Today on the Dish, Andrew praised demonstrations in Syria while connecting it to a larger picture of a new Middle East and P.J. Crowley questioned Obama's Non-Doctrine. The royals got married, Andrew admired Prince William's uniform, and the Guardian gave Republicans an opt-out option. Doctor Science compared The Game of Thrones to the British royals, and other people tied the knot today too. Howard Gleckman critiqued our uncreative tax increases, Jack Germond nailed Ryan's plan, and we compared Krugman's left to Obama's. Trump dropped some f-bombs for the Tea Party and had a taste for blood, but he was still getting prime seating at the White House Correspondents Dinner. We kept tabs on the persistent Birthers, mapped the price of oil,
We put out the call for Dish interns, America's Funniest Home Videos still dominated in America, and a woman faced off with cheetahs. We studied the science of tornados and the resilience of the South, the value of brands, and hypothesized why the pill hasn't improved. We compared redistributing GPA scores to redistributing wealth, and Reason wanted Walmart in DC. People protected their backyards from solar panels, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence replied to Andrew's complaints, and Megan remembered the injustices lurking behind much of our nostalgia. TNC was grateful for the Civil War, Graeme Robertson revealed the true nature of dictators, and we parsed Sam Harris' philosophy of morality.
South Park neologisms here, quotes for the day here, here and here, dissents of the day here, FOTD here, VFYW here, and MHB here.
Optimist from Brian Thomson on Vimeo.
Thursday on the Dish, Andrew came to the defense of the monarchy in all its human frailty, the people wanted wedding coverage, and the bloggers admitted we all have our guilty pleasures. Cowen sized up the success of austerity, Andrew tried to nail down the mainstream media's role in gatekeeping stories, and responded to Weigel's call to the Alaskan hospital, verifying Trig's birth. Andrew and readers revisited Sam Harris' comments on torture, and Andrew didn't approve of gay culture mocking faith. Andrew approved of Ezra's tweaks to the living will stipulation, debated policies that were once considered conservative, and defended the "legitimacy" of Obama's policies. Jonathan Bernstein didn't think the birth certificate would matter for 2012, Rand Paul yucked it up, and the Tea Party swooned over Trump. We followed the Independent vote, but still gulped over the prospect of Trump.
We weighed our options in Syria, civil servants broke ranks with the army, and a father stood up for his gay daughter in Damascus. The ambassador was no longer invited to the royal wedding, but it may just be the cause celebre of the week. Palestinian factions united, Mexico chose TV over fridges, and Shani O. Hilton critiqued the catcall. We admired the Graffiti of War, Europe slipped on its environmentalism, and Trump dissed China, while still producing his line of clothing there.
Andrew wondered about the religious exception to San Fran's proposed ban on circumcision, and Ann Friedman wanted better birth control. Gay marriage can change how how honest we are about straight marriages, Overthinking It examined Death Star economics, and Keynes battled Hayek. Tuscaloosa twister here, nature clip of the day here, crazy avatar spy story here, and monkeytail beards here. Creepy ad watch here, cool ad watch here, dissents of the day here, Malkin award here, FOTD here, VFYW here, and MHB here.
Dartmouth, England, 6 pm.
Wednesday on the Dish, Obama released his long-form birth certificate, and Andrew wondered why he waited so long and of course, applied the logic to Palin. Trump got smug, Pareene questioned Trump's son's affirmative action, and his ratings slid. Andrew seconded Will Wilkinson on dropping silly restrictions, and birthers would be birthers.
Larison and Juan Cole duked it out over rebels in Libya, Assad's army splintered, and cutting the head off the snake may not be the best idea. Obama hadn't improved Muslim perception of the US, and the morality of war hinges on its success. A reader defended Andrew's rant against the Hunky Jesus contest, and readers piled on the "doctors" at Gitmo. Some Mormons exploited welfare, we explored cash transfers and paying for healthcare, and cops don't like being recorded. Krugman tracked Obama's spending, we went another round on the hell question, and vaccine denials stretched across both aisles. Governments aren't good at measuring progress by software, Alex Tabarrok filtered the gas tax, and money motivates humans, in life and in IQ tests. Johann Hari urged America to get over the royals, we oogled peens on the big screens, and Malcolm Gladwell consumes old media.
Quotes for the day here, here and here, tweet of the day here, dissents of the day here and here, FOTD here, MHB here, and VFYW here.
By Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.
Tuesday on the Dish, Andrew rejected Sam Harris' defense of torture in the name of humanity, expressed disgust for the "doctors" at Gitmo, and defended his cognitive biases against Palin, and asked his critics to own up to theirs. Andrew pushed back against bullies in the gay rights movement, and glimpsed the onset of the Chinese century due to our inability to accept the urgency of the debt crisis. Trump lowered the standards for the GOP pool, Ron Paul brought integrity to the debate, and contra Wick Allison, Andrew still preferred Obama to the horror of a McCain presidency. Haley Barbour concluded his invisible primary, Syria's army fired on its people, and China animal rights activists persevered.
Niall Ferguson explained China's interest in the copper market, Conor Friedersdorf was unnerved by bidding for dates, and Andrew lobbied for a federal lottery to fund "heritage" programs. Paul Campos questioned law school employment numbers, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo turned our assumptions about hunger on their head, and we contemplated living with violence. Readers defended corporate speak, schooled us on the gas tax, and debated Mormonism with Andrew. We skimmed through Tina Brown's royal wedding primer, Brits protested for marriage equality, and a widower had to sell his home. We heralded beard wars, wedding wars, and hampster judges. Andrew dismissed the Hunky Jesus contest, Americans despised Congress, and Canadian populists attacked.
Malkin award here, Yglesias award here, quote for the day here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here, and VFYW contest winner #47 here.
Monday on the Dish, Andrew defended his right to ask empirical questions on Trig and wasn't buying Weigel's argument that conspiracy theories have been flogged to death. Andrew weighed the damage done in Gitmo and bemoaned Israel's rightwing victory in shutting Obama down on the peace process, and David Shulman sifted through the remains of Goldstone's partial retraction. Syria descended into chaos, Rio fought back against favela violence, and the war in Libya wasn't winning Obama any Republican cred.
Andrew rallied against pressuring lawyers of any kind, even DOMA defenders, and Texas acted crazier than Iran about transgendered marriages. Gas taxes can't achieve what we want them to, but Ryan Avent still defended them. Andrew gushed over Tom Coburn's fiscal realism and dismissed Haley Barbour as not being presidential material, and readers picked apart the mass insanity on the Democratic side. The GOP bucked Karl Rove, and E.D. Kain approved of Gary Johnson for his unwillingness to drop bombs. We unsucked the office, and analyzed whether healthcare patients can act like consumers. Aaron Carroll and Austin Frakt put emergency care in context, readers debated vaccines, and Mormonism can't cure poverty.
Our grapefruits evolved from atomic gardening, bananas have their own carbon footprint, and Heather Mac Donald dissed grafitti. Angry Birds shifted advertisers from TV to mobile devices, Michael Eisen outed Amazon's automatic pricing scheme, and Alexis feared the iPhone's tracking system. Women worried more openly, a "wrong" marriage is partially hindsight, and Elizabeth Abbott argued polygamy is wrong. James Gleick chronicled the biology of the meme, and Andrew swore off the Kate & Will wedding pizza.
Tweet of the day here, horrible analogies here, cool ad watch here, FOTD here, VFYW here, and MHB here.
–Z.P.
The Dish 