<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[The Best Of The Dish&nbsp;Today]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='580' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/tlvgdrL42O8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></span>
<p>I&#8217;m still reeling from a screening of Errol Morris&#8217;s new documentary on Donald Rumsfeld, <em>The Unknown Known</em>. I&#8217;m going to try and see it one more time before I write about it. But for me, it was a bit of a breakthrough in understanding a man whose company I once enjoyed and who became responsible for such catastrophic error and evil. It&#8217;s a brilliant exposition &#8211; more impressive in my mind than <em>The Fog Of War</em>, Morris&#8217;s account of Robert McNamara &#8211; but so powerful and devastating a portrait I need to sit with it some more.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, it was D-Day for the president on the Affordable Care Act, and he responded in familiar fashion. His presser revealed the preternaturally imperturbable president explaining why he hadn&#8217;t meant to lie, why the ACA is doing far more good than harm, and why an administrative fix could temporarily help those who feel cheated by losing their plans.</p>
<p>I compared <a href="http://wp.me/p33JF9-R0i" target="_blank">his mea culpa to Reagan&#8217;s</a> over the much more serious criminal matter of Iran-Contra. I also compared Obama&#8217;s popularity drop to Reagan&#8217;s in 1987. (Reagan&#8217;s implosion <a href="http://wp.me/p33JF9-QZw" target="_blank">was far worse</a>). Others chimed in on his <a href="http://wp.me/p33JF9-R0U" target="_blank">stiffing of the insurance companies</a>, and whether it&#8217;s wise in the long run. We aired a <a href="http://wp.me/p33JF9-QVV" target="_blank">Republican alternative</a> to the ACA, which does not even begin to achieve what Obama hopes for.</p>
<p>We revisited the <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/11/14/the-misery-of-miscarriage-ctd/">agony of miscarriage</a>; the <a href="http://wp.me/p33JF9-QVz" target="_blank">red state drug epidemic</a>; the <a href="http://wp.me/p33JF9-QZE" target="_blank">integrity of Lilly Allen</a>; and the continued violent and <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/11/14/alec-baldwin-is-a-homophobic-bigot/" target="_blank">homophobic bigotry</a> of Alec Baldwin, liberal MSNBC&#8217;s star. What a bunch of hypocrites and phonies on that propaganda network. They&#8217;re almost as bad as GLAAD, which has finally &#8211; <em>finally</em> &#8211; <a href="http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/11/14/alec-baldwin-glaad/" target="_blank">criticized the bigot.</a> But, of course, they haven&#8217;t called on MSNBC to fire him. Baldwin, for his part, actually tried to claim he said &#8220;fathead&#8221; instead of &#8220;fag&#8221;! And then &#8211; no, I&#8217;m not making it up &#8211; <a href="http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/11/14/alec-baldwin-glaad/" target="_blank">insisted</a> that he had no idea that the word &#8220;cocksucker&#8221; had a gay connotation. For a litany of his deranged tweets, <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/alec-baldwin-chases-another-paparazzo-calls-him-ccksucking-fag/" target="_blank">check this page</a>.</p>
<p>There will be no consequences. With liberal homophobes, there never are. If you&#8217;re a conservative and are caught yelling these slurs at random people, you&#8217;d be fired pronto or buried in an avalanche of gay protest. If you&#8217;re a self-entitled liberal, you&#8217;re fine. What, I wonder, will MSNBC&#8217;s Rachel Maddow, Thomas Roberts and Jonathan Capehart say about this? Nothing, I&#8217;ll bet you.</p>
<p>The most popular post of the day was <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/11/14/obamas-iran-contra-moment/" target="_blank">Obama&#8217;s Iran-Contra Moment</a>; second up was <a href="http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/11/14/alec-baldwin-is-a-homophobic-bigot/" target="_blank">Alec Baldwin Is A Homophobic Bigot</a>. Or maybe I should call him a cock-sucking fag. It&#8217;s not homophobic, I <em>swear</em>!</p>
<p>See you in the morning.</p>
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