The Dish

As the British Coalition government settles in, it is becoming a kind of foil for the remnants of American conservatism. In the US, the Republicans rail against any subsidized access to health insurance for the working poor. In Britain, the Tories have quarantined the health service from any spending cuts. In the US, the GOP never stops talking about the need to restrain spending, but have yet to come up with any serious proposal to do so. In Britain, the Tories and the Liberals have set out the most devastating cuts in spending  – more stringent than Thatcher. And because they are not ideological fanatics, they have also raised taxes on consumption to increase revenue. Presented with far less evidence of torture by their predecessor than Obama did, they have done the right thing – and initiated a full-scale inquiry. Here's Cameron's statement today:

Our services are paralysed by paperwork as they try to defend themselves in lengthy court cases with uncertain rules. Our reputation as a country that believes in human rights, justice, fairness and the rule of law – indeed for much of what the services exist to protect – risks being tarnished. … Mr Speaker, while there is no evidence that any British officer was directly engaged in torture in the aftermath of 9/11, there are questions over the degree to which British officers were working with foreign security services who were treating detainees in ways they should not have done.

About a dozen cases have been brought in court about the actions of UK personnel, including, for example, that since 9/11 they may have witnessed mistreatment such as the use of hoods and shackles. This has led to accusations that Britain may have been complicit in the mistreatment of detainees.

The longer these questions remain unanswered, the bigger the stain on our reputation as a country that believes in freedom, fairness and human rights grows.

After July 4, only one country in the Anglo-American alliance is still dedicated to the rule of law and the prosecution of war crimes: the old country. And it has taken a Tory prime minister to do what Barack Obama has not the slightest spine (yet) to tackle here. 

(Photo: prime minister David Cameron and foreign secretary William Hague by Leon Neal/AFP/Getty.)

Some IDF members get it on to Ke$ha. Maybe there’s hope for the US-Israel relationship after all:

You are no longer alone.

Frank Luntz's focus-group assessment of US reaction to the assault on the Mavi Marmara is striking. Some of the Israeli propaganda is simply not working. Take, for example, Charles Krauthammer's claim that "there is a larger issue here. What exactly is the humanitarian crisis that the flotilla was actually addressing? There is none. No one is starving in Gaza," or Netanyahu's statement that "There’s no shortage of food, there’s no shortage of medicine, there’s no shortage of other goods," or Ehud Barak's view that "There is no hunger in Gaza and no humanitarian crisis."

According to Luntz,

56% of Americans agree with the claim that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza; and 43% of Americans agree with the claim that people in Gaza are starving.

More to the point, only 34% of Americans supported the Israeli operation against the Flotilla. That compares with 71 percent of members of Congress signing the AIPAC-backed resolution defending the raid. What accounts for this extraordinary discrepancy between the views of Americans and the views of the congressmen who allegedly represent them?

“It was an unfortunate deviation from my core philosophy,” – as quoted by New York Magazine. Could we have a column on that?

Ithaca, New York, 12 pm

There's a factual discrepancy here:

“Let’s not drain the blood from what happened here,” Mr. Weigel said. “Somebody hacked into off-the-record e-mails, many of them from before I went to work at The Post, and picked the ones that made me look the worst. It was a kind of opposition research, and just about anybody that happens to is going to end up looking bad.”

Breitbart claims the emails came from an internal leaker:

That leaker who destroyed Weigel’s career had agreed to the off-the-record nature of the 400-strong list; the minute the leaker went public with the material the story was no longer about Weigel but about the JournoList itself.

This seems to me to be an important distinction. Was Journo-List hacked or betrayed? And will anyone tell?

“The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it. The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you,” – the artist formerly known as Prince.

So she's not that toxic, apparently.

Chris Beam profiles David Brooks:

Politically, it’s clear why the White House likes Brooks—he’s the persuadable opposition. “David represents to them the sensible Republican,” says Collins. “If David is convinced, they regard that as a real bi-partisan triumph.” But the special relationship is as much about style as politics. Temperamentally, Brooks and Obama could be twins. They address crises with an almost inhuman calm—an asset at times, but also a liability when the only proper response is emotional. On this, Brooks defends Obama. “You know, people fault President Obama for being passionless sometimes, for being a little too cold,” Brooks said on PBS NewsHour in May. “But when you have a week like this, where you’ve got the Greek situation, the oil spill, you’ve got Times Square, you’ve got floods in Nashville, I think they responded with reasonable speed, but basically with a level of calmness, which is in his nature … This is a good time to have a president like Obama, who’s just steady.”

In response, Atrios notes:

We do not live in a world with Republican senators who give a shit what David Brooks thinks.

Nope. But it remains to be seen if calm, in the long run, is stronger than anger. Is suspect it is; and Obama's temperament remains his actual strength, however it works the last nerves of liberals.