Here are all our posts in which millennial readers write in to explain the origins of their political beliefs. Thu Nov 29, 2012 – 8.08pm: A Letter From A Millennial Voter A reader writes: I was born in 1984. The first election I was able to vote in on a Presidential level was 2004, in … Continue reading Letters From Millennial Voters
Yesterday the Senate passed a USPS reform bill. Kevin Drum doesn't think it goes far enough. He points out that postage is going to have to rise:
Today on the Dish, Andrew Jackson put "rich men" in their place, a small carton of two-percent milk wanted in on OWS, and Dreher complicated the ideology of meritocracy. Herman Cain welcomed us to the "Hermanator Experience," the 9-9-9 plan may have been lifted from SimCity even as it represents an amplification of Republican orthodoxy, and PM Carpenter refused to take Cain's candidacy seriously. Ron Paul connected life and … Continue reading The Weekly Wrap
Today on the Dish, Andrew vicodin-live-blogged the Bloomberg debate, and we compiled reax here. Andrew endorsed a big, serious program of infrastructure spending and tax reform, he elaborated on his interpretation of Biblical truths, and he wanted the executive branch to be more transparent about the execution of al-Awlaki. In our video feature, he explained how Oakeshott made a conservatism of the present possible.
As Chris Christie and the GOP establishment coalesced around Mitt Romney, more proof emerged that Mittens godfathered Obamacare. Bruce Bartlett fisked the 9-9-9 plan as Cain grabbed the lead in Iowa, the pizza tycoon tried to sell his ignorance of foreign policy as a political asset, and Larison, Yglesias, and a reader in Uzbekistan cringed. While we wondered if Perry could mount a comeback, TNC was more interested in what the Texas governor's constituents had to say. Ezra Klein stood by the Obama administration's approach to the economic crisis, and David Frum stuck with the party of less government.
The NYPD’s crackdown of Occupy Wall Street egged the protests on, a reader echoed Gregory Djerejian's sympathy for Occupy Wall Street as a movement to re-balance society, but analogies to Tahrir Square go too far. It does matter what Wall Street does, and the top one percent dominates total assets. #OccupySesameStreet caught on, Freddie deBoer condemned the entitled grievances of some of the occupiers, and Pete Wehner had the gall to advise Democrats to run from the OWS "tiger."
Burma is liberalizing "by imposition," Netanyahu has institutionalized right-wing ideology in Israel along neoconservative lines, and the Libya intervention will prove instructive when it comes to R2P and regime change. Readers defended the sanctity of Steve Jobs, and we lingered on his advice to do only what we love. Unorthodox accounting tricks obscure the fact that the USPS actually makes money, Jeff Deeney took us back to his old cracked-out stomping grounds, and we relished autumn. A beagle made the perfect landing, sterilizing your pet may induce depression, and successful marriages require extramarital passion and purpose. We marveled at the extreme curiosity of a physicist, Beyoncé danced a fine line between sampling and stealing, and "giant prehistoric Krakens may have sculpted self-portraits using Ichthyosaur bones."
FOTD here, MHB here, Hathos alert here, VFYW here, and VFYW contest winner #71 here.
— M.A.
A reader continues the thread:
Hi! I'm a consumer with a wife, a child, two dogs, a small house, two vehicles, and a 10-year-old home theater system. From my vantage point, my entertainment future is, quite frankly, fucked.
A reader writes:
I know you’ve covered this subject extensively, but have you read this article in the Washington Post?
In addition to structural reforms, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) suggested that USPS should mount a national advertising campaign promoting the value of printed mail. "You cannot get money by text message," McCaskill said. “I really think that there is a longing out there right now, especially in these uncertain times, for some of the things that have provided stability over the years." … Lieberman voiced his support, suggesting, "We should be writing more passionate letters to those we love."
How idiotic are these people? First class mail is DEAD. I’ve been paying bills online for a decade, and I can send money through email to anyone with a PayPal account. Does McCaskill live in 2011, or in 1950?
Today on the Dish, the economy boasted zero new jobs for August. Frum and Bernstein went another round on whether the stimulus worked, and we wondered if Congress was going to do nothing about impending spending cuts and tax increases. Palin tried to reassure us she won't be springing a presidential campaign over the holiday … Continue reading The Weekly Wrap
Today on the Dish, in the aftermath to Irene, magic mushrooms bloomed, giant Gambian rats surfaced, and we parsed the reactions of the media and government. Bachmann blamed Irene on bloated government spending (ironically), global warming didn't cause Irene, and the real person behind @Irene remained calm. The right asked Perry to exchange identity politics for some actual policies, Erica Grieder expected him to follow public opinion, and we ran the numbers on a possible independent party bid. We exposed the Islamophobia racket, Peter Beinart eulogized neoconservatism, Zack went after Wehner's attack on the Obama economy, and TNC wasn't having Ron Paul's thoughts on FEMA. Perry compared his brain to chicken pot pie, and Brian Thill dissected the candidates' iconography.
Cameron's support for the Libyan intervention resembled Tony Blair's liberal view, we analyzed the spelling of Qaddafi's name, and we wondered if we'll need a big army if future interventions look like Libya's. The Middle East's bread riots aren't the region's first, one man's story of limbo at Guantanamo stands for many, and the fact that many of the revolutions were leaderless means the future of those countries can be determined in due time.
Humans aren't good at picking people out of a lineup, racists walk among us, and domestic terrorism was curtailed by suspect "preventative" measures. Bisexuality remains taboo even in progressive circles, the history of debt touches on sin and the sacred, and we reviewed a new film on lesbian romance in Iran. Readers connected infinity to Borges and Neil Gaiman and their own terror, attacked junk mail, and didn't want to be your gay best friend. David Sirota was sick of vegetarian foods glorifying fake meat, and Greek yogurt hails from Bulgaria.
Hathos alert here, creepy ad watch here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
–Z.P.
Today on the Dish, a rebel commandeered Qaddafi's hat, Muammar was still nowhere to be found, and Yglesias invoked Francis Fukuyama’s The End Of History. Factionalism among the rebels represented the next stage in the battle, Larison defended his use of stalemate in describing Libya, and Zack lobbied for humility in arguments. Fareed outlined a … Continue reading The Daily Wrap
Today on the Dish, we tracked the surrender of Qaddafi's sons overnight, everyone wondered where Muammar was, and we gathered the reax to his imminent downfall. The right twisted itself into contortions parsing the president's success, and McCain and Butters praised everyone but Obama, even though they were shaking Qaddafi's hand two years ago. Zack likened Obama's "leading from behind" to a global police chief, and didn't want us to try and seize the Lockerbie bomber right off the bat. We parsed the curse of success and what it will mean for future "interventions" or illegal wars, and wondered whether Qaddafi and his sons would be tried in Libya or at the International Criminal Court. James Traub kept his faith in the Arab Spring, even if loyalist forces have some fight left in them, and the Von Hoffman awards were flying off the shelf for predictions gone awry.
In campaign news, the right was still ignoring Huntsman as prophet, Maisie cataloged the arguments for and against Paul Ryan's run, and then he officially dropped out. Perry distanced himself from his own policies as stated in his (less than a year old) book and presidential candidate Bachmann referred to the IRS as the enemy. Nate Silver assured us the 2012 field isn't set yet and Palin's Iowa video either means she's running or she's the world's largest narcissist. Maxine Waters ordered the Tea Party to go straight to hell, Stephen Moore took another beating on Obama's economic policies, and military families fought against the neocons' empty support of the troops. An 8-year-old helped swing New York marriage equality into reality and the camo closet was finally about to let some sunlight in when DADT ends September 20th.
Chris weighed whether the iPhone could ever really replace a congregation's connections, and environmentalism took the backseat in war zones. Immigration remained vital to our economy, and Canada mourned for a lost politician. Yodeling started with monks in Tibet, we contemplated Korean reunification, Thomas Jefferson was originally skeptical of patents, and Brazil's poor pined for plastic surgery. Complex human societies developed in conjunction with high density living, everything we order on the internet is delivered by USPS, and minorities still bear the brunt of marijuana arrests. And in home news, Andrew's taking a breather so we're running the show while he's gone.
Email of the day here, chart of the day here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here, and view from your airplane window here.
–Z.P.
