New Republic, April 12 and 19 As part of a cover package on atheism, sometimes TV star Leon Wieseltier sojourns over to the Supreme Court to listen to debate about the Pledge of Allegiance and sharply criticizes the argument that the words “under God” are meaningless. Wieseltier goes on to say that atheism could save American religion from vacuity, noting that it “can shake American religion loose from its cheerful indifference to the inquiry about truth. It can remind it that religion is not only a way of life but a worldview. It can provoke it into remembering its reasons.”… A piece looks at John Kerry’s prep-school experience and uncovers his real problem: It’s not that he’s too aristocratic, it’s that he’s always been such an ambitious striver that he never attained the aristocratic façade of effortlessness (i.e., George W. Bush) that came easily to his wealthier, more privileged classmates.— A.Z.
Economist, April 3 The cover story, titled “Better Ways To Attack George Bush,” proposes no new method of criticism and rehashes the standard case: He doesn’t care about the budget, he’s overstretched American troops, and he is a bit too susceptible to K-Street influences. … An article argues that democratic reform is slowly coming to the Arab world. In some places, such as Morocco, the establishment of a stable nation-state has allowed grass-roots movements to thrive, while in other countries, such as Lebanon, the failure to establish a stable nation-state has left a vacuum that leaves an opening for popular reform.… A related story implies that the pressure to democratize led to the cancellation of the Arab League conference in Tunis. The bickering started when the president of Tunisa, not a democratic leader by any means, chastised other members for not even allowing a mention of America’s call for reform in the meeting agenda. The criticism did not go over well, and the conference never got off the ground.— A.Z.
New York Times Magazine, April 4 The cover story laments that the Bush administration’s systematic rollback of environmental regulations has let chronic polluters wriggle off the hook. In the 1990s, the EPA learned that many energy companies updated their plants without adding required pollution controls—a violation that one official calls “the most significant noncompliance pattern E.P.A. had ever found.” Now, the rules have been defanged and power companies can easily avoid adding expensive pollution abatement technology when they modernize facilities. … David Brooks says fast-growing, centerless “utopian exurbs” and the people who live there are the physical embodiment of golf: “competitive and success-oriented, yet calm and neat while casually dressed.” People move to these vast wastelands, best characterized by their “ample parking,” because of a particularly American quest for the destination with the greenest grass, “where all tensions will melt, all time pressures will be relieved and happiness can be realized.”
Weekly Standard, April 5 In the cover story, Fred Barnes says democracy and capitalism are blossoming in Iraq. The one thing that Iraqis still need: an “attitude adjustment.” But rather than hope for an “outbreak of gratitude for the greatest act of benevolence one country has ever done for another,” Barnes just dreams that the June 30 departure of the Coalition Provisional Authority doesn’t lead to ethnic squabbling that will undo the progress the country has made in terms of civil liberties and free market reforms. … A recent Democratic unity dinner in Washington, D.C., raised $11 million in one night, a record for a Democratic Party fund-raiser. While the event purported to show togetherness—former Presidents Carter and Clinton, Al Gore, and Howard Dean all joined guest of honor John Kerry—the most prominent emotion was nostalgia. Clinton, not Kerry, saw his speech continually interrupted by applause and was mobbed by autograph seekers afterward.
The New Yorker, April 5 One story reveals that as Europeans grow taller and taller Americans stay the same height. For instance, Dutch men average 6-feet-1, while American males measure in at a mere 5-feet-9-1/2, about the same height as a Revolutionary War soldier. Although the disparity mostly baffles scientists and “anthropometric historians,” they have discovered that an ethnic group’s height correlates more to wealth and nutrition than to genetics. Some possible explanations for the U.S. shortfall: large economic disparities between the rich and poor, insufficient pre- and postnatal care, and fast food. … A well-written piece documents a writer’s experiences in rural China. When his landlord’s child starts getting nosebleeds, the writer must navigate doctors and nurses who are suspicious of foreigners while trying to ensure that the child doesn’t get tainted blood.
U.S. News & World Report, Time, and Newsweek, April 5
Rice cookers: All the magazines scrutinize the job performance of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in light of Richard Clarke’s testimony before the 9/11 commission. (Clarke, the former counterterrorism chief, charged that the Bush administration dragged its feet on dealing with al-Qaida pre-Sept. 11.) U.S. News says Rice hasn’t fulfilled her obligation to force compromises out of the various doctrinaire factions on the National Security Council. That might not entirely be her fault, as the intractable Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney have consistently undermined Rice’s authority by ignoring and bullying her. … Time’s cover story also focuses on Rice’s struggles to earn the respect of Bush’s more experienced advisers and argues that her authority relies almost solely on her close personal bond with the president. The piece also criticizes Rice’s pre-9/11 foreign policy goals as too great-power-centric, noting that the Sovietologist had no experience with the Middle East or terrorism before heading the NSC.
Clarke attack: The newsmags also assess the veracity of Clarke’s testimony. Everyone says his personal attacks on Rice—including that she didn’t know what al-Qaida was in early 2001—go too far but that his assertion that the Bushies put terrorism on the back burner does have merit. For one thing, Clarke’s plan for stopping al-Qaida, proposed back in January 2001, was finally approved mostly unchanged only a week before 9/11. …Time reports the CIA didn’t want to send spy drones into Afghanistan to go after Osama Bin Laden (a move Clarke recommended) before 9/11 due to the scarcity of the unmanned planes and because an assassination attempt would provoke outrage internationally. The magazine also previews an “all kiss and no tell” presidential hagiography from Bush campaign adviser Karen Hughes that could prove an effective counterattack to Clarke’s scathing book.
Multicellular organism:Time’s feature on Hamas profiles the Palestinian terror organization from the inside out. The piece focuses on the group’s various compartments: A cell manager brags about one months-long plot to kill a single Israeli settler, a rocket-maker assembles weapons in a private apartment, and a recruiter trolls mosques in search of the most devout worshippers. While most Gaza residents don’t agree with the group’s violent methodology, Hamas retains its popularity by providing money, clothes, and food in an area where 80 percent of people are impoverished. … While the Time piece argues that Hamas wants to avoid the responsibilities of governance, Newsweek says the group is considering a foray into electoral politics. But the piece mostly poses questions—and doesn’t proffer answers—about Israel’s eventual departure from Gaza. Will Israel blow up its settlements or just abandon them? Will Egypt destroy the complex system of tunnels used to ferry weapons over the border into Gaza?
—Avi Zenilman also contributed to this column.
