 |
Economist, Jan. 18
(posted Saturday, Jan. 18)
The cover editorial urges President Clinton to "Think Big" in his second term, but doubts that he will. This is Clinton's best time to tell voters the truth about entitlement reform, education, urban decay, and China, but "it is probably [in] vain to tell this president that he need not pander to the voters any more; the urge to ingratiate lies too deep in his character." Also in the way of any bold Clinton plans: scandals. A long article updates the "unwelcome" distractions of Whitewater, Paula Jones, and the Asian money hubbubs that could turn into "a miserable replay of Nixon II." An editorial and story trash "recovered" memory therapy, saying that "scarcely a shred of real evidence" supports the idea that people repress traumatic memories of abuse. Also, why network computers aren't all they're cracked up to be.
 |
|
|
 |
New Republic, Feb. 3
(posted Saturday, Jan. 18)
The cover story vituperates against the modern presidential inauguration, calling it a sleazy miasma of "money, schmooze and partisanship." The inauguration's democratic and patriotic elements have been crowded out by corporate lobbying. TNR profiles Rahm Emanuel, George Stephanopoulos' replacement. Emanuel is much less liberal and much more calculating than his predecessor.
An article contends that Paula Jones has no case because her allegations don't meet the legal requirement that harassment be "severe and pervasive." Besides, Clinton wasn't acting in his official capacity, and the incident did not affect Jones' career. Also, a writer describes her own stay in a Russian hospital: It's even more repulsive than you think.
|
|
|
 |
New York Times Magazine, Jan. 19
(posted Thursday, Jan. 16)
"Does He Believe in Anything? (Actually, Yes)," by Gary Wills, rehashes Clinton's first term--health-care reform, the Gingrich revolution, the government shutdown, welfare reform--before reaching its tepid conclusion: The president believes in government. A sidebar argues that Clinton should forego the "vital center" (a k a the "mushy middle") and seek partisan struggle. (For SLATE's take, see Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s "It's My 'Vital Center.' ") An article sympathizes with the thousands of Tutsi women raped by Rwandan Hutus: Tutsi society has ostracized the victims and their children. And a story about the difficult rookie year of 18-year-old NBA player Kobe Bryant.
|
|
|
 |
Newsweek, Jan. 20
(posted Tuesday, Jan. 14)
The cover story on murder victim JonBenet Ramsey explores the "strange world" of child beauty pageants. Newsweek's take: The pageants may be fun for kids, but they teach awful lessons (i.e., beauty is important; always please authority figures, etc.). A sidebar on the murder investigation offers no news. A three-article package rejects private investment of Social Security funds as a "fantasy" solution: Americans don't know enough to invest safely, and a stock-market crash would be a national disaster. Instead, the United States should cut Social Security benefits by lowering the Consumer Price Index. Also, Newsweek rehashes last week's New Yorker story about the re-release of the Star Wars trilogy.
|
|
|
 |
Time, Jan. 20
(posted Tuesday, Jan. 14)
"Where the Jobs Are" finds business booming in Silicon Valley, Phoenix, Seattle, Boston, the Research Triangle, and other high-tech hotbeds. The article confirms that the economy is fantastic for skilled workers, lousy for others. Time disagrees with Newsweek about Social Security: Americans do know enough to invest their retirement funds on Wall Street. Also, a profile of Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who remains intransigent about the hostage crisis. And an excerpt from Robert Coles' new book on raising moral children: He favors kindness.
|
|
|
 |
U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 20
(posted Tuesday, Jan. 14)
U.S. News' cover story on Bill Maher says the Politically Incorrect host could become the "highest-impact political entertainer since Will Rogers." True to the spirit of editor James Fallows, U.S. News then wonders if Maher's comedy helps American democracy. The conclusion: maybe. Maher's acid satire is admirable, but the show's celebrity gabfests don't raise the level of public discourse. An article argues that the Federal Election Commission was designed to fail: Congress does not really want the FEC to enforce campaign laws. Also, the Steve Jobs backlash: Apple goofed by buying his NeXT operating system, which is way too complicated to be commercially viable.
|
|
|
 |
The New Yorker, Jan. 20
(posted Tuesday, Jan. 14)
A chilling account of the freighter Maersk Dubai, whose Taiwanese officers are accused of throwing two stowaways over the side and murdering another in early 1995. The Filipino crewmembers who turned in the officers to Canadian authorities have been badly mistreated by the Canadian government, and the officers may well go free. A long article/review rhapsodizes about Washington Post publisher/Watergate goddess Katharine Graham. Mostly a rave review of her new autobiography ("complex" and "intimate"), the article dishes little dirt but does find Graham more conservative than her newspaper. A writer observes the return of Hutu murderers to Rwanda, where they are now living alongside their Tutsi victims' families: It is an impossible standoff in which neither reconciliation nor forgetting seems possible. Also, George Plimpton remembers his performance at the Apollo Theater's famed "Amateur Night."
|
|
|
 |
Weekly Standard, Jan. 20
(posted Tuesday, Jan. 14)
The cover story, "The War on the Military Culture," could be headlined, "What's Wrong with Women Soldiers." Former Navy Secretary James Webb argues that the presence of the weaker sex weakens group cohesion, introduces jealousy into the ranks, and generally corrupts the military's "socialist meritocracy." (This may be the first and last time the Standard uses the word "socialist" as a term of praise.) Also, another long article pushes the Standard's China line: Beijing must be contained, not engaged. And the editorial claims that if there isn't a constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide (and there isn't, says the Standard), there isn't a constitutional right to abortion, either.
|
|
|
 |
The Nation, Jan. 27
(posted Tuesday, Jan. 14)
The cover story ("Social Insecurity") denounces the plan to privatize Social Security. It condemns the Concord Coalition, Cato Institute, and others for pushing a reform that will hurt the poor and enrich Wall Street. The Nation also berates an old comrade: "TNR: The Long Goodbye" declares the "liberal New Republic" dead: Owner Martin Peretz and new editor Michael Kelly are producing a magazine that is nearly as conservative as the Standard and actively hostile to the lefty principles that guided TNR's first 80 years.
--Compiled by David Plotz and the editors of SLATE.
|
|
|
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?
other magazines
News & Politics
Facebook
MySpace
Mixx
Digg
Reddit
del.icio.us
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Sphere
StumbleUpon
PRINT
DISCUSS
E-MAIL
PostPartisan: The Debate
