The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, Andrew considered this war's effect on Jihadism, and historic predecessors like British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston who exercised restraint in aiding others' democratic movements. Chait, Klein and Andrew asked why intervene this time, Goldblog's jaw remained dropped, and the right sniffed Obama's blood in the water. Andrew couldn't get behind Marc Lynch's argument that Libya determines how other dicatators act in the Middle East, PM Carpenter believed in Obama's character, and Ambinder parsed Clinton's developing doctrine. John Lee Anderson interviewed one of Qaddafi's fighters and shook hands with the rebels, Issandr El Amrani questioned the non-violent intentions of Libyan rebels, and Megan Scully and Exum calculated the cost of this war. Andrew meditated  on the tao of Derb, Peter Beinart reminded us we can't control the rebels, Manzi warned of an international arms race, and insurgencies started. The African Union and Putin echoed the Arab League, the UAE balked, and the British split, confused over Resolution 1973. Weigel didn't foresee a congressional vote, Yglesias demeaned the "better than Iraq" yardstick, and David Boaz missed the anti-war movement in lieu of an anti-war president. Public support dwindled, Tripoli quieted down, and Alan Taylor viewed the war through the photographer's lens. Yemen's regime may be approaching an end, and Steven L. Taylor saw Libya as an incentive for dictators to go nuclear. Frank Gaffney jumped from Libya to Israel, and Palin plastered herself with Israeli flags.

Seth Masket compared Japan to New Orleans, we viewed the tsunami from a boat, and XKCD charted radiation dosages. Schools traded calories for IQ points, Simone Eastman bemoaned being the poster couple for gay marriage, and Freddie DeBoer wondered why a longread on gentrification didn't feature any poor people. Readers fell on opposite sides of tasteless jokes, medical workers shared tales of laughter in hardship, and Felix Salmon argued the paywall will prevent people going to the NYT in an emergency. Andrew 80's-gasmed, and the arms trade landed in stoners' hands.

Billboard of the day here, quotes for the day here and here, nit-pick of the day here, chart of the day here, Malkin award here, MHB here, FOTD here, and some pure joy here.

--Z.P.