Month: December 2012

By David Ryder/Getty Images

Today on the Dish, Andrew backed up Obama on his fiscal-cliff red lines, highlighted the importance of America’s neighbors both having national marriage equality, and celebrated the arrival of marriage (license) equality in Washington State, as did two men with wonderful beards, as did our FOTD.

In political coverage, McKibben suggested ways capitalism can take on climate change, readers offered some additional thoughts on the difference between MSNBC and Fox News, Jonah Goldberg reviewed Mitt Romney’s authenticity paradox, the Right found a loony to champion “lunatic”, and Chait introduced the GOP to its rock and hard place regarding anti-tax absolutism. We also rounded up reactions to Jim DeMint’s exit from the Senate, a development Jennifer Rubin welcomed (drawing the rabid ire of other conservatives), while Washington State got its legal-weed on, Thomas B. Colby noted the difference between sympathy and empathy when it came to Obama’s judges, Nate Silver floated Alaska as a future swing state, Harry Enten bet on Hillary for 2016, and Peter Roskam’s acceptance of Obama’s revenue offer earned him an Yglesias nomination. In international coverage, Afghanistan’s corruption once again topped the world, Fallows checked in on the economic and social maturing of China, Nora Caplan-Bricker broke down the anti-gay situation in Uganda, and Joshua Landis picked the best of bad options when it came Syrian rebel leadership, while we kept our eye on Assad’s possible use of chemical weapons and also looked in on the continuing demonstrations in Egypt.

In assorted coverage, we paid tribute to Dave Brubeck while Kottke passed along the best 2012 photo galleries, Marc Smirnoff carved out a serious space for his Southern literary quarterly, Sumathi Reddy discarded thoughtfulness in the quest for appreciated-gift buying, and Will Schwalbe read to live. Also, Frank Jacobs explained the cartography of existential islands, Christine Flamsholt Jensen traced the pro-business ethos of hip-hop, Lydia DePillis emphasized the inherent waste of failed start-ups, Christopher Ferguson recommended we stop suspending kids from school, and Travis Waldron focused on the domestic violence aspect of NFL linebacker Jovan Belcher’s murder-suicide. Keith Humphreys let some air out of porn star happiness (or at least the study that had suggested it), Linda Holmes could not tolerate violence on television (and likely did not watch our zombie montage), and we considered what to do if we fell onto the subway tracks. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John line-danced through a new Hathos Alert, a house dubstepped its way through our MHB, God tweeted, and there was snow in Seoul through the VFYW.

– C.D.

  Yesterday, continuing mass protests in front of the Presidential Palace (seen above) erupted into violence that left at least six people dead. In an effort to defuse the unrest, President Morsi made a speech tonight:

[He] announced a meeting to take place Saturday with the opposition. He blamed the violence on paid agents of unnamed forces wishing to destroy the country. He said an investigation was under way to bring those forces to justice. He warned against further violent unrest, saying it would not be tolerated. He listed numerous targets that must not be attacked, including government buildings and institutions. The list of verboten behavior included, to the mirth of many listeners, blocking traffic. He said the referendum on the constitution would proceed as planned. He seemed willing to discuss his decree of unchecked power – but he defended it as part of his duty as president to defend Egypt’s “sovereignty.”

Max Fisher goes over the speech and notes the similarity to previous speeches by Mubarak, as well as the implied threat of violence. Fisher believes things are about to get worse:

After all the harsh words, mutual mistrust, and clear antagonism between Morsi and his supporters versus the opposition and theirs, it’s difficult to see the two sides coming to an accord in only two days’ time. It could happen, but would probably require Morsi to open with significant concessions. If the Dec. 8 dialogue falls through, with the constitutional referendum only a week away, then both the opposition and Morsi may see cause to escalate even further as the vote nears. 

Jack Shenker thinks Morsi is just another in the long line of Egyptian autocrats:

Opposition, be it official or on the street, is viewed [by Morsi] as a conspiratorial enemy to be blitzed, not a legitimate element of political life. For evidence just look at the draft constitution, not the content (though that is alarming enough) but the process. Written almost exclusively by old, Islamist men, the document is now being rammed through via the ousting of dissenting voices and Morsi’s unilateral constitutional decree that puts a metaphorical gun to the heads of the electorate: vote yes to my constitution, or reaffirm my extra-judicial dictatorship.

Isobel Coleman goes over the problem areas of the newly drafted constitution here. Michael Koplow warns of the long-term risks if the military gets involved again:

The Egyptian army has already stepped in once to try and steer the ship of the state on a temporary basis. The logic in doing so at the time was in many ways justifiable, and while the results were less than ideal, it was a popular move with many Egyptians who saw no good alternative. This time, however, if the army gets in the middle of the various parties and tries to intervene and sort things out, the long term results will be even more disastrous. Creating a pattern in which the military is expected to act as a referee and step in any time things get hairy will doom any hope for civilian rule or the semblance of democratic politics in Egypt.

Jeri and Amy Andrews laugh as they wait in line outside of the King County Recorder's Office on December 5, 2012 in Seattle, Washington. The office is due to open at 12:01 AM PST the following morning to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples for the first time, after Washington voters chose to legalize same-sex marriage in November's election. By David Ryder/Getty Images.

A special shout-out to Ed Murray, the key strategist behind the incremental approach to winning marriage equality in Washington State.

The reaction to Jen Rubin’s good riddance to Jim DeMint:

“Romney’s mouthpiece claims to be a conservative and writes ‘good riddance, Mr. DeMint,'” Erick Erickson, the founder of the conservative blog Red State, tweeted. “In the history of ignorant takes on conservative, @JRubinBlogger may have just written the most ignorant thing ever.” A more vitriolic message comes from conservative radio host Mark Levin: “Go to hell, Jennifer Rubin,” he wrote.

These are good times for Republicans aren’t they?

Two dudes get married in Washington State. No, not just Dan and Terry (congrats!), but these guys … Thanks to an entire in-tray full of friends who emailed it to me.

Joshua Landis urges the US to recognize a Syrian opposition group:

Washington should recognize and support the newly formed National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. The United States has spent the last 21 months insisting on unity in what turns out to be a very fragmented Syrian opposition. This group is as good as it is going to get. It is filled with elite Syrians, who are educated, relatively pro-American, not too anti-Israel and not too Islamist — many of whom have gone to jail for their beliefs. This group will be able to retain popular backing from the West.

His concern:

The big question that haunts the coalition is how it will gain control of the armed elements of the revolution. Today, Syria is ruled by guns, radicals and tough guys. It will take a miracle for the U.S. to glue this new exile leadership on top of the militia lords in Syria.

See how much of this zombie-slaughter porn you can get through:

Linda Holmes is sick of such hyper-violent TV:

Enjoying or not enjoying scenes where people are brutalized is no different from anything else: It is an element of your taste, of what you want to watch. For some people, a show that features murders and rapes and beatings is no harder to watch than one that doesn't. But for some, including me, there simply is only so much of this I care to watch, even as someone who watches television as part of my job. I could not possibly watch Homeland and Breaking Bad and Game Of Thrones and Sons Of Anarchy and Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead, because watching one season of each in a calendar year would mean spending almost 80 hours — the equivalent of two full work weeks out of every year — staring at an amount of violence that would make me miserable. I don't want to watch that many people bleed to death, no matter how good the shows are where it's happening. I just don't.

Keith Humphreys sprinkles grains of salt on this study:

In the case of the pornography study, one of the authors was affiliated with the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, which had a long term fiduciary relationship with the adult film industry. The same organization helped pay for the research (I could not find this acknowledged in the article, but the lead author so confirmed when asked).

Does this mean the study’s findings are wrong? No. But just as we would not uncritically accept findings that all pornography actresses are abuse victims if one of the authors were a board member of the League to Stamp Out Porn we should be skeptical of the present findings until they are replicated by a disinterested team of researchers.

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire certified election results yesterday afternoon. This morning, the state auditors office began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Zack Ford gives the rundown on some of the nuptials in King County, which opened its doors just after midnight this morning:

One of [the] couples was JP Persall and Diana Wickman, who have been together for 10 years. They both served 22 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, where they managed to meet and fell in love in spite of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The couple who received the very first marriage license, though, was Jane Abbott Lighty, 77, and Pete-e Peterson, 85, who have been together over 35 years. They met on a blind date in 1977 and believed they would die before they could legally wed.

Also on hand was Dan Savage. He married his husband Terry Miller in Canada in 2005, but decided to use the occasion to renew their vows now that it’s legal in the state where they live (in the country where they live).

Eli Sanders reported from the scene this morning, where 279 licenses were issued before 6am. Meanwhile, in Maryland, Governor O'Malley just signed the results of the 2012 election into law, stipulating that same-sex couples can get married there starting January 1, 2013. In Maine, the third state with a marriage equality ballot measure victory, same-sex couples can tie the knot even sooner – on December 29. And, on the more distant horizon, Illinois voters could decide in favor of same-sex marriage as soon as January. 

(Photo:  Jane Abbott Lighty, left, and Pete-e Petersen embrace after receiving the first same-sex marriage license in Washington state at the King County Recorder's Office on December 6, 2012 in Seattle, Washington. By David Ryder/Getty Images)

Chait argues that "the structure of Republican anti-tax absolutism has turned against the cause it was intended to sustain":

Republicans have constructed all their anti-tax defenses against a bipartisan budget deal, never imagining that higher taxes would transpire through legislative inaction rather than action. Republicans are following a path that is likely to lead to higher taxes because the entrenched methods of anti-tax politics are preventing them from maneuvering. The conservative movement is designed to prevent a compromise, when compromise is the thing Republicans most need in order to hold taxes low.