Today on the Dish, Andrew fisked Krauthammer on the source of our country's debt and the House muscled through Boehner's bill only to have it quickly dispatched by the Senate Democrats. The web weighed in on the GOP's in-fighting, and we all tried to predict what happens come August 2nd. We watched the meep-meep meter rise but Obama's emphasis on compromise and moderation meant little in the face of the Republicans' buckets of crazy. Limbaugh reminded his listeners they aren't losers, William Kristol said his prayers, and Boehner's own party sabotaged him. The GOP turned to God for answers even though Jesus would raise the debt ceiling. Julian Sanchez tried to wrap his head around their "Madmen Theory," and Rick Perry's flipflop was part of the party's larger schizophrenia. Bruce Bartlett compared negotiating with the GOP to talking to the Soviets, the Soviets called them monsters of the Cold War, and even Pee Wee Herman may be involved (cosmically). Douglas Holtz-Eakin prayed for someone to think or blink, a downgrade to our triple A rating may matter soon, and the White House resorted to rick-rolling. Hathos-inducing ad here, comparisons to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process here, and Obama as the 2012 underdog here.
On the international scene, Andrew analyzed the UK, 26 years after he left. The Saudis may have been involved in 9/11, Israel tried to defend its settlements on Twitter, and Ramadan won't stamp out the Syrian protests. We may have to leave Libya with Qaddafi in power, the heads of the Turkish military all resigned, drug cartels recruited child killers, and Norway's prisons may be nicer than ours but they also make society more civil. C.S. Lewis captured bullies at NewsCorps, the end of the family corporation may be nigh, the Murdochs had to find new jobs, and making NYT readers pay for content paid off.
In assorted national links, the mancession evolved into a hecovery, high school dropouts suffered economically, the recovery was weaker than predicted, and John Cassidy got depressed. God opened a Christian's eyes to marriage equality, and D'Souza's students weren't enamored of his "GOD MONEY POWER" agenda. Genomics aimed to map the whole rainbow, donors loved college athletic programs, and food labels could get easier to read. Cannabis gardeners came out of the closet, Broadway was saved by two straight dudes, and Alexander Vittouris grew a bike out of bamboo.
Creepy ad watch here, Jonathan Rauch bait here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
Thursday on the Dish, Andrew picked apart both Reid and Boehner's plans and grew dismayed as the GOP splintered at the hand of its own nihilism. Matt Steinglass reminded us that the Clinton surplus wasn't all it was cracked up to be, our AAA rating quivered, and Nate Silver measured the egg on Boehner and Obama's faces. Limbaugh battled Boehner, Bachmann battled Boehner, even Palin battled Boehner, while even the NRO realized the ceiling had to be raised. We summoned all the facts and fictions about who pays taxes and how much, and Michael Grunwald urged the press to remind everyone how this mess got started. We wondered if Congress is broken and no one knew who was winning this fight, except for China. The unemployed could only theoretically work for less, and despite all Obama's ratings remained stable. Michael Tomasky pressed Obama on why he hasn't invoked the 14th Amendment yet, and we wondered whether the left was right about capitalism and its ills after all.
On politics, Larison didn't think social conservatives would fall for Rick Perry's "federalism," Friedersdorf was reduced to "fecal" for criticizing Palin, and Herman Cain apologized to Muslim Americans. Support for marriage equality passed the tipping point, Larry Kramer finessed his position, and Dan Savage issued a new threat to Santorum. The male pill could move the conversation forward on non-monogamy but divorce may have made adultery less socially-acceptable.
In international news, Norway's prisons blew ours out of the water, some argued Breivik is a Christian nationalist not fundamentalist, and readers dissented with Andrew about how "creepy" the Utøya camp really is, and Jon Stewart reported on the GOP's Special Victims Unit. Islamists in Somalia outlawed pastries, we reflected on autocracy and China's high-speed rail, and war got the Hipstamatic treatment. We had high hopes for a second-term Obama against torture, and the FBI indoctrinated its agents with racist reading materials. Hussein Ibish debated an Israeli settler on the idea of human rights, Hillary Clinton wowed the world, and tunnels snaked under Europe.
And on the assorted links front, houses slimmed down, the government tallied what our lives are worth, and access to public transportation could be the next civil rights movement. Theodore Dalrymple weighed the impossible promises the UK government made to its citizens and healthcare workers struggled with electronic medical records just as much as paperwork. D'Souza's Christianist crusade flopped, Piers Morgan dug himself in deeper, and a New York assemblyman loved him some CityVille. We considered the tax problem for paying college athletes, couples planned gaybies the old-fashioned way, and beards were officially trendy according to the NYT.
Chart of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
Wednesday on the Dish, Andrew praised one man's acceptance of his role in Breivik's madness, Beinart feared an American Breivik in the making, and Pareene threw O'Reilly's distorted logic about Christians and Muslims back in his face. We revisited Breivik's Zionism, and a cultural resentment uncannily similar to Glenn Beck's. Sam Harris penned a colorful response to Chris Hedges' attack, we watched Breivik's epistemic closure, and Daniel Pipes had some chutzpah.
On the debt standoff, Reid won the better CBO scoring with a plan that should be a conservative's dream. Andrew maintained that Obama punted on the debt, Bernstein didn't think Obama could have made a difference, and Mickey Kaus argued Boehner's plan would benefit Obama more. Wall Street and the GOP were caught in a catch-22. and America is the only country to have the luxury of creating an economic crisis. We debated whether the GOP was aware it had won, taxing the rich still seemed like a good idea, and James Poulos took a more pessimistic view.
In other assorted news, Andrew urged conservatives to care about racial inequality in income, and tried to believe Piers Morgan didn't know of hacked phones despite mounting evidence against him. Friedersdorf praised Rick Perry's federalism, but Andrew feared a Perry-Palin double bill. Andrew opted to wait for the full inquiry on the Johann Hari affair before commenting, and Bart Cammaerts reexamined the role of British media. On the international front, Khamenei aged while his country got younger and more connected to the world, Qatar remained the only Arab autocracy not to have mass protests, the CIA bungled the WMD investigation in Iraq, and Ackerman called for the end of the terror war on our own terms.
We examined the economics of a male pill, molten coffee in an old woman's lap isn't so funny when you see her third degree burns, and paperwork cost healthcare an unhealthy amount. Surveys make people want to have opinions, one man earned $15K in 24 hours thanks to one-click purchasing, and patent trolling hurts innovation. Teachers let kids watch lectures at home and do their homework in class, and one political theory wanted to make government operations less obscure. A reader added one final kick in the butt to Borders, another looked to the green future of cannabis in the garden, and many debated the merits of paying college athletes.
Dissent of the day here, Yglesias award here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
By Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.
Tuesday on the Dish, Andrew connected Breivik's ideology to Bill O'Reilly's, Glenn Beck had little to say about his own political summer camp, and others tried to blame it on the steroids. The Israeli media focused in on Breivik's Zionism and Roger Cohen connected his Christianism to Islamism.
In debt-crisis coverage, Andrew presented the GOP as anything but fiscally conservative, Ezra Klein found middle ground between Reid and Boehner, and all signs pointed to the GOP establishment aiming for economic ruin. We kept an eye on our AAA rating, Andrew was disappointed in that Obama didn't come out swinging in the fiscal fight earlier, and Thomas Sowell made the conservative case against the debt ceiling. Many braced for the worst.
In assorted coverage, Bachmann put the gloves on with T-Paw, Americans hated both parties, and a victim of the Drug War came home. The Israeli left got a second wind with the boycott ban and the country's protests over housing gained momentum. Personal branding didn't exist in the Soviet Union, Chameleon tiles could solve our roofing problems in the summer and winter, Google's in-house philosopher learned from the humanities, computers could read emotions for us, and many put on a blindfold to win at rock-paper-scissors. Oscar Wilde mastered the art of humiliation and we looked to the future of pot summits.
Creepy ad watch here, Yglesias award here, Malkin award here, chart of the day here, quotes for the day here, here, and here, MHB here, VFYW here, and VFYW contest winner #60 here. The Dish is having some Twitter trouble but we're doing our best to fix it quickly.
By the way, if you missed Andrew's recent Newsweek essay on marriage equality in America, it's a must-read.
Sheki, Azerbaijan, 7.15 am
Monday on the Dish, Andrew weighed in on Breivik's Christianism and fingered Bruce Bawer's contradictory statements, with a full Norway reax here. Andrew commented on the loss of Amy Winehouse and Russell Brand explained the detachment of the addict. Andrew termed the debt debate a "cold civil war," defended Obama's conservatism, and we don't even need a debt ceiling. The Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks and Zac Morgan dubbed Rick Perry the "Teastablishment candidate." We debated arming South Sudan, Tony Karon speculated about why Israel threatens to bomb Iran, and the Vatican sunk lower.
The Murdoch web ensnared the judge investigating him, DSK's maid gave her first interview, and precise measurements can discourage us from achieving our goals. Grandmothers wanted marriage equality to win, and the pushy parents dilemma arrived for New York's gays. We wanted to cool off by painting the rooves white, soda bottles illuminated shanty towns, and sharia law wasn't any more dangerous than the Amish. Real travel insurance doesn't exist, migraines plagued everyone, and Daniel Lyons explored whether robots are taking our jobs. Common sense tricked us, Brooklyn got rechristened, and Cord Jefferson couldn't ignore offensive lyrics. Young people preferred not to telecommute, readers parsed the Palin family spotlight, and cheesy poofs are real.
Quotes for the day here, here, here, here and here, chart of the day here, Malkin award here, Von Hoffmann awards here and here, Dan Savage bait here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
–Z.P.
The Dish 