Today on the Dish, Andrew argued that Romney’s fundamental lack of a likeability thwarts his advantage on the stagnant economy. On that point, Romney has trouble connecting with people different from him, including black people (though Andrew gave him points for showing up to the NAACP). Michael Steele lampooned the RNC for its "outreach" to African-Americans. Meanwhile, Obama’s reversal (re-reversal?) on same-sex marriage appears to have pushed some black voters to support marriage equality in Maryland, while things are looking up for gay marriage in Maine. Not all is rosy, though: being black and gay in Alabama is still brutal.
Andrew said Junod’s "lethal presidency" argument – that Obama’s presidency has centered on drone warfare – failed to recognize the president’s ending of egregious Bush policies. And in finance, Yglesias argued that competition for profit has made financial shenanigans more or less inevitable, while a perspective from the UK noted that the US is light on outrage when it comes to the LIBOR scandal.
Robbie George countered "Dr. Sullivan" on the hotel porn issue, invoking human trafficking. Readers pointed out that the hotel porn ban was "mostly harmless," but also that the Mormon-owned Marriots only recently turned off their porn channels. On healthcare, Douthat and Millman debated whether the GOP has painted itself into a corner. And in ongoing Israel coverage, the Jewish National Fund made fast and loose with some borders, reminding that it’s a good time to revisit Harvey Pekar’s Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me.
On the Super PAC front, Andrew lamented the absence of Fudge PAC. Chait skewered Gerson and beetles can change color at will. Meanwhile, Britain’s liquid history is not what you might assume, and the Indian government’s purchase of Gandhi’s love letters to a guy made Andrew’s headline dreams come true. School may or may not be too easy, even conservatives think Stephen Colbert is funny, and Melinda Gates took on the Vatican on birth control.
Misnomer watch: the Higgs Boson was really the goddamned particle. Also in science, the speed-of-light pitching discussion unfolded into Sports Illustrated arcana and speculation about Superman and Lois’ sex life. And this post explored the statistics of shooting blanks. In TV coverage, Andrew supported moderation and a reader pointed out how Sorkin subtly undermines his male character when they’re being condescending.
Readers took Andrew to task for his slamming of Amy Sullivan on "news." A clear argument from someone non-Andrew on why circumcision should be a choice here, the urban ethos was shown to be vastly diverse, and High Line Park is hardly hipstser. Political trolls threaten Twitter, and Maine joined the UK and New Zealand in calling soft drinks "fizzy drink." Broken-arm strong-arming in Britain’s House, Rawalpindi is both loud and in Pakistan, and the illegality of online poker showed how political – and not philosophical – the US is. A beagle met a lemon, and cuttlefish are masters of disguise. Lifesized Legos here and Spencer Ackerman explaining what sucks about the Beltway here. Don't forget to ask Jim Holt more questions, VFYW here, and credit cards put to interesting use here.
– G.G.
(Photo: People listen to US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) annual convention in Houston on July 11, 2012. By Nicholas Kamm/Getty.
The Dish 