(posted Monday, July 29) The Centennial Park bombing knocks gold-medal gymnast Kerri Strug off the covers of Time ("Courage and Cowardice") and Newsweek ("Triumph and Terror"). Essayists in both magazines observe that the bombing is sad because it was not surprising. The newsweeklies' coverage is likewise predictable: Both reconstruct the scene, speculate on possible suspects (antigovernment militias), and comment on historic parallels (Munich). Newsweek forgets the Olympics hype just long enough to fire long-overdue criticism at Bela Karolyi, the self-promoting coach of the women's gymnastics team.
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Also in Time, an investigation of Ross Perot's bizarre 1992 claim that Republican dirty tricksters were trying to sabotage his presidential campaign. The magazine clears the GOP, and says Perot and the FBI were duped by a former soldier of fortune who claimed to possess compromising photos of Perot's daughters.