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Abolish the Olympics

By Jeremy Derfner
Updated Friday, Sept. 22, 2000, at 8:30 PM ET

New Republic

New Republic, Oct. 2

The editorial calls for abolishing the Olympics. They provide a world stage for dictatorial regimes, and their founding spirit of amateurism has died. … An article describes the Bush family's race problem. Although they believe in tolerance on a personal level, they refuse to acknowledge the deep historical divisions between black voters and the Republican Party. George W. thinks blacks should vote for him because he really likes them, even though most of them disagree with his positions on affirmative action and welfare reform. … The cover story decries the current state of medical education. The new market-driven medical system is abandoning teaching hospitals, which are expensive to run. Professors of medicine, forced to see more patients to make money, no longer devote enough time to teaching.

Economist

Economist, Sept. 22

The cover story criticizes the spate of WTO/World Bank/IMF protests, scheduled to continue in Prague next week. To defuse the protesters, the international organizations have farmed out responsibilities to NGOs, which are neither elected nor regulated. … The editorial makes the case for globalization, arguing that the only way to end world poverty is by "accelerating [globalization], celebrating it, exulting in it." … An article details the troubles facing the six small island nations in the eastern Caribbean (including St. Lucia and Antigua). Globalization has interfered with their rum and sugar industries, and though tourism thrives, the powerful airlines, telecoms, and cruise lines bully the local governments. To diversify their economies, many Caribbean nations have courted financial services, sheltering investments by shady laundering operations.

Atlantic Monthly

Atlantic Monthly, October 2000

The cover story describes the intellectual awakening of evangelical Protestants. Long viewed as the least scholarly Americans (see: the Scopes trial), evangelicals have established an academic infrastructure that deviates from reactionary orthodoxy. The new scholars at Wheaton College and Fuller Theological Seminary consider themselves postmodernists because they question the Enlightenment mindset that they believe promotes secularity. … A piece says environmentalists have ginned up the dams vs. salmon controversy in Washington state to promote an anti-development agenda. The salmon may not be in trouble at all, and even if they are, dismantling dams is not the best way to save them. Environmentalists really want to return to predevelopment, pristine nature, but by exploiting the salmon to make their case, they weaken it.

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, Sept. 24

The cover story judges the impact of Jay Leno and David Letterman on the election. Voters trust the late-night talk show hosts because they claim to savage both candidates with equal viciousness. But comedy writers are overwhelmingly left-wing, and branding George W. Bush as a "dunce" is much more damaging than nailing Al Gore as a "robot." … An article defends Asian sweatshops. Concerns about pollution and safety notwithstanding, sweatshops offer a way out of poverty for people in developing countries. As competition for the best workers increases, the tight labor market will force managers to improve factory conditions.

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair, October 2000

The much-discussed Gail Sheehy profile of George W. Bush says he could be dyslexic, questions the sincerity of his spiritual rebirth, claims he entered politics only after he failed to land a job as baseball commissioner, and blasts his lax environmental policy. The skimpy evidence for dyslexia: His brother Neil suffers from it, and several speech experts argue that his frequent syntactical gaffes on the stump are consistent with dyslexia. Evidence against his truly being born-again: Unlike most reborn Christians, he cannot point to a specific conversion experience, and in his first revival meetings he seemed uninterested. … A piece describes how comedian Mike Myers has alienated almost everybody he's ever worked with, most recently the famously good-natured Ron Howard. (Myers withdrew from a Howard movie at the last second.) Old colleagues from Saturday Night Live and Second City accuse him of stealing routines and former assistants tell of his weird obsession with having cold cuts available on set at all times. … The "New Establishment 2000" survey crowns a new king, Steve Case. Bill Gates drops to second, losing his four-year grip on the top slot. Sumner Redstone, Gerald Levin, and Rupert Murdoch round out the top five.

Time

Time, Sept. 25

The cover story asks if parents should stay together for the kids' sake. The question continues to divide divorce researchers, but a new book, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce by Judith Wallerstein, argues that children of divorce tend to have unstable human relationships throughout their lives and that two parents who don't get along are better for kids than one parent. … An article reports that college athletes fixed more games in the 1990s than ever before, in part because Nevada sports gambling exploded. Betting on college sports is illegal in 49 states, and the NCAA and most coaches want Nevada gambling ended. But the gambling industry has contributed $16 million to politicians over the past six years, and key legislators such as Orrin Hatch and Dick Gephardt block reform efforts.

Newsweek

Newsweek, Sept. 25

The cover story on prescription drug costs can't decide if the pharmaceutical industry is gouging us or not. Drug companies keep coming up with more and better drugs because they spend so much on research and development, but they also enjoy huge profit margins. Congress and the presidential candidates promise action on drug prices, but too much interference could slow the pace of innovation. … A piece reports that top advisers to Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat hashed out most of a peace agreement back in 1995, but Rabin was killed before he read it. The negotiators at the recent Camp David talks used the old agreement as a blueprint, but the final status of Jerusalem was the sticking point each time. (Read the full 1995 document here.) … An article continues to pile on George W. Bush. The newest poll has him down by 12 points, he seems to lack the energy or the creativity for campaigning, and his spin doctors lose every engagement with the more experienced Gore team.

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report, Sept. 25

The cover story worries that kids may spend too much time on the computer. Some researchers now worry that schools jumped on the computer bandwagon without knowing how it would affect kids. Even educational software may hinder creative and social development. … A piece warns about a newly vigorous global neo-Nazi movement sustained by the Internet. German hate groups, not protected by anything like the First Amendment, get their literature from the United States, and KKK chapters have formed in Australia and Britain. … An article describes the crisis facing the comic book industry. Since 1993, annual sales have plunged from $850 million to $275 million. The solution may be changing the emphasis from cultish super heroes to "graphic novels," full-length comics aimed at a wider readership.

The New Yorker

The New Yorker, Sept. 25

A piece follows the high-school-football prayer movement in Buncombe County, N. C. Christian activists plan to subvert the recent Supreme Court ruling banning game prayer with spontaneous prayer outbursts during games. But the newly assertive Christians have provoked opposition from the growing Wiccan population in Asheville, the New Agey county seat. … A Regis Philbin profile can't figure out the secret of his success. Philbin and his easygoing but unbrilliant impromptu chatter have caught on after decades of failure, but Philbin himself doesn't understand why, and it could be simply that TV viewers have learned not to expect much. (Read David Plotz's "Assessment" of Philbin here.) … An article explains how shifting alliances and diplomatic betrayal started a war in the Congo that has drawn in seven national armies and more than a dozen guerrilla forces. The Congolese economy has so deteriorated that the people who welcomed the overthrow of brutal President Mobutu Sese Seko just three years ago now yearn for the relative stability of his reign.

Weekly Standard

Weekly Standard, Sept. 25

The cover story blasts Al Gore for being all things to all people. He oscillates from left-wing zealotry (abortion, gay rights) to right-wing zealotry (crime, media violence) while raising money from whomever he can (the same media bigwigs he criticizes). … A piece claims that the ethnic profiling that led to the Wen Ho Lee fiasco has a long history in the intelligence community. Experts trying to understand why people spy often look to ethnic allegiances or patriotism, but the truth is that the espionage mentality defies categorization. … An article says that Clinton taking credit for the budget surplus "is like George III taking credit for the Declaration of Independence." The surpluses were caused not by the 1993 tax hike but by the 1995 budget, which was balanced only because the Republican Congress insisted on it.

New York Review of Books

New York Review of Books, Oct. 5

An article blasts the U.S. government for getting involved in the messy Colombian civil war. U.S. pols favor involvement so they can seem tough on drugs. Americans are funding the war on both ends, with foreign aid to the elected government and with drug profits to the guerrillas, and there is no end in sight. … Robert M. Solow argues that the budget surplus should go toward debt reduction (Al Gore), not tax cuts (George W. Bush). Paying down the debt will spur private investment, whereas tax slashing will spark private consumption and therefore inflation. … A review examines Woodrow Wilson's astonishing comeback. His vision of world government was an object of mirth during the Great Depression and the Cold War, but now we are all Wilsonians, interventionist free-traders exporting American values in the name of morality or democracy.

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Jeremy Derfner is a former Slate editorial assistant.
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Reader Comments from The Fray:


Really? Comedy writers favor the Left? Next big discovery in the Times: water runs downhill. Followed by: fat people eat more!

--Teddy

(To reply, click here.)
[And William T. added "Coming next: feminists dislike men."]

(9/22)

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