by Gwynn Guilford
Today on the Dish, a pro-Obama Super PAC hit Romney hard on his "at least 13%" remark, while David Simon and Dreher ranted about Romney's obtuseness and readers speculated about what he left out.
Nate Silver discounted the Romney rally, Obama's first Medicare ad aired and Douthat leapt to Ryan's defense. Meanwhile, Artur Davidson turned coat, Nate Cohn lamented Romney's missed chance and Dem numbers for new voters were down considerably. Then Obama baited on taxes, while Ginger Gibson explained that whole whiteboard thing.
EJ Graff took the left to task on the FRC shooting response, reader pushed back on Samuelson's generational warfare worry, and Andrew Kirell lampooned the Republican playlist. Barney revealed his post-Congress plans, while Kay Steiger spoke to the plight of the high-school educated. And states made less than you'd think from gambling.
Elsewhere in the world, Pussy Riot was sentenced, Tunisia struggled under democracy, Alexis Hauk explained how radio programming is reviving dying languages and Josh Keating called the end of WikiLeaks.
Amanda Schaffer dug into the "fetal cosmetology" debate, America continued to be the fattest nation on earth and Dave Weigel defended prog rock. And while the absent Peaches Christ had no dildo, readers argued in favor of Olympic tug-of-war. In evil cat news, a eunuch killed a seagull and bibs curbed murder. Some Baudelaire here, FOTD here, MHB here and VFYW here.
(Photo by Nicolas Maeterlinck/AFP/Getty Images)
Thursday on the Dish, Ryan lied about requesting stimulus money for Wisconsin and a reader contextualized the Ryan pick within Obama's long game. Jared Bernstein explained the $700 billion mystery, Larison debunked Ryan's appeal to younger voters and Patrick busted Avik Roy's fuzzy Medicare math.
Klein recommended sidestepping the media to understand Medicare, Romney proxies went after Obama about Osama, Americans failed basic economics and a reader likened Romneys to Will Farrell's Anchorman character. Meanwhile, the NYPD mishandled the mentally ill, readers pushed back on Wes Clark Jr.'s defense of his dad, and Barney regretted.
In sports news, baseball's mood swung dramatically, circadian rhythms skewed football odds and Ashley Fetters considered the upside of adding karate and wushu as Olympic sports.
And in assorted commentary, liquid lunches made workers more creative, while open-plan offices dragged on productivity. Smog subsumed China's cities, Allison K. Gibson talked tech cameos in fiction and clothes became art. 50 Cent said his late mother was gay, Alexis explored the dog shake and readers both weighed in on "pink boys" and defended the Lonely Planet. America's girth grew, Eve Bowen praised Edward Gorey and the inventor of Game of Thrones' Dothraki explained insults. Cats bared their cunning again and again, VFYW here, MHB here and an excruciating FOTD here.
Congratulations, readers! Wednesday on the Dish, you dissected the impact of Ryan's plan on seniors, and then roundly debunked Ryan's crossover appeal after conservative bloggers crowed about his victory in a Dem district. Out of the inbox and into the blogosphere, as Adam Sorensen pondered Romney's unclear monetary policy and dark money swept Sauron-like over the race, Romney laughed lamely.
Ben Smith recoiled at nasty campaign rhetoric, the Obama campaign dithered on releasing a Medicare ad and Silver predicted convention-bounce. Sam Wang crunched some provocative numbers on Ryan's implications for the Congressional races and Ryan's team dissembled on his tax-loss harvesting.
In healthcare, Aaron Carroll wished for a middle way and changes in reimbursement lowered ACA spending over time. Meanwhile, Wes Clark Jr. defended Sr. and Barney discussed DOMAdaemmerung.
Today's Ask Jesse Bering Anything touched upon masturbation, "pink boys" made gender expression even more complex and the Lebanese civil war changed bread-making. The Lonely Planet left-flanked itself into dictator-coddling, Alyssa Rosenberg trashed tabloids and news on the ineffectiveness of sunblock appalled. And while New Mexico enchanted – and Connecticut and Pennsylvania were haunted – the history of the Exxon Valdez resurfaced.
In more assorted commentary, Richard Brody explained why most adaptations suck and a new martial reality TV show rankled. "A show of hands" took on a creepier meaning, shopping evolved, children's books taught adult lessons and ticks caused hamburger-threatening allergies. FOTD here, MHB here and VFYW here.
(Image from a Schaeffer Bock Beer advertisement by Dr. Seuss. From the Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230, Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD via The Millions)
Tuesday on the Dish, as the blogosphere debated how the Medicare Wars will play out, Wasserman-Schulz misfired her opening salvo. Nicole Gelinas proposed loophole-closing, Nate Cohn analyzed the senior vote and Ryan didn't trade insider-ly. Nate Silver forecast middling polling for Ryan as Jared Bernstein contextualized the magnitude of Ryan's budget cuts and Romney talked dirty in Spanish. And though it may have been Romney who tapped Ryan, Google users certainly wished they had.
Virginia Postrel endorsed The Perot Method, Warren flailed and Barney defended Dodd-Frank. And while a historian explained why Clinton will never be great, Douthat took on the Mormon business theology thing.
Fevered nationalism formed one of China's cornerstones, Mexico struggled with specificity in memorializing the Drug War and The Jeffersons resonated with Iranian wit. Sushi nearly decimated the world's blue tuna population, Art De Vany applied the Pareto principle to workouts and the medal count hangover continued.
In shark-related coverage, Ashley Fetters investigated the origin of Shark Week, while old shark-tooth weapons revealed dwindling biodiversity. The world's organ shortage endured, the web christened a bug, and climate change spiked heatstrokes among football players. The Swede version of Telephone involved the Interwebs, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh explained proper bonobo-raising and Maastricht's pot crackdown caused the rise in black market-trade, shockingly.
And while water diluted drunk-person pee, winning bred more winning. VFYW contest here, Julia Child remix here and Maine, as usual, was breathtaking.
Talk about Romney's sneaky weekend VP pick, Paul Ryan, dominated Monday's Dish. While Team Obama pummelled the Wisconsin congressman's budget plan, the blogosphere debated the ticket's implications and Yglesias worried that it implies distraction from our unemployment woes. Bloggers also lamented Ryan's potentially catastrophic monetary policies, and berated pundits and media lightwieghts who call Ryan "serious." (He's the Baskerville of conservative politicians, it seems.)
Meanwhile, Stan Collender reminded that the Ryan budget would have Romney paying no federal taxes, Kornacki hailed the longer arc of Ryan's candidacy and no one was really sure what social conservatives would make of the ticket. As bloggers called out Ryan's neocon leanings, the Zoellick pick conflicted with Romney's China policy and both candidates had fallen silent on Afghanistan. Also, Ryan dressed worse than Santorum but he probably didn't commit insider trading. And, alas, Sarah Palin exited, stage right.
In global news, earthquakes in Iran killed hundreds, Marc Lynch summarized tumultuous goings-on in Egypt and readers gave feedback on Sikh traditions. Then in public health, gonorrhea grew terrifyingly antibiotic-resistant, while autism and Asbergers won acceptance.
In Olympics sum-ups, gay gold-winners included the lesbo-dense Dutch women's field hockey team and Megan Rapinoe, and controversy flared over how to conceive of the EU medal count.
While Barney explained how Dems could have prevented the housing crisis, Jack Rakove struggled with the Declaration of Independence and poetry spoke the truth in a soured relationship. Deanna Pan exposed how little Louisianans will soon be learning about the scientific history of dragons, the formation of capillary bridges held up sandcastles and Brian X. Chen wondered why people don't use prepaid plans. Meanwhile, Gotye made fun of himself, a sentimental VFYW here, poem for Monday here and FOTD here.
(Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/GettyImages)
This weekend on the Dish, the Paul Ryan VP news dominated coverage. We followed the breaking story on Twitter, rounded up reactions after Ryan's speech Saturday morning, and explored how the conservative base would respond. Most Americans knew little about Ryan, so we provided the basics: his stance on gay rights, ideological fervor, self-proclaimed debt to Ayn Rand, and fiscal positions. Chait argued the Ryan choice was a triumph for movement conservatism, Jonathan Cohn critiqued his Medicare plans, Daniel Larison disdained his partisanship, Douthat suggested why Romney made the pick, Bob Wright dubbed Ryan a "robot nerd," and Bob Bartlett earned himself a von Hoffman award.
We also provided an array of stories on religion. Joanna Brooks pondered Mormons' identification with the tales of ancient Israel, Micah Mattix pointed to Rilke's unconventional Christianity, Carl McColman meditated on the struggle to find inner peace, Amber Sparks found the grace in poetry, Scott Atran urged scientists to study the sacred, and James Q. Wilson commended Tocqueville's understanding of religion's role in America.
In literary and cultural coverage, Jacob Silverman thought online literary communities were too nice, Keith Ridgway showed how we all deploy fiction, Amanda Katz examined non-50 Shades of Grey summer reading, NPR profiled Christianist hack David Barton, Aimee Liu revisited Graham Greene's conflicted Catholicism, and Martin Amis again considered American decline. Mark Edwards confirmed his years as a psychic were a scam, Richard Polt held that evolution can't teach us about ethics, and Anders Henriksson revealed his students' tenuous grasp of history. Read Saturday's poem here and Sunday's here.
In assorted coverage, we asked Barney Frank if Congress was getting worse, continued our thread on how India is failing its women, and revisited the strange history of gender testing at the Olympics. Ben Popper investigated biohackers, Justin E.H. Smith contemplated the drugs of youth, Janko Roettgers discussed crowdfunding porn, and Tom Jacobs summarized findings on the gender of robots. FOTD here, MHBs here and here, VFYWs here and here, and the latest window contest here.
The Dish 