New
Republic , July 20
(posted
Friday, July 3, 1998)
The cover
story reviews a new book calling for more single-child families. The book
argues that only children receive closer parental attention and that limiting
population will stop environmental decay. In fact, says the review, only
children are no better off than children in big families, and overpopulation
may be an overhyped myth. Also, women in developing nations start having fewer
children as technology and industry improve--conditions generally linked with
environmental decline. ... A Fourth of July essay says Americans are too
worshipful of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. Our nitpicking
exegesis of ancient texts limits our ability to innovate.
New
York Times Magazine , July 5
(posted
Thursday, July 2, 1998)
A story
profiles Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, now under investigation for lying to
Congress. Conclusion: Babbitt is a fine, upstanding man caught in an
inconsequential transgression. ... The cover piece celebrates St. Louis
Cardinal Mark McGwire's remarkable home run prowess. McGwire is having a season
for the ages, compares favorably with the all-time greatest sluggers, and may
well crush the record for most homers in a season. His secret: a smooth,
concise, brutally powerful swing--not to mention 20-inch biceps.
Time and Newsweek , July 6
(posted
Tuesday, June 30, 1998)
Time 's cover package examines America's gun culture. A photo essay shows
ordinary Americans posing with their firearms. An interview with new National Rifle Association President Charlton
Heston reveals his extremism: He is quoted on white supremacist David Duke's
Web site and has said that "Clinton's cultural shock troops ... claim it's time
to place homosexual men in tents with boy scouts." Heston blames violent rap
lyrics for America's decline but does not apologize for his many ultraviolent
movie roles. (For more on Heston, see David Plotz's "Assessment" in
Slate
.) A separate article considers a new study arguing that
concealed weapons lower crime rates. While scholars debate the accuracy of the
study's statistics, gun rights activists embrace its message that an armed
society is a safer society. Also, an essay wonders what makes teen-age killers tick. Conclusion: a
combination of video games, insecurity, and pure, inexplicable evil.
Newsweek 's upbeat cover story profiles Katie Couric, co-host of NBC's
morning show Today . Her husband died of colon cancer in January, but the
smart, bubbly Couric is as charming as ever. Fans love that she colors her own
hair, wears Gap clothes, and flies coach. Inappropriately chipper line: "She's
also a morning star still in mourning for her husband."
U.S.
News & World Report , July 6
(posted
Tuesday, June 30, 1998)
The big
news at U.S. News this week isn't in the magazine: Owner Mort Zuckerman
has fired Editor James Fallows. ... The cover
story explains the Supreme Court's new rulings on sexual harassment.
Central changes: 1) Complainants no longer need to show that their careers
suffered as a result of the harassment. 2) Companies cannot plead ignorance as
a defense unless they've already instituted a "strong system of dealing with
[harassment] problems." An accompanying story covers the case of a pharmaceuticals CEO with a long and
slimy history of harassing subordinates. His company decided it made better
financial sense to keep the CEO on board and pay off all the complainants.
... An article says Kenneth Starr is playing the race card in the
Lewinsky case: Starr wants to indict Lewinsky in Virginia because that state's
jury pool is far whiter than the District of Columbia's. "Ninety-one percent of
blacks (compared with 60 percent of whites) say they believe investigations
into the allegations involving Clinton should 'stop now.' "
The
New Yorker , July 6
(posted
Tuesday, June 30, 1998)
First
friends Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason are profiled. Harry lived
with the Clintons during the first month of Flytrap, urged the president to
fight back at every turn, and helped script his denial of a Lewinsky affair.
The Thomasons hate the press and the Washington establishment and encourage the
Clintons to do the same. ... A story about AIDS immunity says
researchers are pursuing the wrong kind of vaccine. Most researchers hope to
control HIV with antibodies that kill the virus. But those people who seem to
be immune to HIV have "cellular immunity," in which cells, rather than
antibodies, kill HIV-infected cells. Conclusion: Vaccine research should stop
focusing so much on antibody-based vaccines and should consider cellular
immunity. ... An essay about spin says it doesn't work because its
targets (us) are too conscious that they are being spun. The real PR triumph of
this century is direct mail: Obviousness and repetition get better results than
subtlety.
The
Nation , July 13
(posted
Tuesday, June 30, 1998)
The cover
story compares Billy Graham and Jesse Jackson, the two White House chaplains of
the last 50 years. Graham has been a presidential suck-up since the Eisenhower
administration and still makes excuses for Bill Clinton's alleged philandering.
But the piece wonders why Jackson has followed Graham's lead. In 1992, Jackson
said Clinton was "immune to shame. Move past all the nice posturing and get
really down there in him, you find absolutely nothing ... nothing but an
appetite." Now Jackson energetically defends Clinton's foibles.
Weekly Standard , July 6 and 13
(posted
Tuesday, June 30, 1998)
The cover
story debunks the John McCain myth. Sen. McCain may ooze charm, but he's a
regular politician--a squirmy fish (or "squish," as an unnamed Washington
conservative calls him) who avoids taking firm stands. And he's not well
prepared for the 2000 presidential race, either: He doesn't know the issues.
(For
Slate
's take on the Arizona Republican, see David Plotz's
Assessment.)
Economist , June 27
(posted
Saturday, June 27, 1998)
The cover
editorial downplays the importance of President Clinton's China trip. China has
nothing to offer in the way of partnership with America, as its economy is
fragile and its leadership infirm. The summit is a good way to "talk over"
differences, but it will produce little of import. An accompanying essay argues
that the Chinese military lacks the strength and training to compete with the
American one. In fact, after China's 1996 threats, "most experts believed that
Taiwan could have repelled a cross-straits invasion even without the U.S. Navy
becoming involved." China continues to focus on economic rather than military
growth.
--Seth
Stevenson
