Today on the Dish, Andrew welcomed the right's concession to defense cuts, and assessed Obama's pyrrhic defeat. Philip Klein predicted the end of the love affair between hawks and tax cut ideologues, and the military industrial complex could be forced to help the government raise taxes. We gathered the web's smartest debt deal reax, were shocked by Romney's ridiculous position, struggled through much of the right's reactions, and understood the debt ceiling with the help of nifty charts and jokes. Joe Klein praised Obama for not resorting to the 14th Amendment, Nate Silver looked on the bright side for the Democrats, and Bernstein calmed upset liberals. We remembered the reasoned debate of Milton Friedman, and the GOP clung to self-regulation of markets.
In international news, the Turkish president demanded a reprieve for protesters in Syria, Hugo Dixon explored the Syrians' non-violent approach, and military resignations in Turkey may have cemented Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's power. Marat Terterov stayed skeptical about the Arab Spring because of the army's influence, we approached a drone zeitgeist, a reader confronted the paranoia about multiculturalism in England, and Nicholas Schmidle recounted Obama's reaction to the Abbottabad raid. Pamela Geller backed Breivik's distorted views and Andrew mourned the bizarre mix of pro-Israel and neo-fasicst European ideologies we're confronted with today.
In national affairs, Andrew didn't believe that real ex-gays exist but defended their right to try and live that way, while a Texan decried cowboy boots worn with shorts but not the gay pride. Peter Hitchens sounded silly trying to defend drug warriors, and readers connected the molten coffee case to tort reform. Dwight Simon wondered if children have to be taught history around war, the cubicle isn't the problem with workplace happiness, and skipping out on subway tickets pays off. Americans could stop overachieving if they only had universal healthcare, readers taught us words with no English equivalents, and more college graduates won't lower unemployment. One typographer tried to solve dyslexia with a new font, ums help humanize people, and withstanding desire may make us better people. Beagles glowed green, MTV was the internet before the internet, and dogs roll in weird shit to beef up their social status.
Chart of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.
–Z.P.
The Dish 