By Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Today on the Dish, as news of the Colorado shooting trickled out, the Lede live-blogged, Rosenberg contextualized, bloggers reflected on its implications for gun control, while partisan bias slipped into early accounts of the alleged perpetrator. And this post was a mini-memorial to a "redheaded Texan spitfire" who was killed last night.
Andrew added his voice to Russell Jacoby's account of this era's conservative intellectual vacuity and kneaded some data into his argument about Obama and Reagan. Andrew also responded to Greenwald's challenge on the drone war trial, while Klaidman explained who was behind Obama's Afghanistan-Pakistan policy. The blogosphere read tea leaves on Syria while Storyhunter looked at Syrian citizen journalists. And Iran banned chicken on TV.
On the campaign front, the Colorado tragedy meant an ad war ceasefire. More nuance on Romney's Bain role came out, despite continued silence from Bain on the matter. Readers suggested financial possibilities explaining Romney's IRA and wondered how Romney could legally source textiles from Burma given sanctions. Gopnik schooled Romney on Adam Smith and wealthy voters still supported Obama. And while a small business owner explained his experience with "government heavy-handedness," Millman called out crony capitalism in infrastructure spending on both sides of the aisle.
In environment news, Avent lamented the lack of incentives to innovate, Bill McKibben spoke the unnerving truth on the fossil fuel business, Spain was the biggest supplier of Hong Kong's shark fins, and ideology trumped actual perception of local weather. In weed, Yglesias explained how legalization would bottom out pot prices, while Greg Campbell argued pot is the new blood diamond.
More opinions came in on the IOC's definition of "female," Pareene lit into Sorkin for shaping the modern pompous liberal, and the new movie The Master explored an L. Ron Hubbard-like figure. Locke called for Orwell's mantle to be passed on … to Hitchens. Jason Zengerle dished on the vetting process, Ben Kingsley stretched his ethnic repertoire to the Middle Kingdom, and Andrew reflected on a Trey-and-Matt animation of Alan Watts teachings. Peter Keating analyzed why few Olympic records are likely to be broken, and telepresence could be the next wave of outsourcing. Here's an MHB for those whose mental health benefits from black goo, and a creepy, ironic FOTD here. VFYW here, and thank god it's poem day! Also, don't forget to vote on the Ask Jay Rosen Anything questions.
The rest of the week after the jump:
By Charles Platiau/AFP/Getty Images
In longer-form posts on the Dish on Thursday, Andrew articulated the parallels between the Reagan and Obama candidacies and parsed Obama's "you didn't build that" speech. He then examined Romney's convenient hypocrisy in his explanation of his Bain role, and, looking at the polls, both homed in on the critical importance of Romney's tax return release and declared the race to be tied.
Andrew also analyzed the assumptions underlying Ann Romney's "you people" line, while readers speculated on what tax skeletons hide in Romney's closet and laid intriguing parallels to an Asimov robot story. As pundits dissected Obama's "you didn't build that" speech, Romney released a strong ad, one hailed by many conservatives as a "game changer" – a phrase that has now gone cliche supernova, noted Silver. Finally, the launch of "Mitt Gets Worse" reminded how a Romney presidency would curb gay equality.
In other election news, Kornacki doubted that Dems would take back the House, the Dish-reader hypocrisy police dismantled the "Obama's un-American" attack line, and Matt Taylor mused on what might ignite the power of the 420 club. While some bloggers differed on whether Romney would attack Iran, others debated the wisdom of invading Syria. And confusion reigned over whether the Bulgarian suicide bomber had been in Gitmo.
In Olympic news, the IOC stoked the Caster Semenya debate by defining hormonal eligibility for female athletes, technology intensified spectating, and Muslim women from a slew of countries will break barriers during these Games.
In assorted commentary, Andrew reviewed "Bear City 2" and celebrated the middle-aged gay scene's discover of their, um, bearings. Timothy Kincaid examined the implications of home HIV kits debuting in October and TNC wondered what George Zimmerman was apologizing for. Meanwhile, when it comes to energy, the more we save, the more we spend. Bloggers dissed Kickstarter, Greenwald went to The Guardian and Klaidman explained links between the War on Drugs and Afghanistan. Another insect edibles story crept up on us, and readers took San Francisco to task for its failure to erect a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. Meanwhile, an obit tell-all apologized, sort of, and Dan Deacon played video telephone in this MHB. Terrifying FOTD here and perfectly pleasant VFYW here. Don't miss the chance to ask NYU journalism prof and media critic Jay Rosen … anything!
Wednesday on the Dish, Andrew asserted that Romney stands for "degenerate capitalism" and wondered how Republicans have strayed so far from the conservative values of risk-aversion. Douthat worried that Romney's ineffective response to the Bain attacks means he'll have trouble dodging the caricature of him "as a Gordon Gekko". And bloggers continued to stratch their heads as to why he is still holding out on the tax returns. Meanwhile, Obama's recent attack ads on Romney's outsourcing caught heat while other corners of the blogosphere debated the likelihood of a "kitchen sink" counterattack from Team Romney. On the ad war front, Romney's camp went edit-crazy with its new "you didn't build that" attack line. While national polls showed little fallout from the Bain attacks, Ohio, Iowa and Virginia voters may be responding. And Latino non-Democrats represented significant voter potential for Obama.
Syria may have reached a turning point, as an allegedly high-profile casualty toll from bombings this morning may finally exposed critical cracks among Assad loyalists. And while Americans opposed sending troops to Syria but supported sanctions and a no-fly zone, Larison was skeptical that the majority understands that a no-fly zone is an act of war. Elsewhere abroad, some 70% of gay men in China marry women – increasingly by using online matchmaking services between gays and lesbians – and Canadians are now wealthier than Americans. Readers offered more insight on popular suicide locations, including the base of Mt. Fuji and a bridge in China.
Back on the homefront, Rush Limbaugh cried "conspiracy!" over the presence of the villain Bane in the upcoming Batman movie, despite the fact that a 1997 Batman film featured him as well. Oh, and Bane's conservative creator believes Romney is the closest thing to Bruce Wayne to have ever run for the US presidency, so there's that. Elsewhere, Klaidman called the "Fast and Furious" scandal "largely politics" and Breaking Bad has so far been pretty accurate. Margonelli warned that a rising incidence of blackouts has a massive economic toll, The Economist rehabilitated procrastinators, and Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury was reprinted the way he envisioned it – in rainbows.
In a global survey, Americans ranked last in environmentally conscious behavior – and felt the least guilty about it. In the-revolution-will-be-crowdsourced news, Youtube said it will offer a face-blurring tool to help activists remain anonymous, while a group called Viral Peace plans to use trolling techniques to bait terrorists online. Peace Now's settlement monitor was threatened, once-homophobic John Rocker gave a surprising stance on gay marriage while we glimpsed the future of a non-homophobic Catholic church. A cool (but sad) ad here. Readers offered their favorite compliments via our Facebook site, designers spoofed Apple ads, Obama set up a serial foot-licker (maybe), FOTD here and VFYW here. Our MHB remembered Mr. Wizard's no-bull attitude toward kids, while the cosmic battle between locavores and non-locavores (globavores?) raged on. And linksturbation was alive and well in Big News (and the Daily Wrap).
Finally, ask Barney anything – you know you want to!
By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Tuesday on Bainwatch, er, the Dish, Andrew wondered what in Romney's tax returns could be so damaging that he would opt to "twist in the wind," noting the growing headcount of conservatives supporting the release of his returns (including Ron Paul). As the Romney campaign tried to shout down the baying for his tax returns, Andrew framed the effect of the Bain ads on voters and recalled the candor and transparency of Mitt's dad – and the more fiscally responsible values of his era. Meanwhile, Krauthammer doubled down on his insistence that no evidence ties Romney to any involvement with Bain from 1999 to 2002. As the Obama team came out swinging on Romney's tax returns, musings on what McCain thought about Romney's tax returns in 2008 roused more discussion on what drama Palin might kick up at the convention. And Romney amassing a $100-million+ IRA remained another mystery.
Today's news cycle revealed another Romney Achilles' heel: in 2002, Olympic torchbearer uniforms were made in Burma. By going after Obama for past pot use, the Romney campaign again proved it has nothing, as Andrew had argued last week – and Rush being Rush seemed to confirm as much. The blogosphere marveled as well at the campaign's feckless response to questions on Bain and tax returns. Looking for clues in the Globe archives, perhaps Romney was unprepared because his line of defense from 2002 – denial of involvement – actually worked that time. Meanwhile, Waldman pointed out that, despite his much-touted business experience, Romney has crafted an economic plan that offers nothing besides old GOP playbook standards. Finally, a former Mormon lamented Romney's flimsy backbone when it comes to anti-Mormon bigotry.
Elsewhere, Andrew's latest response in an ongoing discussion with Tom Junod about drone warfare reminded us of the dangers of expanding executive power. Andrew also responded to Ray Bradbury's refusal to get a driver's license with his own reflection on auto-free life. Klaidmantook onreader questions about Obama's degree of involvement in drone killings and Bartlett noted that the stimulus might have had a more tonic effect had it allocated more toward investment and consumption. This post probed our hypocrisy on steroid use in sports, while this one mused on Mississippi's leg-up on Minnesota in producing NLFers. For 50 years, the FBI amassed a colossal porn stash. And while Gaffney chased after an Egyptian conspiracy theory, Lehane, groping the zeitgeist for political portent, landed on Batman.
The end may be nigh for cable TV, this post laid out the history behind WWII vets' strange animosity toward the Red Cross,this postexplored the work of an artist who generates DNA-based portraits from randomly collected hairs, and Tom Chiarella tried out compliments on strangers. Meanwhile, every two and a half days last year, someone attempted suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge. It's good to get kids started saving early, David Simon likened America's refusal to abandon the Drug War to addiction, and chalk got a good looking-at. The VFYW contest proved how amazing Google's algorithm is ("huts across from hotel" worked!), and light traveled many thousands of leagues under the sea. The question roundup for Ask Jane Mayer Anything is still open, so ask away. And Barney Frank is also taking the hot seat to field Dish reader questions, so ask him anything here. MHB here and VFYW here.
By David Buimovitch/AFP/Getty Images
On Monday, as the Bain story continued to unfold, Andrew went to town on Romney's shirking of responsibility – of a piece, he wrote, with a culture of entitlement and exceptionalism embraced by elite Republicans. And after pillorying Rubin for arguing the Obama team "shot its wad" by spending heavily on attack ads in the last week, Andrew chided Romney for his double standard on accountability and drove another nail into his perjury coffin.
More on the Romney-Bain front: Fallows likened Obama's Bain offensive to "swiftboating" – meaning, hitting Romney where he is supposed to be strongest – while others in the blogosphere debated the Romney team's mishandling of the controversy and wondered when and how Romney will release his tax returns. Frum traced Romney's struggle to hold his policy positions, Dish readers brought new arguments and expertise to bear on the Bain topic, and Krauthammer dissembled on Fox News. Trippi stated the yet-unacknowledged obvious, though with reporters like David Gergen in Bain's pocket, it's small wonder that the press corps is overlooking key facts of Romney's CEO responsibilities. In broader Bain coverage, Politifact found that the firm clearly practiced outsourcing as a profit strategy, while this post looked at another Bain strategy for ill-gotten gains.
On the ad war front, the Obama camp detonated "Firms" this weekend while the Romney squad fumbled a retaliation ad and pissed off journalists that it quoted in another. Meanwhile, reports suggested the Romney campaign is doing its best to ignore Sarah Palin. After analyzing campaign funding trends, Lessig concluded that there are two elections: a money cycle and a voting cycle. Gallup showed that Republicans don't believe the ACA will do anything to help the uninsured – a sign of how "deranged" the party now is, said Andrew. And small, partisan states should want to scrap the electoral college system.
Elizabeth Kolbert argued that the record-setting heat of this summer should prompt action on climate change, while this post explored how labeling historical moments in American political economy as "Jeffersonian" or "Hamiltonian" ignores the constant interplay of those tendencies. At The Atlantic, charges of anti-Semitism is the new McCarthyism, while an Iraeli protester was today's FOTD. Ask Klaidman explored the relative benefits of killing vs. capturing our enemies and, this post examined the strain the revolution is placing on Syrian women. Among the working class, the proportion of single-parent households has leapt to almost 40 percent and continues to grow. And a forthcoming biography of David Foster Wallace invited rumination on "hysterical realism."
Mutant male mosquitoes may stem the spread of dengue fever. Bullet-proof fabric could help limit injury in football and hockey – or increase it – and it's not sweat that smells – it's the proteins. The recipients of extreme parenting feel nostalgia for childhood, despite that it may have caused the current anxiety they feel. Readers now have the chance to ask Jane Mayer anything, open-source gaming is on the horizon, and Germans invented a new kind of blue light special. In romance, Julian Barnes quipped about marriage and a love letter to baseball got sappy. VFYW here. And this just in: people are awesome.
– G.G.
The Dish 