President Clinton signed welfare reform into law. Democratic leaders skipped the ceremony, as criticism from Clinton's left became a major theme of the coverage. Angry liberal interest groups called Clinton's acquiescence "shameful." Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared, "Those involved will take this disgrace to their graves." Protesters hounded Clinton at staged events (including the signing ceremony), and the White House braced for open conflict at the Democratic Convention. However, the Washington Post reported that Clinton advisers expect angry liberals to "hold their noses and vote [Clinton into] a second term rather than allow Dole and Gingrich free rein."
| The FBI crime lab has found traces of chemical explosives in the wreckage of TWA Flight 800. As of Friday, however, it was not yet prepared to blame the crash officially on sabotage. The story was a scoop by the New York Times, quickly picked up by other media. |
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| A government study found that teen-age drug abuse has doubled since 1992. Dole immediately blamed Clinton; GOP Chairman Haley Barbour alleged that Clinton had "treated illegal drug use with a wink and a nod"; the Wall Street Journal accused Clinton of sending kids a permissive "signal" by "insouciantly accepting questions about his underwear" in a 1992 MTV interview. Dole promised to replace Clinton's failed policies with a "nonpartisan" solution. Clinton aides replied that the drug-abuse trend had begun under Bush, and that House Republicans had tried to cut anti-drug programs. Experts blamed the media and popular music. (See " The Gist: Clinton's Drug War" in S LATE's "Compost.") |
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| Clinton announced FDA restrictions on cigarette sales to, and advertising targeting, minors. The political press pointed out that the tobacco issue is "a centerpiece of [Clinton's] effort to carve out his own 'family values' agenda." Dole accused Clinton of using his anti-tobacco campaign to quash the uproar over teen-age drug abuse. Tobacco stocks slid on Wall Street; analysts weren't sure whether to blame Clinton's announcement or the prospect of another liability verdict against the industry. Three more states joined the lawsuit war against tobacco companies, demanding compensation for smoking-related medical expenses. |
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Ross Perot embarked on his second presidential campaign and was dismissed by the press. Reporters interviewed his weirdest supporters and exposed his $450 million stake in foreign government bonds. Commentators snickered at his application for a $29 million federal campaign subsidy and dredged up his wildest past allegations (e.g. that the GOP had threatened to sabotage his daughter's wedding). Editorialists scorned his failure to specify solutions to the fiscal problems he describes. Republicans charged that he would take votes from Dole and get Clinton re-elected. But in his first major campaign stop, Perot earned "a vigorous ovation" and disarmed skeptics with self-deprecating humor. | | AT&T President Alex Mandl resigned to head up a tiny wireless communications company. He was lured by a $20 million cash signing bonus, a $1 million salary, and an equity stake that could bring him over $300 million. Mandl's signing bonus, four times the previous record, shocked the financial press and prompted comparisons to Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. "Alex Mandl will be the highest-paid American under 7 feet tall," remarked one analyst. USA Today heralded the dawn of "the era of the free-agent executive." A spate of stories pondered the stratification of CEOs, with extravagant compensation packages reserved for the elite, less corporate loyalty, and growing influence for headhunters and agents--once again, just like in sports. |
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Olympic bombing hero/suspect/scapegoat Richard Jewell launched a public-relations counterattack against the FBI. Jewell's attorneys announced that he had passed a polygraph test. They took TV cameramen to the bomb site to demonstrate that Jewell couldn't have gotten to the pay phone where the bomber placed his 911 call. They threatened to sue law-enforcement agencies and the press, alleging that Jewell has been "literally incarcerated in his apartment" due to media scrutiny. Meanwhile, journalists scolded their profession in the third person ("Jewell was fed to the world's media wolves," lamented CBS anchorman Harry Smith), even as producers and cameramen from the four major TV networks continued to stake out Jewell from a nearby apartment they have rented together. Law-enforcement authorities refused to apologize to Jewell and said their investigation was still underway. | | Jack Kemp's honeymoon with the media drew to a close. Early in the week, sympathetic post-convention articles plumbed the deep emotional intimacy that has allegedly blossomed between Kemp and Dole, with numerous allusions to their "tears" and "warmth" as each man "touched" and "moved" the other. But investigative reporters soon spoiled the mood. Several news outlets reported that Kemp had been excused from military service due to a shoulder injury, though he continued to play quarterback. The New York Times scrutinized Kemp's tenure at HUD, concluding that he had proven "unable to translate his ideas into solid accomplishments." And the Washington Post reported that Kemp "has made more than $1 million a year as a guest speaker before big business groups and as director of six corporate boards." (See S LATE's " Assessment" of Kemp, now in "The Compost.") |
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| The Internet browser war escalated. Microsoft and Netscape both released new versions. The press compared features and speed and seemed to conclude that the rivals are now roughly equivalent. Reviewers in USA Today and the Wall Street Journal declared Microsoft ahead, though the New York Times reported a possible bug in the Microsoft software. (Decide for yourself: Download Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and Netscape Navigator 3.0 here.) Netscape asked the Justice Department to investigate Microsoft for alleged anti-competitive practices (in particular, bribing companies to thwart consumers' access to Netscape software). Microsoft denied the charge. |
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| After a "ferocious" Russian assault on Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, Russian security chief Alexander Lebed signed a cease-fire pact with Chechen guerrillas. The New York Times called this one "the most promising step yet toward the resolution of the 20-month war," in part because Lebed seems finally to have gained control of the Russian forces. Hours later, in a TV interview, President Yeltsin criticized Lebed's performance in Chechnya, thereby raising questions about Lebed's authority and imperiling the truce. Instead of questioning Yeltsin's mental faculties, analysts construed his comments as shrewd and wise. The Washington Post called it Yeltsin's "favorite management technique--keeping his warring aides and advisers in delicate balance, never letting any one star shine too brightly." |
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| India vetoed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, "effectively derailing more than two years of negotiations" toward containing nuclear weapons. The veto led to a wave of psychoanalysis of India's national anxieties and its unhealthy self-image. Theories focused on adolescent trauma (an old border-war humiliation at the hands of China), the loss of parental protection formerly provided by the Soviet Union, and India's deep suspicions of racism (Indian foes of the treaty accused Western nuclear powers of imposing "nuclear apartheid" on Third World upstarts). The Los Angeles Times embraced India's double-standard complaint as "compelling," but a leading Indian scholar spurned it, blaming his country's behavior on "paranoid notions of national security and grandiose self-perceptions." |
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| Dr. Kevorkian assisted at four suicides in eight days, making a total of 38 since 1990. His lawyer said the increased pace was just a coincidence. Kevorkian was briefly detained by police after becoming "disorderly" at the hospital where he delivered the bodies. One of last week's patients was said to be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. |
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Movie roundup. Tom Hanks pulled out of the film version of Primary Colors, after virtually committing himself to playing the randy, duplicitous lead character modeled, unflatteringly, on Bill Clinton. Hanks has nurtured his career by consistently playing only nice guys, but there was speculation that a friendship Hanks has cultivated with Clinton might also have influenced his decision. Summer movies continued to fare poorly (except for Independence Day). TinCup won praise for Kevin Costner, whom critics officially declared redeemed after Waterworld. TheFan was universally despised for its nastiness and obviousness, and Robert Altman's KansasCity was deemed a flop. Only one late-summer movie, A Time to Kill, is expected to hit the $100 million mark. Critics called the thriller--based on John Grisham's first novel and starring newcomer Matthew McConaughey--solid, if uninspiring. | | --Compiled by William Saletan and the editors of S LATE Photos from Reuters |
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