Talking the Talk
            

            Dear
Jodi,

            My high-minded self desperately wants to begin our week with an in-depth
discussion of the troubling article on the back page of this morning's Wall
Street Journal entitled "Drop in Food-Stamp Rolls Is Mysterious and
Worrisome." This story, triggered by a GAO report out this week, is a
cautionary reminder of the unintended consequences of Bill Clinton's signing
the Republican welfare bill. Amid all the triumphant rhetoric about the orderly
transition from welfare to work, it seems that many people who are still
entitled to food stamps aren't getting them for reasons that include ignorance,
new state restrictions, and the general down-with-the-welfare-state ethos of
the age.

            But try as I might, my tabloid sensibility keeps being drawn back to the
flap over Hillary Clinton's interview with Lucinda Franks in the debut issue of
Talk . (I particularly love the discreet four paragraphs buried on Page
A-10 that the New York Times devoted to this topic in my edition of
today's paper.) Like everything else about Hillary, the interpretation of this
interview completely depends on your pre-existing opinions of her. For example,
the Murdoch-owned, Hillary-hating New York Post has a vintage headline
on their second-day story, "Shrinks: Hillary's Got Poor Excuse for Hubby."
Meanwhile, the Mort Zuckerman-owned, pro-Clinton Daily News finds
different "experts" who claim that HRC's "analysis was probably correct when
she said her husband's philandering was rooted in an emotionally abused
childhood." Personally, I pity New Yorkers (myself included) who will be
emotionally abused by every element of this Senate race. But I also cannot help
but be awed by Tina Brown's ability to dominate the news.

            One last thought on the Times lead story on the demise of the
Christian Coalition as a potent political force. As someone who covers
politics, I've long been amused by the cult that surrounded Ralph Reed and the
Christian Coalition. I'm referring not to born-again Christians but to
political reporters. Uncomfortable with religion and culturally out-of-step
with fundamentalism, the boys and girls on the campaign buses overhyped a
phenomenon that they didn't understand--the rise of the Christian Right. Only
now are the Times and the rest of the press belatedly offering a
corrective revision.

            Many more thoughts, but I should get about the business of getting these
yawn-filled, Monday-morning reflections posted.

            Eagerly awaiting your response,

            Walter