Economist , Aug. 29
(posted
Saturday, Aug. 29, 1998)
The
cover editorial questions the wisdom of the United States'
anti-terrorist missile strikes. While the strikes were ethically justified,
they may spur further terrorism in revenge. Seeking justice in the courts would
have been more prudent, if more difficult. ... A story trumpets the
latest advance in toilets. A renowned Japanese toilet manufacturer has invented
a commode that analyzes your urine's blood sugar--a boon to diabetics. Next
step: urine sampling toilets that check your liver's health and test for
cancer.
New
Republic , Sept. 14 & 21
(posted
Saturday, Aug. 29, 1998)
A story
says Democrats are wrong to fear that a Clinton resignation will lead to
disastrous midterm election results. Republicans lost many seats after Nixon's
resignation because of a struggling economy, not because of Watergate. It's too
late for strong GOP candidates to emerge this year, and voter turnout won't be
depressed by Clinton's departure. Thus, Clinton should go. ... The
"TRB" column scolds pundits for claiming Clinton is no
longer effective: "Since when do we kick presidents out of office because they
are no longer effective?... Harry Truman was a laughingstock in Washington
after 1948, but he stayed in office. ... Perhaps no duck was lamer than Ronald
Reagan after Iran-Contra, yet resignation was never a serious issue."
New
York Times Magazine , Aug. 30
(posted
Thursday, Aug. 27, 1998)
The cover
piece wonders why Americans buy bottled water. American tap water is safe, and
any chlorine taste evaporates if the water is left to settle for a few hours.
Unlike European water bottlers (Evian, San Pellegrino), who capture minerals
and rich flavor, American bottlers seek sterility and tastelessness. ...
A story tsk-tsks the West for accepting the election victory of Cambodia's Hun
Sen. A former Khmer Rouge soldier, Hun Sen used threats and bribes to ensure
his victory, but international monitors concluded that a rigged election was
better than no election at all.
Harper's , September 1998
(posted
Thursday, Aug. 27, 1998)
A
fascinating story explains the life cycle and social customs of honeybees.
Hives feature the mathematical genius of honeycombs and precise divisions of
labor. Some workers guard the hive entrance, others collect nectar, others dry
nectar by beating their wings, others groom the queen, others manufacture an
antiseptic salve that coats the hive, etc. ... From the "Index":
"Average number of public school students expelled each school day last year
for gun possession: 34."
Premiere , September 1998
(posted
Thursday, Aug. 27, 1998)
A
dispatch from the porn industry's annual awards ceremony entertainingly and
comically explains the modern porn ethos: bravado, shamelessness, and (believe
it or not) increasing degradation of and violence toward women. The
piece is bylined with pseudonyms but bears the unmistakable mark of comic
novelist David Foster Wallace: excessive footnotes, excessive and
nontraditional abbreviations, excessive and occasionally cloying
self-consciousness, gratuitous use of Latin phrases, and employment of 10 cent
words such as "cathedra," "synecdoche," and "clerestories."
Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report , Aug. 31
(posted
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 1998)
"Clinton in Crisis" is the
tag on both covers, lumping together last week's Flytrap revelations and
missile strikes. Newsweek 's immense package wins on star power: The Rev.
Jesse Jackson describes his counseling session with Hillary and Chelsea (they
will stand by Bill to the end), and George Stephanopoulos contributes a long
essay urging the president not to resign but to "repair the breach" between
himself and the public. Both magazines run articles on Hillary (she was in the
dark about Monica until last week) and Al Gore ( Newsweek says the veep's
campaign finance scandal will haunt him, while U.S. News says Clinton's
character flaws make Gore look great). The similar missile strike stories
include maps of the attack sites and diagrams of the Tomahawk missile but
little news.
The news overshadows U.S.
News ' celebrated college rankings, which are relegated to the back of the
issue. The magazine cops out of picking America's best university: Harvard,
Princeton, and Yale tie for No. 1. Amherst is the top college.
Newsweek runs thumbnail sketches of next summer's Big Summer Movies. Get
ready for Austin Powers II , Tarzan and, of course, the new
Star Wars .
The
Nation , Sept. 7 and 14
(posted
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 1998)
The cover
package assesses Clinton's legacy. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, setting
the general tone, says Clinton has failed to accomplish anything lasting or to
advance a coherent agenda. Other writers call Clinton "more Nero than hero,"
compare him to ineffectual 19 th century President Grover Cleveland,
and bemoan his inability to carry through promises about health care, race,
education, and job training.
Weekly Standard , Aug. 31
(posted
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 1998)
The
Standard calls for Clinton's resignation or impeachment. If he's not
ousted, Clinton will remain an "unquestioned and unrepentant villain." A
related article calls for Clinton's staff members to resign (or perhaps we
could impeach them, too?). They should be ashamed of having lied for a
president who lied to them. Another piece claims the Washington establishment
has finally turned against Clinton, and so the country must necessarily follow.
Also, the Standard prints the draft of the mea culpa speech that
Clinton aide Paul Begala wrote and Clinton ignored. The draft contains clear
and forthright apologies and no mention of Kenneth Starr.
Time , Aug. 31, 1998
(posted
Friday, Aug. 21, 1998)
A special
issue, published four days early, is a 14 article blitzkrieg of Clinton
coverage. The lead story recounts the tense White House countdown to testimony,
speculates on how Hillary felt during the ordeal (betrayed, then stalwart), and
dissects the legal equivocations in The Speech. Time 's exclusive: While
Clinton's testimony "generally matched" Lewinsky's, he flatly refused to answer
explicit questions about sex before the grand jury and "did not acknowledge
engaging in [oral sex] with Lewinsky." ... Another story says that
turning over the infamous blue dress to Kenneth Starr was never part of
Monica's immunity package. By design, Monica's lawyers never had the dress
tested to determine its "smoking gun" potential. After Monica got immunity, her
team tossed the dress to Starr as a freebie anyway. ... Another article
says that scandal-weary Americans will seek a "straight-shooting" president in
2000. But is Al Gore the one for the job? Can he weather the Clinton scandal?
He's jammed between a rock (disloyalty) and a hard place (loyalty). And don't
forget all his dubious fund-raising phone calls--they may still lead to an
independent counsel investigation.
More Flytrap
...
--Seth
Stevenson
