Today on the Dish, we awaited a debt deal, Obama stepped to the right of Nixon, and Andrew hoped for a meep meep. Conor pushed back against Grover and talk radio, the defense lobby matters, and even the debt ceiling polls found some ways to agree. We checked in on financial reform a year later, and an explosion rocked Norway. The circle broke open in the UK, subpoenas started for NewsCorps in the US, and Fox News self-censored to an absurd degree. Massie kept his eye on Ed Miliband, and Private Eye decided no one gets a free pass.
Foreign policy got hotter to some, and $40 billion might solve world poverty. Gayle Tzemmach Lemmon feared for Afghanistan's female population when we leave, the State Department wouldn't talk about mercenaries, and we still weren't anywhere near the end with Libya. Bureaucracy, even for gays, isn't a sin, and Rick Perry assembled his Christianist army, but not with God's approval.
David Ropeik proposed stricter rules for opting out of vaccinations, and we weighed whether it's smarter to rent or buy. Readers remembered Borders, debated college sports, and we tried to understand gentrification in a chart. Ezra Klein liked Google+ more than Twitter, Dan Nexon assessed COIN in Harry Potter, and we all needed a little wishful thinking. Twitter engendered more affection than a bar, Dr. Drew didn't approve of friends with benefits, and Damnyouautocorrect.com made us lose it.
Dissent of the day here, quotes for the day here and here, chart of the day here, FOTD here, VFYW here, MHB here, and best Shakespeare monologue evere here.
Juba, South Sudan, 12 pm.
Thursday on the Dish, the clock ticked down on economic suicide, and Andrew pointed out whose side the American people were on. Bernstein wasn't hopeful about the Gang of Six's shortened timeline and Ezra Klein bemoaned Obama's missed opportunity when Simpson-Bowles was still fresh, but his approval ratings defied gravity. Palin announced another suspicious family pregnancy, and her threat level remained as high as ever, blowing Bachmann out of the water. But since Palin's still on the Fox payroll, she kept mum about Murdoch. Dana Goldstein defended Bachmann on the migraine front, Ed Kilgore prepared for her final test, Marcus Bachmann dressed her in winter white, and Steve Benen gloated over a new Reagan ad for the House Dems.
We checked in on Labour's maverick intellectual, and despite a study saying otherwise, Andrew still didn't believe Murdoch could swing elections. Private Eye lambasted "Piers Moron," Andrew feared for the Vatican's new low in Ireland, and Chris Steadman urged all atheists to come out of the closet. Joyner worried there's still no plan for Libya, DARPA field-tested a new war toy in Afghanistan, and David Axe transferred his own experience of an IED attack into a cartoon. We debated whether college athletes should be paid, considered an olfactory library, and recalled its important to memorize some phone numbers, even with a cell phone.
Borders went bust, Timothy Lee praised the democratic nature of journalism on the internet, and Timothy Burke reached for the medium chill. Andrew wasn't the only one to go native, Evgeny Morozov counseled Google through its identity crisis, and corruption causes the real damage in quakes. Government can't be measured in dollar bills, free trade has a moral basis, and having televisions doesn't mean most people can afford healthcare.
Chart of the day here, quotes for the day here and here, creepy ad watch here, map of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
By Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images.
Wednesday on the Dish, Andrew praised Cameron's pitch perfect response to the Murdoch scandal, and exposed the wrinkly emperor beneath his clothes. Andrew massaged his opinion on Piers Morgan and his involvement with the hacking scandal, but wasn't as concerned with the monopoly aspect. McArdle didn't think the scandal could bring down Fox News, Andrew saw glimpses of the Labour party in 1985 in today's GOP. Joe Romm wanted answers on Murdoch's role in Climategate, and China adored Wendi Deng.
Andrew assessed the Gang of Six's plan, Jack Balkin differentiated Obama from Clinton, and the Tea Party won't yield because of TARP. We dared to ask Bachmann what she would cut, and Douthat nailed the GOP's gamble. Andrew used Obama's opinion on DOMA to skewer the right's manic intransigence, and Andrew and Choire remembered those lost to the AIDS crisis. Defense spending continued to run wild, Herman Cain was opposed to universal healthcare before it was cool, and Andrew missed the simpler things.
Don Rassler and Vahid Brown argued Afghanistan is the epicenter of terrorism, and we parsed Bahrain's sectarian strife. We recalled Britain's sordid history of torture, Israel's democracy withered with the help of AIPAC, and the Libyan non-war chugged along. John Lee Anderson wondered if Karzai could literally survive staying in office, Uganda needed help, and official famine devastated Somalia.
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita decoded the science of prediction, Andrew embraced going native, and carmageddon had larger lessons than how to enjoy brunch on an empty freeway. Plato dissed writing's effect on memory back in the day, drinking water helps prevent kidney stones, and social and sexual monogamy is a complicated thing. Pizza didn't always come in a box, beauty is in the medial orbitofrontal cortex of the beholder, and Dante also grouped his friends in circles.
Headline of the day here, Yglesias award here, quotes for the day here and here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here, and don't let the overzealous VFYW contestants discourage you.
Tuesday on the Dish, we live-blogged the Murdoch hearings, and collected the web's best and snarkiest reax. Rebekah remained shifty, and Fox had more pressing news to cover. Andrew wasn't impressed with Obama's performance from across the pond, and a large swath of the GOP base deluded itself into thinking there's no problem with default. Bruce Bartlett shut down Kevin Drum's fears that we'd only default as a last resort, and Simpson-Bowles was back on the table. Bachmann surged and Andrew argued the GOP deserved her. Goldblog reminded Bachmann that Israel is full of sweaty gays, and Andrew considered Corky St Clair Marcus Bachmann fair game for the gays.
Tunisia's democracy looked sunny, protestors in the Middle East could use the help of third parties besides the military, and James Traub didn't make a good case for the war in Libya. Serwer scoped the Libyan rebels' shadow government, and Seth Chalmer challenged Herman Cain's fearmongering on Sharia law. Gulliver questioned why tactical atrocity is punished while strategic atrocity is applauded, and terrorists set their sights on the Sunday morning cartoon market.
Felix Salmon proposed a better Netflix model, birthday wishes weren't what they used to be, and mushrooms helped out young trees in the forest. Readers reminisced over the stinky Limburger cheese, and one depended on memorizing a poem a night (and not Google) to improve their memory. TNC tsk-tsked comic book writers, and drugs won the drug war.
Odd lie watch here, quote for the day here, chart of the day here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here, and VFYW contest winner #59 here.
Monday on the Dish, Andrew returned to the blog eager to cover l'affaire de Wapping. Andrew ripped into journalists who cheat, and Murdoch for thinking he was immune to the law and to basic morality, and the Guardian almost orgasmed over the bag in the bin. Andrew chastised the GOP for playing with US debt while Europe desperately struggles to stave off default. We kept an eye on the deal within reach, and the ideologically extreme legislation the GOP was pushing. Readers assessed Obama's poker face, and Conor caught flack for pointing out that Palin's movie is a flop.
Andrew feared for the children of Iraq reared on PTSD, unfreedom was on the march, and the Department of Defense couldn't account for 96 percent of the $9.1 billion funneled to Iraq. We debated drones in Yemen, Lauren Bohn brought news from Tunisia, and Norm Geras made the case for why we can't flog. Nukes allow a president to downplay the other tools of war, and Harry Potter would never torture.
We explored the town of Kiryas Joel in New York as an American theocracy, and remembered America's stinkiest immigrant cheese. Jonah Lehrer defended Google as a memory tool, Joel Meares sized up Tucker Carlson's site, and Holden Caulfield may have gotten his name from a movie marquee. Denser cities can't fully solve our energy problems, we glimpsed around the world on one day, and screens could stop traffic rubbernecking. A reader had to work through penises laid on her drive-thru window, Paul Ford tried to conceive in a blizzard, you don't need to drink eight glasses of water a day, and sometimes we all need a medium chill.
Quote for the day here, Yglesias award here, chart of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
–Z.P.
The Dish 