Today on the Dish, we launched a new Ask Andrew Anything feature. Obama took the gloves off, and when the truth conflicts with the propaganda on Fox, the propaganda always wins. Romney may appeal to the crazy GOP base, but without Andrew's blessing, since Romney's "apology tour" riff is as ugly as it is untrue. We assessed Perry's damage from the debates and had flashbacks to Palin's weak preparations. The web waited for the GOP to settle on Romney, or for any of the GOP candidates to address foreign policy substantively. The press glossed over Obama's Biblical faith, Norm Geras complicated Andrew's thoughts on religion, and Andrew assessed Obama's attack method: only after asking nicely.
Iranian prisons compared themselves to Guantanamo and we covered the dust-up over John Mearsheimer's endorsement of Gilad Atzmon's new book. We hailed Margaret Thatcher's punk roots, Ireland surprised everyone with its growth, and Saudi women got the right to vote but not the right to drive. In other national affairs, unemployment hurts Democrats more than Republicans, and if it stays at current levels, could raise the deficit by $2 trillion to $4 trillion. Readers contemplated the death penalty for those whose evil is fairly certain, and whether it can ever serve a practical purpose. The industrial food complex could die a similar death to big tobacco's thanks to Obamacare, and we pondered what jobs of the future will look like.
The cul-de-sac doesn't make as much urban sense as the grid system, teenagers take on risk because their brains are different from adults, and we learned why humans associate certain smells with childhood. Kevin Smith sabotaged his own film, Facebook's timeline feature could track babies across their entire lives, and we accidentally ruined someone's fake career. Diego Stocco made music at the drycleaner's, Apple's new HQ designs could ruin Steve Jobs' legacy, and our ability to remember the past influences our ability to imagine the future. Transcripts turned dada, bears got smeared by the Church, and Bloggingheads could use a dose of face substitutions.
Hathos alert here, map of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, FOTD here, and the battle of butter vs margarine uncovered here.
–Z.P.