Today on the Dish, Andrew warned of the dire economic consequences of extreme inequality, and he reflected on the Occupy movement's mounting global resonance. OWS proliferated in the liberal West (dispatch from a reader-demonstrator in L.A. here), both OWS and the Tea Party have some explaining to do, and philosophers stood in solidarity with the former. The 99 percent have something of a PR problem, a Democratic PAC launched an OWS-inspired attack on an incumbent House Republican, and an NYPD officer struck a demonstrator brutally and out of the blue.
Herman Cain claimed to be ignorant of the neoconservative movement, he didn't want to throw his advisers "under the bus," and he probably doesn't bring enough "pay" to play. Unfortunately for Cain, knowledge of foreign affairs is decidedly cumulative, and there's not much the blogosphere can do to legitimize Perry's "jobs plan." We read Romney's lips, wondered which way Jim DeMint would go, and our readers pushed back against Paul's "baby in a bucket" story. Perry's Christianist allies are still sounding their anti-Mormon alarms, Steve Clemons stood up for Huntsman's sensible foreign policy, and Andrew extolled the virtues of the British parliamentary system in our AAA video (don't miss the bonus analysis after the jump).
The president preached sanity at the dedication of the MLK memorial, he deployed an intervention in Uganda, and we considered the legal questions surrounding the mini-war. The Supreme Leader would have "no problem" ending Iran's presidential system, Hamas is rapidly losing ground, and our withdrawal deadline in Iraq is still up in the air.
The author Teju Cole tweeted "small fates," we recovered American exceptionalism from the dangers of bad theology, and TNC contemplated patriotism and gratitude. Readers voted on voting, a preventative approach to healthcare drives down long-term costs, and Felix Salmon made the case for economically efficient taxes. Free trade comes with a cost, widespread deleveraging is crippling demand, and optimism isn't always the best frame of mind. Hot stewardesses still fly outside the U.S., we brushed up on photosynthesis as changing leaves peaked, and hair crimes tested Amish core principles.
TWSS of the day here, hathos alert here, creepy ad watch here, MHB here, VFYW here, FOTD here, and charming presidential pick-up lines here.
– M.A.
The Dish 