Today on the Dish, Andrew assessed what how the economic and international front after his breather, but glimpsed the silver lining for Obama. He pressed Douthat on the radical theological politics that dominates the GOP, exemplified by Francis Schaeffer's Christianist advice to Bachmann. Andrew refused to decode Palin's rambling nonsense, Perry exemplified the GOP's over-reach into a platform far removed from reality, and we remembered that Romney remains the default, as he's easy on suburban eyes and ears. Ron Paul attacked Perry by comparing himself to Reagan, and Andrew compared Texas' population without health insurance at 27.2% with Massachusetts' 5.2 percent. The iPhone can't save the US economy, we analyzed the US government's green investments, and if driving is subsidized, then we're all socialists now. Bruce Bartlett warned Democrats not to cave in too much to the GOP, and Andrew was grateful to have left certain life-consuming hyperboles behind for a couple of weeks. Andrew's 9/11 take here and his hope for HRC's future here.
Around the world, we examined where doctors are needed, China was addicted to smoking, and James Traub put the brakes on overspending to prevent a war with China. Zadie Smith contemplated how 9/11 changed the perception of Muslims in the UK, Maximilian Popp feared Germany's Islamic parallel justice system, and many Muslims don't believe Arabs were behind the 9/11 attacks.
Pareene let Matthew Vadun have it over ACORN, and Balko compared Perry on capital punishment to the last two administrations on issues like torture and rendition. Our education system has its roots in securing a docile workforce, Lewis McCrary defended Civil War reenactments, and even transgendered people mix up their pronouns. Rob Horning disagreed with Jaron Lanier on similarities between the Tea Party and internet users, a college student prepared to be humbled by the job market, and Willy Staley defended Detroit's ruin porn. Happyplace collected hilarious captions for nonsensical signs, Sam Biddle didn't want to rent his bathroom to strangers, and we updated our approach to predicting the future.
Cool ad watch here, chart of the day here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here and VFYW contest #66 here.
–Z.P.
The Dish 