Then and Now
Then and
Now
Jacob
Weisberg's "Strange Bedfellow" column this week comes to the defense of
Seymour Hersh's new book on JFK, which is surfing a tidal wave of derision to
the best-seller list. We hope Weisberg's revelation that the book is not as
awful as people say it is won't hurt its sales too much. Meanwhile, the
reminder of how much fun Kennedy had in the White House raises once again the
question: Could a president get away with it today? And the even more
intriguing question: OK, how? Fortunately, those vital questions were answered
by
Slate
's David Plotz last year in his definitive study
"Could Clinton Cheat? The logistics of presidential adultery." As far as we
know, the president has not taken advantage of Plotz's advice during the past
year.
Heads
Up
For the past couple of weeks
we have been posting quietly, in primitive form, a new
Slate
feature that emerges fully this week. Called "Pundit
Central," it is, to start, a summary and analysis--posted Monday
morning--of who said what on the weekend political talk shows and how the ball
was moved as a result on various issues. It will also treat the print pundits,
though less comprehensively. Like our other Briefing features, Pundit Central
can be used either as a guide for what to read and watch or as an efficient
(and, we hope, entertaining) substitute for reading and watching.
In case Pundit Central whets
your appetite instead of sating it, the page includes an extensive set of links
to Web sites where the pundits and panjandrums can be found in their full
glory. Come to Pundit Central, and you'll never want for an opinion again.
You'll be able to mix 'n' match, say, David Broder from the Washington
Post on the new Paris fashions, Maureen Dowd from the New York Times
on local traffic conditions, and Liz Smith of Newsday on the Thai
currency crisis to create your own op-ed dream team. The page also includes
links to talk-show transcripts and newspaper editorial pages.
But what
is the best collective noun for people who make their living spouting opinions
in one medium or another (or, as is increasingly the case, in all of them)?
"Punditocracy," the term most often used, is clumsy. The "commentariat," a word
coined in a Washington Post editorial a few years back, is much wittier.
Pundit Central uses both. It attempts to avoid the stale dismissive cliché
"talking heads," but sometimes, in a hurry, does refer to the breed, with
simple dignity, as "the heads."
Having
Written
Last
week's "Readme," touting
Slate
's "Hackathlon"--a
contest among four journalists for the title (to be awarded by
Slate
readers' vote) of world's biggest hack--credited Gloria
Steinem with the remark "I don't like writing. I like having written." A reader
wrote in to say the remark actually belongs to Gertrude Stein, which we were
prepared to believe until another reader sent indignant e-mail on behalf of
Dorothy Parker, which seems even more plausible. No one so far has nominated
Lillian Hellman or Anita Loos or Catherine the Great, but if anyone can supply
actual evidence of the woman (or man) who made this remark, we'd be grateful,
and we'll let the rest of you know. E-mail [email protected].
Do You
Still Beat Your Husband?
As of Thursday, Nov. 13, six
days after it was posted, more than 5,000
Slate
readers had
responded to our online reader survey. Last year we were pretty thrilled to get
3,000-plus responses in a month. Thanks to all who've spent a few minutes
telling us about themselves. If you haven't filled it out yet, click here for
the survey. We'd appreciate it.
--Michael Kinsley
