Campaign 2008

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Kosher Wars
The New York TimesMagazine examines the battle over food and religion.
Morgan Smith
posted Oct. 10, 2008
Getting Bitter All the Time
The New Republic on Sarah Palin's class resentment.
Morgan Smith
posted Oct. 7, 2008
Depression 2.0?
Time compares the current financial troubles to the Great Depression.
Daniel Riley
posted Oct. 3, 2008
Virginia Slim
The New Yorker on Barack Obama's push for Old Dominion.
Daniel Riley
posted Sept. 30, 2008
Bringing Down the House
The New York Times Magazine on deconstructing foreclosed homes.
Kara Hadge
posted Sept. 26, 2008
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other magazines: Summaries of what's in Time, Newsweek, etc.

Nader: Anti-Semite?!

By Jeremy Derfner
Updated Friday, Oct. 27, 2000, at 8:30 PM ET

New Republic, Nov. 6

The anti-Nader editorial comes close to accusing him of anti-Semitism by association, citing an article about internationalism and business he wrote for the anti-Semitic American Mercury in 1960. … The cover story compares this election to the election of 1976. That year, the scandal-dogged Republicans lost, but it was only a blip in 24 years of solid Republican rule. This year, Gore is touched by scandal and could lose, but the voters overwhelmingly agree with him and his party on the issues, indicating an emerging Democratic consensus. … A piece argues that the media let Bush get away with murder. The pundits have made a joke of Gore's Dingell-Norwood answer in the final debate, focusing on how awkward and unlikable Gore is instead of on the real point: that Bush actually opposes truly bipartisan HMO reform. … An article warns that as president, Bush would scale back the U.S. relationship with Israel. Bush is courting the Arab-American vote, especially with Lieberman on the Democratic ticket, and his foreign policy team has come to be dominated not by strongly pro-Democracy former Reagan officials but by oil-obsessed former Bush officials.

Economist, Oct. 28

The cover package proposes a new constitution for the European Union. The process of economic integration in Europe has taken place without the consent of the voters, and now the Union is hurtling toward radical dangerous political integration. The Economist supports a system of checks and balances to protect the status quo, including stronger national governments, frequent referenda, and a bicameral European legislature. … A progress report on the Balkans claims that Kosovo is set to elect Ibrahim Rugova, a bland former academic running on a peace platform (similar to Vojislav Kostunica). But the rest of the region worries that if Rugova takes over, the West will call the Balkans safe again and pull its troops. Advisers to George W. Bush have already threatened to yank 11,000 U.S. troops involved in the NATO effort. … A piece wonders how long Robert Mugabe can hold on in Zimbabwe. Last week bread riots erupted in Harare and impeachment proceedings began in Parliament. Mugabe still has enough cronies in office to deflect impeachment, but the opposition party hopes the hearings humiliate him into resigning. If he stays, Zimbabweans will revolt sooner or later.

New York Times Magazine, Oct. 29

The cover story decries the rise of the "Mediathon," the blending of factual events and tabloid journalism that turns news into 24/seven entertainment. The Monica Lewinsky and O.J. Simpson stories were produced as soap operas, not real events, with star-studded casts and more emphasis on what gets ratings than on what is true. Author Frank Rich interviews four real-life celebrities (Lewinsky, Simpson, Darva Conger, and Woody Allen) about how the media twisted their lives for a good story. … A profile of Newt Gingrich says he failed as speaker because his temperament leans toward insurgency, not leadership. Although his intellect is matched in Washington only by Bill Clinton's, he lacks the subtlety that might have kept him in power. He claims not to regret his short-lived revolution because, he says, it reoriented American politics to the right, but only two years out of office his impact on politics continues to fade. … A piece reports on the $40 million fossil-collecting business. Some towns in the Sahara desert subsist by digging trilobites—ancient relatives of insects and shellfish—out of the rock (or making fake trilobites), but most of the money goes to American dealers, to not Moroccan workers.

Atlantic Monthly, November 2000

The cover story argues that English has a long way to go before becoming a world language. Although most scientists use it in their work, more people speak Chinese than English, and Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, and Arabic are not far behind. Many people who claim to speak English as a second or third language actually have only rudimentary knowledge of it. Instead of waiting for the rest of the world to communicate with them, Americans should make efforts to become bilingual themselves. … A piece profiles Tom Evangelista, the best bounty hunter in America. Only three people have eluded him, and yet he has never fired his gun. Bounty hunters have to believe unfailingly in the rule of the letter of the law. Evangelista routinely tracks down reformed fugitives who have families and steady jobs, but he sends them to jail for money nevertheless. … An article searches for the source of Billie Holiday's tremendous emotional depth. Many critics try to cast her as a self-aware prisoner of racism, but the truth is the young Holiday was closer to a teeny-bopper than a revolutionary. But by the end of her career, she struggled against her own destructive behaviors, a crippling drug addiction, and a penchant for abusive men.

Time, Oct. 30

The cover story reports that girls are experiencing puberty at increasingly younger ages. Most scientists believe early puberty is connected to growing rates of obesity, but others blame increasingly sexualized advertising and popular media. … An article questions Al Gore's refusal to tout his record with the Clinton administration. His focus groups indicate that concentrating on the past turns off swing voters, but distancing himself from Clinton makes Gore unnecessarily susceptible to George W. Bush's anti-Washington rhetoric. … A piece describes the complicated search for the terrorists who bombed the U.S.S. Cole. Terrorists have matched the increasingly sophisticated U.S. counterterrorism forces by breaking into ever smaller, uninfiltratable cells. Yemeni authorities will not allow American investigators to accompany local police on searches and interviews.

Newsweek, Oct. 30

The cover paean to the Subway Series defends New York against the provincials who hate it (to read a Slate piece by one of those provincials, click here). … A campaign piece can't decide if Gore should distance himself from Clinton. On the one hand, the perception that Gore is dishonest hurts him more than his woodenness or his weird aggressiveness. On the other hand, Clinton helps with the party rank and file, a group that Gore has yet to convince (even though he has run as a left-leaning populist). … A piece argues that the breakdown of the Sharm el-Sheikh Middle East cease-fire discredited the current U.S. administration as a broker. Clinton has tried for peace twice and failed, Madeleine Albright does not have the respect of either side, and longtime mediator Dennis Ross is too junior and burned out.

U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 30

The cover story reports that scientists have challenged the long-standing wisdom that animals cannot experience emotions. Scientists fear sentimental anthropomorphism, but anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that animals can be afraid, happy, or grief-stricken. There is also evidence that stimulating certain areas of animals' brains elicits certain emotional reactions. But skeptics wonder if they will one day have to fend off claims that plankton can feel embarrassment. … A piece checks in on the vice-presidential candidates, who campaign ever more positively as their ticket-mates sling mud. Cheney talks military readiness, Lieberman talks God, and both of them seem to impress voters more with each passing day. … A piece describes the difficulties of controlling a new Ebola virus outbreak in Uganda. It probably came across the border from Sudan, and doctors are worried that somebody carrying the disease will now leave Uganda and spread it to other countries. Meanwhile, many Ugandans are attributing the 47 Ebola deaths to witchcraft.

National Review, Nov. 6

In endorsing George W. Bush for president, the editors say they would prefer a more conservative candidate but that Al Gore is a "demagogue" and "the call now is for a rejection of self-infatuated exhibitionism, in favor of a more modest statesman, aware of his own limitations and those of aggrandized government." … A piece refutes Gore's charges that Bush's tax cut is targeted to the top 1 percent and says that in fact "it's undeniable that the Bush plan is tilted toward those with more modest incomes." … A companion piece argues that social mobility in America is unparalleled in human history. Moreover, most of the poor don't lack basic necessities such as food and shelter.

The Nation, Nov. 6

The editorial endorses, if not Al Gore, then the notion of keeping George W. Bush out of the White House. "We embrace Nader's ideas and creative idealism and hope that his strong showing will rattle the windowpanes throughout American politics," the editors write. "However, to realize the openings before us, we warn that there is greater urgency to preventing Bush and company from capturing all three branches of government for the right-wing agenda." … Another editorial urges Israel to drop its claims of sovereignty over East Jerusalem. It also argues that the United States, which is too pro-Israel to lead fair negotiations, should involve the United Nations in peace talks.

Weekly Standard, Oct. 30

The cover story blasts the Clinton administration's anti-terrorism policy. Terrorism has been criminalized, which means that instead of responding to terrorism with force, U.S. officials investigate it and prosecute the guilty. But hordes of white, English-speaking investigators cannot effectively get to the bottom of the crimes. The United States should retaliate militarily against known sponsors of terrorism, such as the Taliban, which protects Osama Bin Laden. … An article rebuts Gore's charges about the environment in Texas. His claim that Houston's air is the dirtiest in the country is demonstrably false. It is cleaner than the air in 10 other metropolitan areas. The charge that Bush made environmental rules voluntary is misleading because his voluntary rules are in fact improvements on federal policy. Texas is a dirty state that produces much of the nation's petrochemicals, but it has gotten cleaner since Bush took office.

The New Yorker, Oct. 30

An article profiles two women judges in Texas to argue that their style does not differ from men judges'. In the mid-1980s, some legal scholars argued that women judges would hand down a less rigid brand of justice that accounted for special circumstances, but in Texas, women judges are just as supportive of the death penalty as men are. … A profile of kitchen product tycoon Ron Popeil describes the art of the pitch. Popeil, who comes from the same family that developed the Veg-O-Matic and the Chop-O-Matic, broke all records with his Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ. Popeil conceives his inventions, develops them, and markets them. His goal is to make the product the "star." … A review pans Kid A, the Radiohead album the critics are fawning over. It belongs on the shelf with Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, a full-length album of feedback noise.

Rolling Stone, Nov. 9

The Al Gore cover interview shows the candidate as pedagogue. Gore carefully explains his China and Africa policies, obsessions with global warming and the high-tech industry, and his complex relationship with Bill Clinton. He also rants weirdly about putting a satellite between the Earth and the sun and says two of his favorite recent movies are The Matrix and Gladiator, violence notwithstanding. There are no really tough questions. ... A piece about O.J. Simpson and his agent reports how the Juice now makes his living autographing memorabilia. He must spend every cent he earns as soon as he gets it or Ron Goldman's father collects it as part of the $30 million verdict against him, but the market for O.J. memorabilia is drying up anyway.