Month: August 2012

by Matthew Sitman

Maria Konnikova offers an explanation for why misquotations come into being – and then persist:

Have you noticed how incorrect quotes often just sound right—sometimes, more right than actual quotations? There's a reason for that. Our brains really like fluency, or the experience of cognitive ease (as opposed to cognitive strain) in taking in and retrieving information. The more fluent the experience of reading a quote—or the easier it is to grasp, the smoother it sounds, the more readily it comes to mind—the less likely we are to question the actual quotation. Those right-sounding misquotes are just taking that tendency to the next step: cleaning up, so to speak, quotations so that they are more mellifluous, more all-around quotable, easier to store and recall at a later point. We might not even be misquoting on purpose, but once we do, the result tends to be catchier than the original.

And according to Konnikova's account, Marie Antoinette and Mark Twain both have been ill-served by such tendencies:

Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake" would be one of the most famous lines in history were it not for the fact that she never actually said it. The line comes instead from Book 6 of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, written several years before Marie Antoinette ever came to Versailles—and its speaker is never actually named but rather referred to as a "great princess." (Oh, and it's not cake; it's brioche.)

And poor Mark Twain. He seems to have said everything there is to say in the world. Several of my favorite lines turn out to be purely apocryphal, like "I would rather go to bed with Lillian Russell stark naked than with Ulysses S. Grant in full military regalia" and "Giving up smoking is easy. I've done it hundreds of times." Several other bon mots are actually not original to Twain, but rather quoted by him (Twain, to his credit, always gave the source; his listeners and readers paid less careful attention.) "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics," for instance, was, according to Twain, an invention of Benjamin Disraeli's, and "Wagner's music is better than it sounds" originated with Edgar Wilson Nye. Twain was a witty man, but, alas, he didn't say it all.

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.

by Gwynn Guilford

Reflecting on the shooting at the Washington, DC, Family Research Council shooting on Wednesday, E.J. Graff sounds off:

Some LGBT bloggers are angry with the National Organization for Marriage for denouncing LGBT groups’ rhetoric as potentially inciting this violence. They cite FRC’s truly extreme antigay views, and support the Southern Poverty Law Center’s designation of FRC as a hate group. And it’s true: FRC’s rhetoric and positions are absolutely vile…. But how did progressives respond to the shootings at the Sikh temple, the Holocaust Museum, to the record number of threats on President Obama’s life, to any abortion-clinic attack? What about the Atlanta bombings, in which Eric Rudolph bombed a lesbian club, an abortion clinic, and the Olympics, in that order?

Here's how: By denouncing not just the individual shooter but also the rhetoric that helped focus and heighten that particular unhinged person’s homicidal impulses. For the first time, I'm starting to understand Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity several years ago. Is there any way for us all to dial down the rhetoric, just a bit—pro-gay and anti-gay, progressive and conservative? FRC isn’t actually killing gay people in the streets. The Republican Party has its point of view, even if you disagree with it.

Dreher takes the Southern Poverty Law Center's categorization of the FCR as a "hate group" to task, referencing Dana Milbank's point that it's "absurd" to lump the FRC in with the KKK:

The accusation of “hate group” and “hater” is thrown around so much by the cultural left that it has ceased to mean anything other than “someone who disagrees with the cultural left.” But some people take this talk seriously, just as some on the Right take self-righteous paranoia by movement loudmouths seriously. And some people have guns.

In a way, the SPLC's hate-labeling approach – as well as more general "-ist" baiting – has created a moral equivalency that blurs the distinction between mere disagreement and out-and-out bigoted persecution – one in which you can tag any sort of calling out of factual distortions as "hate." But it's interesting that, as far as I have read, nothing has surfaced saying what exactly had influenced Floyd Corkins to say "I don't like your politics" and shoot Leo Johnson. The media mentions the LGBT community center he volunteered at, but we don't know if the shooter had heard of the SPLC's designation, or to which of FRC's politics exactly he was reacting. But cue Tony Perkins, who now accuses the SPLC of giving "license" to the shooter to perpetrate the attack. The American Family Association likewise says that the SPLC is "to blame for [the] shooting." Steven Benen calls Perkins out:

For Perkins, there's a chain of events that points to causality — the SPLC condemned the FRC for its anti-gay work; Corkins may have seen the SPLC's condemnation; the suspected gunman was apparently deranged enough to want to commit acts of violence against his perceived enemy; ergo the SPLC bears some responsibility for Corkins' actions. Except that doesn't make any sense, and Perkins surely knows better.

Emphasizing that nothing ever excuses the use of violence, John Aravosis then pulls no punches about the deviousness of FRC's use of fake science and non-logic in advancing its policy agendas:

[I]t's not their policy positions per se, it's their strategy of willfully and systematically lying in order to defame, and discriminate against, an entire class of American citizens - but it really does still amaze me that after everything this organization has said, and continues to say, about gay people, they have the nerve to lecture their victims about being mean. It's genius, really. If they call you a pedophile, it's just their religion.

Gary Bauer, who used to head up FRC, alluded to “a disturbing level of intolerance and hate aimed at those who share traditional values,” as though an epidemic of Corkins-like crimes besets the nation (which is not to dismiss that this was a crime driven by hate, to be clear). The SPLC's website write-up of the FRC explains its rationale, offering some choice quotes of what the FRC passes for research. FRC senior vice president Rob Schwarzwalder maintains similar arguments in this interview.

by Patrick Appel

Yesterday, the Dish mentioned that Tug-of-War was once an Olympic sport. Scott Stone advocates for its reinstatement:

Tug of War was an Olympic sport from 1900-1920. Check it out. How have they NOT brought this back? The strategic considerations are endless — and probably meaningless. I'm pretty convinced that virtually no insight or understanding is even remotely necessary to form an opinion about Tug of War. In other words: this is perfect for sports/entertainment media. Threshold decision — do you form a national team from scratch or draw from your country's Olympic delegation, with Tug of War held just before the closing ceremonies?

Bill Simmons vision:

Here's how I think it could work: On the night of the Closing Ceremony, the two countries ranked no. 1 and no. 2 for total medals have a tug-of-war showdown. Ten people on each team — five male, five female — that have to come from 10 different sports/events. In other words, you couldn't stack your team with three weight lifters or whatever. Oh, and everyone participating in the tug-of-war HAD to have won gold medals. And there's a weight limit per team — you can't exceed, say, 2,000 pounds for your 10 athletes. 

by Chris Bodenner

"C.W. Nevius' column about Most Holy Redeemer banning drag queen performers incorrectly stated that entertainer Peaches Christ appeared at an event at the church's hall with a dildo shaped like a crucifix. He did not appear at the event, nor does he use the prop," – San Francisco Chronicle.

by Gwynn Guilford

Despite the Mormon enthusiasm for jello – Salt Lake City-ers eat twice the national average – Christy Spackman says bigotry lies at the heart of the general public's association of the two:

In adopting and making Jell-O “their” food, Mormons (or Lutherans or Methodists) are making a statement about their identity, accepting all of the food’s positive connotations of family-friendliness, child-centeredness, and domesticity. Outsiders, in contrast, often look in and see Jell-O as a mark of a lack of taste that renders this group strange, immature, and ultimately mockable.

Last year, a Mormon blogger took the issue less seriously. On her traditional Sunday dinner:

[M]y mom is actually pretty good at making jello, and most of the time it came out nice and jiggly, rather than sloppy and melty, like mine tends to. But then sometimes she would pull out all the stops and make her green jello with pineapple and cottage cheese. Cottage cheese. With the jello. INSIDE the jello.

But she's had worse:

For the record, jello shots made with vodka taste way worse than jello with cottage cheese. I didn’t figure out that people weren’t eating them for the taste until after I had a couple. I mean, hello, somebody could have at least WARNED the Mormon that they were trying to get drunk on the jello. I was totally unprepared, coming from a world where EVERYBODY brings jello to a party.

Members of Dukhtaran-e-Milat (Daughter of the nation), a Kashmiri women's separatist organization, hold up placards during an anti-Burmese government protest on August 17, 2012 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India. Activists, along with members of the Dukhtaran-e-Milat, took to the streets chanting anti-Burmese slogans protesting against the killing of Rohingya Muslims and widespread rape during the recent wave of sectarian violence. By Yawar Nazir/Getty Images.

– C.B.

by Gwynn Guilford

Many readers have pointed out that, in Romney discussing his "at least 13%" rate, he neglected to specify which taxes:

The key to Mitt's claim to have paid at least 13% in taxes in each of the last 10 years is that he said taxes and not Federal income taxes.  Of course he has paid at least 13% of his income in taxes, if you count state, property, sales, etc. That wasn't the question.  The question is what he has paid in Federal income taxes.

Another:

Will someone – anyone – please ask the man directly if he paid the specified amount in FEDERAL taxes?

Ezra Klein, for one, noticed the sleight of hand.

by Chas Danner

Pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA has released a new six-state web ad hitting Romney/Ryan with tax rhetoric regarding both Romney's 13% statement and the Ryan budget:

Speaking of such web ads, while TV ad spending is still going very strong this cycle, Katy Steinmetz shares some new data that indicates political web ads are gaining ground in terms of spending and reach:

According to data from Visible Measures, a video analytics outfit, online ads pushed by presidential backers had hit more than 70 million views as of August 1. Team Obama’s videos have yielded more than 32 million of those hits, one-fourth of which were paid for through sites like YouTube. That’s three times the amount of views the campaign had shelled out for two months before, says Visible Measures’ Matt Fiorentino, which means the campaign is spending more time and money thinking about advertising efforts online. According to their data, Mitt Romney has spent less and reaped less. His campaign has paid for 2 million online ad views and has gotten 10 million total. Yet his super PAC backers–the same ones outspending liberal super PACs in traditional advertising–have driven about four times as many as their third-party counterparts.

Elsewhere, in light of today's Obama Medicare ad, the AARP released a statement reminding everyone they don't endorse the ad, or any candidates. Alexander Burns explains:

That's not a repudiation of the Obama ad or a walkback of the information contained in it, though the AARP does note that it'll be publishing a new voter guide later this month, and could weigh in again on Ryan and the rest at that point.

Meanwhile, Democrats are using Paul Ryan's entry into the race to link more downticket Republicans to his budget. Here is an ad along those lines from DCCC attacking Congressman Dan Benishek (R-MI) over Medicare:

The RNC on the other hand has a web video out trying to expand the outrage over Obama's lack of press availability (beyond the press corps, at least), and Martha Moore discovers that so far, PA just isn't getting that much ad spending. Then, in outside group news, MoveOn.org has a new ad out attacking Romney with some outsourcing rhetoric, though there doesn't seem to be any information about where or how much it will be airing:

And Rove's Super PAC American Crossroads is offering their tongue-in-cheek endorsement of Joe Biden with a kind of Biden blooper reel:

Ad War archive here.