Economist, April 22 The cover story asserts that ailing GOP approval ratings and upcoming midterm elections represent a prime opportunity for the Democrats to pounce. “With America mired in Iraq and the Republicans mired in scandal, the Democrats have plenty of large, slow-moving targets to aim at,” the writer quips. Democrats have drafted the “Real Security” strategy, vowed to crack down on overspending, and promised to extend Medicaid in their quest to win back Congress. But a lack of clear leadership may be their downfall, the author concludes. … An article reports that international economic stability may land the International Monetary Fund in the red. With poorer countries staying on top of their finances and borrowing less money, the fund isn’t collecting enough interest to pay for its operations. Economists recommend that the fund entice underrepresented countries to utilize its services by giving them more say in IMF affairs.—M.M.
New Republic, May 1 An article describes the newly minted Sarajevo-based war crimes court, the “domestic judicial body” that will handle the caseload of the U.N. tribunal in The Hague after those proceedings wind up in 2008. The court, which the author dubs a “long overdue experiment,” will prosecute war criminals under Bosnian law. “Rather than having the international community extradite and try war criminals, the new court raises the possibility of states dispensing post-conflict justice on their own terms,” the author writes. … Slate’s Bryan Curtis reflects on the pickup truck, a vehicle of dubious usefulness but indisputable symbolic power. “This is the strange duality of the pickup truck. It must be urbane enough to navigate the boulevards of the New South while, at the same time, dignifying visions of running grandpappy’s bathtub gin through the holler with Toby Keith riding shotgun,” he writes.—S.S.
New York, April 24 Kurt Andersen issues an invitation to join his “Purple Party,” for voters who are disgusted with Republicans and weary of Democrats. Pointing out that “[f]ully a third of New Yorkers” voted for Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, Andersen is seeking out voters who are “open-minded, openhearted moderates … alienated from the two big parties because backward-looking ideologues and p.c. hypocrites are effectively in charge of both.”… Is the dream of a third party just the musings of washed-up political consultants? Maybe, says Ryan Lizza. If a third party is to capture the hearts and minds of the electorate, here’s what it will need, according to one consultant: “[O]ne bold candidacy. Someone bolting one of the two major parties right now could make that party go the way of the Whigs.” Paging John McCain.— Z.K.
National Review, April 24 On the eve of the May 1 “Day Without Immigrants” boycott, Kate O’Beirne reminds readers that, “America is a nation of legal immigrants.” She says the guest-worker program and amnesty solutions are paradoxes that fly in the face of that tradition and offers an alternative approach to the nation’s immigration conundrum: “In Phase One, Congress would get serious about enforcing the immigration laws—and only afterward, in Phase Two, increase legal immigration.”… In 2002 Democrats had high hopes that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Grahnholm would be a big-time player in the party. However, she’s running for re-election in a state that has “lost one job every 20 minutes since she was sworn in,” and “[t]hree out of four people say the state in on the wrong track.” Her Republican challenger, Dick DeVos, has a shot because “Grahnholm has failed to provide the visionary leadership that many Michiganders believer their state desperately needs,” says the author.—Z.K.
New York Times Magazine, April 23 Americans are up in arms over Google complying with demands to censor content the Chinese government deems unacceptable. But the cover article reports that the Chinese people may not mind the censorship all that much. The government uses cartoon icons to warn citizens about banned content. “Are there gradations of censorship, better and worse ways to limit information? In America, that seems like an intolerable question—the end of the conversation. But in China, as Google has discovered, it is just the beginning.”… If sounds of soulful gibberish escape the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this week, Angelinos need not be alarmed. Pentecostals, who often speak in tongues, will gather along with worshipers from 75 countries to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Azusa Street revival. An article details the first revival, during which a Pentecostal leader invited people of diverse ethnicities and faiths to worship together and share in the “tongues-attested baptism.”—M.M.
Weekly Standard, April 24 The magazine’s cover package is gung-ho for taking action against Iran. William Kristol’s editorial draws an analogy between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s threats and Hitler’s invasion of the Rhineland, when the French, British, and United States did nothing. … Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney doesn’t think that leaders who are bent on, “wiping Israel ‘off the map,’ ” should have nuclear weapons, either. He doesn’t rule out trying diplomacy but suggests we keep in mind how well it worked in removing Saddam Hussein: “[T]he experience with Iraq suggests there’s little reason for optimism. Thus, a viable military option is imperative.”… Reuel Marc Gerecht tells Iran to bring it on: “If the ruling clerical elite wants a head-on collision with a determined superpower, then that’s their choice.” A strike will demonstrate that when push comes to shove, the United States “will not sit idly and watch a virulently anti-American terrorist supporting rogue state obtain nukes.”—Z.K.
The New Yorker, April 24 Martin Amis chronicles The Last Days of Muhammad Atta as he imagines they played out for the lead Sept. 11 terrorist. Amis incants Atta’s name over and over, like a devious chant. “American 11 struck at 8:46:40. Muhammad Atta’s body was beyond all healing by 8:46:41, but his mind, his presence, needed time to shut itself down.”… According to an article, air travel within Europe experienced a mini revolution during the shaky period after Sept. 11, rendering cheap flights, well, a dime a dozen. Now, discount airlines, such as easyJet, send travelers to fascinating, if not well-known, corners of the continent, writes the author. … An article profiles Sister Ping, a “snakehead” who brought Chinese migrants into the United States illegally. She was convicted of various crimes last year after a boat trip turned deadly. “With a well-connected family, acute entrepreneurial instincts, and a callous, life-is-cheap attitude toward the poor migrants who were her customers, Sister Ping was well suited to the job,” the author writes.— M.M.
Time, April 24
An article reveals the magazine’s picks for the 10 best and five worst senators serving America. Ted Kennedy made the cut, but you’ll have to read the article to find out which list he’s on. “Up-and-comers”include Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Lindsey Graham. … An article attempts to shed some light on Opus Dei, the secretive Catholic society that’s maligned in the best-selling Da Vinci Code and that has been the subject of intense scrutiny. Rumors of self-flagellation, money mongering, and political power grabs contain grains of truth, according to the author. … It doesn’t require much muscle to take down MTV’s My Super Sweet 16. Ana Marie Cox gives it a go, calling the coming-out show a vapid consumption-fest. “There’s the same queasy sense of monochromatic excess because all the shows are alike, from the fake panic that the party may not happen to the scary-sexy dry humping on the dance floor,” Cox writes.— M.M.
Newsweek, April 24 From the Justice Department to the local sheriff, law enforcement is looking for ways to help ex-cons stay out of jail, an article reports. Methods include paying visits to former prisoners, helping them obtain ID so they can function outside, and moving them away from their old stomping grounds to out-of-state work programs. “The re-entry bug has even bitten President George W. Bush, who proposed an initiative in his 2004 State of the Union address. A so-called Second Chance Act … is working its way through Congress.”… The military historically has been slow to aid children of soldiers killed in combat. With the total number of children who’ve lost a parent in Iraq now topping 1,200, an article reports on what happened when families complained. The armed forces apparently listened: The Army budgeted an additional $7 million this year for “casualty assistance.”… An article chronicles efforts to eradicate human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. The virus is particularly deadly in developing countries. Scientists have created a vaccine against it and are working on another vaccine that would also kill the virus after it has been contracted.— M.M.
