When Rolling Stone Rocked
            

            ELLEN:

            Well, that's a lot to chew on. I'm not convinced by your Nation -like
the "country is basically being run by global corporations" rap. That's too
easy. If what you say is true, then Clinton wouldn't have been able to pass his
huge tax increase in '93. If what you say is true, the estate tax (an absurd
violation of "family values") wouldn't exist, and capital gains taxes would be
slashed. I agree that the president and Congress has less to do with the
economy than is believed, and what they take credit for when things are going
well, but I don't believe that GM, Microsoft, GE, etc. "run" the country. If
that were true, the crazy amount of entitlements, handouts, and obscene
regulations on business wouldn't exist.

            I'm with you on most social issues: pro-choice, obviously pro-First
Amendment, pro-gay rights, etc. Legalize pot? It wouldn't bother me, and would
be an economic boon to the country. I am in favor of capital punishment and
think all this nonsense about "hate" crimes is just that: nonsense. Rhetoric
that obscures the debate. Any crime is hateful, whether it's committed
against a white, Jew, black, gay, Muslim, or Scientologist.

            As for Columbine, I think the media, especially television, behaved
disgracefully. It was all about ratings (just as the intrusive coverage of John
Kennedy's tragic death) and selling newspapers. End of story, so to speak. And
it simply encourages copycat crimes. Columbine had the great hook: kids,
especially the unfortunate girl who professed her belief in God and became an
instant martyr. It's no surprise that CNN (the prime offender) didn't spend
one-tenth the time on the Atlanta massacre. After all, those murders were
carried out in a financial work setting; it didn't have the juice of a high
school for TV producers. Never mind that the kook killed his own family, a
truly horrendous event.

            Magazines. I agree with Rolling Stone , although it was far
more vital in the first half of the '70s; after the move to New York things
went downhill. My framework also includes Rolling Stone from that era,
the Voice in the '60s and early '70s, Spy in the late '80s. The
Atlantic usually bores me; it seems like a giant James Fallows mix. I
read The Nation for Hitchens (he's been great on Clinton; if Bush wins
I'm sure we'll be on opposite sides), Cockburn (although he's far better in
NYPress ) and, just to be irritated, Katha Pollitt and Eric Alterman. I
didn't like the first issue of Talk at all; whatever you feel about Tina
Brown (and I admired much of her work at Vanity Fair and the New
Yorker ) she's clearly lost any sense of vision.

            That's it for today. Look at NYPress tomorrow on-line, via the
Drudge Report or directly at nypress.com.

            Best,
RUSS