter read the tea leaves, as even the lawyers had trouble making predictions. After all this time, MLK Jr.’s and Hannah Arendt’s words continued to ring true, and the struggle for marriage equality was nothing new.
In assorted news and views, a reader pointed out Weez’s wrongdoing, Freddie deBoer poo-pooed the Pebble watch, smartphones proved a popular target for thieves, and robots took over the valet stand. Carl Zimmer defended “basic research,” money mattered in March Madness, and we envied the “sleepless elite” while distracting ourselves to get rid of earworms.
Meanwhile, we pondered prenuptial agreements, Elizabeth Samet questioned the belief that soldiers make the best politicians, Brits narced on their neighbors, and TNC dove into the deep end to learn french. A butterfly perched precariously in the FOTD, we stopped by Senegal in the VFYW, and peeked in on panda playtime in the MHB.
– D.A.
(Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty.)
The Dish 