Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2772

Who Hasn't Been To 32 Donny Osmond Concerts?

Jordan Carr calls Jerry Springer's dating show Baggage the "greatest TV show ever."
















JerrySpringer - Talk show - Television - Arts - Programs

Not Even Civil Unions, Ctd

Governor Lingle twists the knife:

For those people who want to makes this into a civil rights issue, and of course those in favor of the bill, they see it as a civil rights issue. And I understand them drawing that conclusion. But people on the other side would point out, well, we don't allow other people to marry even — it's not a civil right for them. First cousins couldn't marry, or a brother and a sister and that sort of thing. 

Not so fast:

Later in the segment, "Joe from Silver Spring...

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, a longtime CNN journalist, Octavia Nasr, was canned for a controversial tweet. Juan Cole pointed his finger at the Israel Lobby, Stephen Walt also sided with Nasr, Greenwald asked if any reporters have been fired for anti-Arab/Muslim sentiment, and David Carr was on edge. A federal judge ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act. More great news on HIV treatment and some bad news out of Iraq.

In Palin news, she launched her first campaign ad, GOP insiders loved it, and...

The Policing Of The Discourse, Ctd

It seems the British ambassador to Lebanon - as well as US allies King Abdullah of Jordan and prime minister Maliki of Iraq - are terror-supporters as well. I have absolutely no brief for Fadlillah - but to make a complicated point about a man who supported terrorism and who stood up for some modicum of dignity for women in Islam does not seem a firing offense to me. As Stephen Walt puts it:

This incident is also distressing because CNN wasessentially caving into a black/white, us vs. them...

That Double Rainbow Dude

Yes, he was very, very excited to see two rainbows. But then he seems very excited to see wild turkeys too. I conclude that the Discovery Channel has a new host - if they're going for the Burning Man demographic.
















Discovery Channel - Burning Man - Arts and Entertainment - United States - Nevada

Why The Tea Partiers Should Oppose DOMA

It took a federal judge to put two and two together. The Defense of Marriage Act was an assault on the core right of the states to define civil marriage as each sees fit; it was ... drum-roll please ... an assault on the Tenth Amendment! Money quote from the AP story:

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro on Thursday ruled in favor of gay
couples' rights in two separate challenges to the 1996 Defense of
Marriage Act, known as DOMA.

The state had argued the law denied benefits such as...

What Ever Happened To Gallagher?

Lindy West tracks down the watermelon-smasher:

Gallagher is—how best to put this?—a paranoid, delusional, right-wing religious maniac. I HAD NO IDEA.

"Hey, President Obama," he spits out the name like a mouthful of burning hair. "You ain't black.
I don't care what you say—you're a latte. You're half whole-milk. It
could be goat milk—you could be a terrorist!" I am too busy losing my
mind to catch the next joke, which is about Ted Kennedy's brain cancer.
Aaaaand we're off.

Ted...

Beyond The Comfort Zone

Ben Casnocha has set out to experience things that scare him. This qualifies:

One year ago I received an epic, unforgettableChinese massage in Beijing. The short version of a Chinese massage isyou're thrown into a co-ed room with others, the lights are bright, youlie on a futon naked, an overweight old woman comes in and slaps yourass, stuffs her fingers into your ears, pounds your head with clenchedfists, grabs your balls, gives you scalding hot tea halfway through,and then 10 seconds after...

Taxing The Sugary Stuff, Ctd

A reader writes:

The RAND corporation put out a similar study, specifically parsing whether a small tax or larger tax would be preferable in order to achieve the supposed reduction in caloric intake.

Another writes:

Talk of taxing soda and sweets misses the bigger economic distortion caused by the roughly $20 billion dollars the federal government spends on agricultural subsidies, most of which goes to large agribusiness - not small family farms. Here's a conservative idea from a Seattle...

Why Americans Don't Watch The World Cup

Contrary to the Urlesque video above, Dana McCourt has a theory:

It's not that the game is low-scoring; fans of baseball were ravingthis month or last that a bad call cost a pitcher a perfect game, whichis one in which quite literally nothing happens. Peoplewatch golf, and apparently have been known to be entertained by it. It's also not that the game is terribly complicated or taxing forAmerican brains.  There are basically three rules, and one of them isthat you can't use your hands.  We...