By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Today on the Dish, Andrew commended Obama for winning the war Bush kept losing, and Steve Benen wondered why Obama's impressive foreign policy record hasn't been at the forefront of his nascent campaign for reelection. We tackled the hairy legal questions surrounding al-Awlaki's death, and Andrew clarified his definition of Christianism. 

Euroskepticism reigned as the Eurozone bought time, and China's propaganda machine committed an amusing blunder. In our video feature, Andrew sized up Palin's nomination prospects as her "drop dead date" passed and filing deadlines quickly approached, and he harped on tax reform as sound policy and a way for Obama to charm independents. Chait outed Romney as a secret Keynesian, and the former Massachusetts governor is still taking Rick Perry to the cleaners over his in-state tuition policy for students whose parents came to Texas illegally. Kinsley saw Chris Christie's obesity as grounds for immediate disqualification, Andrew Sprung wants the hard right to spin off into a third party, and we braced for a double-dip recession. 

The Greater Israel lobby faces a generational dilemma, a Palestinian activist fought injustice with nonviolent protest, and the FBI takes its terrorist sting operations too far. Dustin Lance Black's new play remembers the Prop 8 trial, transgendered service members are stuck in the closet post-DADT, and regime change is often doomed to fail. Our capital punishment debate raged on as readers wondered if we should bring back firing squads, the culture wars absorbed salt, and readers came to the defense of the Wall Street protesters.

Scott Galupo eviscerated David Mamet, a reader offered a three-part plan to address our dollar woes, and we're inclined toward single-sex education even though we have no evidence that it works. Pay-for-performance skews incentives, gentrification isn't the only way to urban growth, and "the noble experiment" continues. Breeder and non-breeders hashed out permanent birth control, Scientology's posh boarding school employs some unusual methods, and our readers shared erotic stories of the not-necessarily-elusive yogasm. We delved into the history and politics of gardening in England and Andrew learned a new term from rugby's world cup. "Fuck" is quite versatile and fun, and design is the future of the Internet. 

VFYW here, Hathos alert here, MHB here, Cool ad watch here, and FOTD here. 

By Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images. 

Thursday on the Dish, Andrew despaired that Obama's attempt Israeli diplomacy couldn't achieve a Palestinian state, but reflected on the relative peace of modern times. Contra Corey Robin, Andrew contemplated why moderation can be conservative in the right time and place, and the National Review went cruising. Andrew praised the English garden in today's video feature and Saleh's return to Yemen didn't bode well for civil war there. Thomas P.M. Barnett wanted the US to ingratiate itself to other countries in the Mideast by disassociating with Pakistan, but mediation between India and Pakistan could help.

On the election front, we were still waiting for Perry's economic plan to materialize, while Perry's tuition policy for immigrants makes total economic sense, if he'd only defend it. David Brooks lost faith in Huntsman, we counted down the days till Palin's decision, and she revealed her insecurity by dissing the presidency. We weighedChris Christie's charisma and weight, pizza-man Cain pulled head-to-head with Perry and Romney in the race, and Tom Tancredo seized on Perry's Norquist relationship. Dan Amira argued for Florida's right to an early vote, and Perry-campaign hathos alert here. Teaparty.com didn't look like a good investment when you consider the bad Canadian rock that birthed it, at least McGinniss got a fair trial up north, and we examined the demands of the Wall Street protests.

Balko called the US out for sanitizing the death penalty by using unreliable injections rather than the firing squad and the jury is still out about the death penalty's ability to deter crime. Obamacare was headed for the Supreme Court, and Frum believed Romney is the only candidate with a reasonable approach to reforming the ACA. Suspect sketches mess with our images of the perpetrator, the DEA knocked on the wrong door, and you should treat the First Amendment like you treat your penis. Dental care remained a luxury for most Americans, and the US wins the honor of the only country without legally mandated vacation days. Readers lobbied for the best way to raise kids in either cities or suburbs and Reihan wanted the gas tax to work more like a metro card. Traffic congestion isn't cheap, Keith Boyea offered a Camus-view of DC bureaucracy, and gay gangs in DC fought back. Amazon, Google and Apple fought for the tablet market, Google caught itself in a win-win feedback loop of data, and opticians reconsidered the impact of lasers on airline pilots. Hanna Brooks Olsen defended the right of young women to get their tubes tied, and evangelical Christians weren't waiting for marriage to do the deed.

Email of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

Mai Chau, Vietnam, 7.13 am

Wednesday on the Dish, Palin criticized the media for not vetting the 2008 candidates and insisted she wasn't in it for the "shackle-y" title. McGinniss defended his verified sources and Janet Maslin missed the mark in her review of The Rogue. Fundraisers got nervous about Perry, Bachmann connected some crazy dots from Hezbollah to Cuba, and neocons ignored Chris Christie's notion of American exceptionalism.

John Judis urged the US to do the right thing for Palestine like it did in 1947 for Israel, neocons aren't funny when they try to be, and Netanyahu swayed Spain and France to his side. Andrew reconsidered his stance on Libya after the fall of Qaddafi in today's Ask Andrew video, with more of your thoughts here. Getting rid of Assad isn't as easy as calling for him to go, the Arab Spring bloomed in Palestinians, and RtoP advocates needed to clarify whether they're after regime change or civilian protection. Dreher wanted to see European localism win somehow with the collapse of the Euro, even as William Hague's predictions proved true. We tracked Putin's "run" for the presidency, and pointing lasers at planes can blind a pilot.

Douthat drew a distinction about the decline of the death penalty about our incompetency in implementing it, the Supreme Court might be able to abolish it, and readers considered redemption. Bruce Bartlett reminded the GOP once again that lower tax rates on the wealthy doesn't spur growth, macroeconomics can't always make sense of a messy world, and killing the electoral college isn't a partisan matter. Jan-Werner Mueller defined populism as an unhealthy coalition between elites and marginal groups that don't belong, and James McBride nailed Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich as literary figures. It's not so easy for a Muslim American to join a Republicans' executive committee, and Jim Burroway disapproved of Lady Gaga's tribute to a gay suicide victim. Kevin Sessums found God in Helen Keller's situation, paper money screws blind people, and Machiavellian types make for good politicians.

Urban density mirrored free trade, the fertility rates for professional women plummeted, and snacks and alcohol are socially transmitted. Readers delighted in transcription errors, Amazon stepped up to Apple, and we contemplated our next short book venture. A college education remains a good investment for future jobs, and city kids defended their playgrounds from the 'burbs. Coffee averts depression for women, South Park starred on 60 Minutes, and Bart Simpson pranked the LA City Council. Doctors only accuse others of over-prescribing drugs for money, robots will steal our high-paying jobs too, and we yearned for the yogasm.

Happy Rosh Hashanah guide here, MHB here, FOTD here, VFYW here and the beautiful coincidences of yesterday's contest here.

By Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images.

Tuesday on the Dish, Palin threatened to sue McGinniss but realized she'd have to go under oath and take a DNA test about Trig. The left continued to cower rather than challenge McGinniss' claims, and a Canadian rock band considered sellingTeaParty.com for $1 million. Andrew's jaw dropped at the poisonous hate in the book Mearsheimer blurbed, and sadly prepared for the euro's collapse. On the election front, Andrew analyzed why Romney still struggled to win trust within his own party, opened fire on Perry's immigration stance, and tried to undermine Obama with his Believe In America slogan. Perry underwent lip-reading service to hilarious effect, we assessed his leadership weaknesses, and Dan Amira deflated the Chris Christie hype.

Readers poked Andrew about the new Ask him Anything feature, and he shared why P town is a sacred place for him. Readers challenged Hitchens and others on America's penchant for the death penalty, and readers defended Kevin Smith's independent tactics and connected Harvard's kindness pledge to Aristotle and Emerson. Our mission in Afghanistan was all but doomed to fail, and seven months after Egypt's revolution, the country was still waiting for its "free, democratic system." Global warming won't hit most of the countries guilty of giving off greenhouse gases, we debated why dictators last longer than democratic leaders, and dark-skinned Libyans weren't past the war.

Half of all American Jews doubt God's existence, we analyzed whether it's right to be prejudiced against someone for their accent, and Christianism persisted in politics. Obama ably handled a Christianist heckler, and Keith Hennessey complained about Mr. Suskind ability to quote him. Banks needed to be taken down a notch, and we tried to parse whether an insouciant trader was part of a hoax or just horribly real. Medicare fraud robs taxpayers of an estimated $48 billion, cul de sac living endearsitself to children playing in the street, and most service jobs aren't located downtown. For some gay servicemembers, the telling wasn't as important as the elimination of fear, and harassment can add up. Water balloons were no match for some faces, technology reconstructed the images that play in our minds, porn boosted Tumblr's numbers, and David Foster Wallace predicted the facial substitution feature.

Creepy ad watch here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here, and VFYW contest winner #69 here.

Monday on the Dish, we launched a new Ask Andrew Anything feature. Obama took the gloves off, and when the truth conflicts with the propaganda on Fox, the propaganda always wins. Romney may appeal to the crazy GOP base, but without Andrew's blessing, since Romney's "apology tour" riff is as ugly as it is untrue. We assessed Perry's damage from the debates and had flashbacks to Palin's weak preparations. The web waited for the GOP to settle on Romney, or for any of the GOP candidates to address foreign policy substantively. The press glossed over Obama's Biblical faith, Norm Geras complicated Andrew's thoughts on religion, and Andrew assessed Obama's attack method: only after asking nicely.

Iranian prisons compared themselves to Guantanamo and we covered the dust-up over John Mearsheimer's endorsement of Gilad Atzmon's new book. We hailed Margaret Thatcher's punk roots, Ireland surprised everyone with its growth, and Saudi women got the right to vote but not the right to drive. In other national affairs, unemployment hurts Democrats more than Republicans, and if it stays at current levels, could raise the deficit by $2 trillion to $4 trillion. Readers contemplated the death penalty for those whose evil is fairly certain, and whether it can ever serve a practical purpose. The industrial food complex could die a similar death to big tobacco's thanks to Obamacare, and we pondered what jobs of the future will look like. 

The cul-de-sac doesn't make as much urban sense as the grid system, teenagers take on risk because their brains are different from adults, and we learned why humansassociate certain smells with childhood. Kevin Smith sabotaged his own film, Facebook's timeline feature could track babies across their entire lives, and we accidentally ruined someone's fake career. Diego Stocco made music at the drycleaner's, Apple's new HQ designs could ruin Steve Jobs' legacy, and our ability to remember the past influences our ability to imagine the future. Transcripts turneddada, bears got smeared by the Church, and Bloggingheads could use a dose of face substitutions.

Hathos alert here, map of the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, FOTD here, and the battle of butter vs margarine uncovered here.

— M.A.