Today on the Dish, Andrew took on Romneyʼs pandering, explaining how he "outsources" his views to various conservative bases. On that note, an Yglesias Award Nominee nominee, Bill Kristol, railed against Romney for failing to generate much in the way of policy details. Opinions on this differ, though – this post explored this in greater detail, as Chait, Larison and Bernstein debated the implications of Romneyʼs avoiding the policy "weeds", and not one but two QFTDs hammered home this point.
Meanwhile, we delved into Romneyʼs shady investments during his Bain days, as well as his just-this-side-of-legal accounting habits. That business record looked to be rubbing swing voters the wrong way, and the Obama ad team didn't hesitate to pounce on Vanity Fair's report on the Swiss bank account. The Romney side, for its part, lobbed a "movie trailer" of an Independence Day ad. Just after we highlighted a 2010 book showing voter fraud to be more or less a chimera, the Pennsylvania House Majority Leader is shown to have shed 9.2 percent of the state's registered voters. All of that against the backdrop that Americans seem to be bored with politics again.
In a series of powerful posts on the closet, Andrew emphasized the importance of coming out and his own "stumbling" into openness; a similar revelation by gay R&B/hip-hop performer Frank Ocean offered a hopeful new chapter; and this post showed that hiding in the closet can be hazardous to your health.
In US colonial history, this post recalled a snarky Tory takedown of the Declaration of Independence, while Juan Cole explained how early America was just as sectarian as many present-day Arab states. We plucked a quote capturing unrepentant Jewish colonization, this post assuaged fears of Iran, and Hamas paid its respects to Mossad.
In assorted commentary, Veronique explained how Europe bungled its austerity programs, this post showed the silver lining to British cynicism, and this one conveyed how kids still get banged up on boringly "safe" playgrounds. Meanwhile, Ron Paul has a new hobbyhorse, Andrew posted a Oakeshott blast from the past, readers brought their wisdom to bear on America’s power costs, and this post explored the evolution of Anonymous. "Premature ignition" excused San Diego’s one-hit wonder of a fireworks show, only to be debunked by canny Dish readers. And if you realize you need to know what a Higgs Bosun is, go here. VFYW here, FOTD here, elitist Hathos here and a lovely MHB here.
— G.G.
The Dish 