New Republic, Feb. 20
In the
, Ryan Lizza gives a tour of the interior of “Hillaryland” and the political strategists who enjoy the most influence there. Hillaryland has grown from occupying a “small corner of office real estate in Little Rock” to a “vast political empire based in Washington and New York, that, in its scale and ambition, is unrivaled in Democratic politics.” Lizza calls the “ideological brand” Clinton has been cultivating in the Senate “decidedly centrist.” He writes, “While there are plenty of lefties populating Hillaryland, especially in her circle of female confidantes, the spirit of the place is hardly the communist salon imagined by the right.”
…
An American journalist based in Lebanon describes the new price of being blond-haired and blue-eyed in Beirut—an angry mob thought he was Danish. “The mob attacks anything that is vaguely Danish, which, since no one really knows much about Denmark, amounts to open season on luxury consumer-goods shops and the occasional church.”
—S.S.
Economist, Feb. 9 Whether they are anti-war liberals or immigration-weary conservatives, some Americans think the United States should mind its own business, according to an article. “Many Americans wish to disengage from the world in one or more of four ways: by fighting fewer wars, by trading less freely, by allowing fewer foreigners into their country or by giving less foreign aid,” the author writes. … An article says Germany will use the World Cup soccer tournament this summer to boost its economy and overall national mood. “Germany aims to use the attention generated by this world-class event to repair its battered image,” the author explains. A survey asked if Germans were hopeful for the future entering 2006: 45 percent said “yes.” Wallpapering the country with soccer balls is one ploy to get the other 55 percent to go along. The issue also includes a profile of new German Chancellor Angela Merkel.—M.M.
New York Times Magazine, Feb. 12 In addition to cultural mandates that inflate the importance of bearing sons, disease might also be a factor in lopsided birth rates in developing Asian countries. An article looks at research indicating that a Hepatitis B-carrying parent may have less chance of having a girl. “Yet others fear that such findings are based on flimsy data and could help governments turn a blind eye to gender discrimination,” according to the writer. (Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt covered the Hepatitis B angle in Slate last year.) … The cover piece profiles Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, an Iraq war dissenter who wants to make a run for the GOP ticket in 2008. Hagel isn’t shy about expressing his views, which often clash with the party line. “Now—33 months before a presidential election, two years before the first primaries—his chances aren’t merely discounted; he’s seldom even mentioned in Republican circles, as if he has been sidelined by his independence on Iraq,” the author writes.—M.M.
New York, Feb. 13, 2006 An article examines the rising prices of luxury goods and our increasing willingness to pay them. In response to the claim that paying $30,000 for a dress is “immoral,” the author quips that “[v]ibrant fashion exists outside of morality.” The article offers a helpful breakdown of the “real” line-item cost of that $2,300 cocktail dress and how a retailer decides how much the mark-up should be. “Some people’s search for identity goes no further than wanting that expensive bag on that movie star in that issue of InStyle. Shoppers who have to imitate Kate Moss to express themselves are a retailer’s dream.”… A profile of Julianne Moore explores how she has escaped the less-desirable trappings of celebrity, rarely appearing in the gossip rags or stalked by paparazzi at Starbucks. The author celebrates Moore’s considerable acting skills while examining her relationship to her family. “It’s not the Moore scrambles away from celebrity—more like she sidesteps it gracefully, as though politely carrying on a conversation while avoiding someone else’s yappy dog.”— S.S.
Weekly Standard, Feb. 13 The president’s State of the Union plan to wean the United States of its oil addiction did not win him points with the magazine’s editors. Bush’s goal will not be achieved by replacing the Middle East as our main purveyor since the reduction would “be offset by increased demand from China and India,” writes Irwin Seltzer in an editorial. Nor will government-funded studies to develop fuel from wood chips or switch grass pan out to any true alternatives to oil because government bureaucrats aren’t exactly known for their entrepreneurial gusto. Rather, Stelzer advises that the “great American entrepreneurial genius … go to work to develop technologies that can replace oil.”… Weighing in on the uproar caused by a Danish newspaper publishing 12 caricatures depicting the prophet Mohammed, an article reminds readers that “religious freedom means being free to reject somebody else’s religion and even to insult it.”—Z.K.
The New Yorker, Feb. 13 and 20 Jeffrey Goldberg profiles Michael Gerson, President Bush’s chief speechwriter until he had a mild heart attack in 2004 (he remains a presidential adviser). Gerson is a socially and fiscally conservative evangelical Christian, but it was Jimmy Carter who first stirred his political passions: Gerson is deeply committed to helping the poor, and he is one of the strongest supporters of Bush’s African AIDS-relief programs. Dan Bartlett says, “When you bring a West Texas approach to the heavy debates of the world, there has to be a translator, and Mike is the translator.”… Joan Acocella traces the growth of the Mary Magdalene myth—neither the Bible nor current Catholic doctrine identify her as a prostitute. According to gnostic texts discovered last century, she was Jesus’ chief disciple. The fallen Magdalene we know may be a result of successful doctrinal warfare waged by the Orthodox Church against competing Christian sects.—B.W.
