New York Times
Magazine, Feb. 28
(posted Thursday, Feb.
25, 1999)
A piece argues that Newt
Gingrich serves as both whipping boy and ghost for the dispirited Republican
Party. Gingrich is blamed for the party's sinking popularity, but leaders still
practice his brand of antagonistic, moralistic politicking. ... New
physiological research into fear has found it surprisingly and unfashionably
reminiscent of Freudian notions of the unconscious. Irrational anxiety,
suggests the research, is learned, permanent, involuntary, and inaccessible to
the conscious mind. ... A writer visits rural Utah communities where
polygamy has long been officially outlawed but is quietly tolerated. Now angry
former wives are organizing outreach groups, and vast polygamous clans are
facing charges of pedophilia and sexual abuse.
Time
and
Newsweek
, March 1
(posted Tuesday, Feb.
23, 1999)
The first lady is flirting with a Senate run, and
the newsweeklies flirt right back with cover stories and ample advice.
Newsweek 's ebullient cover story calls Hillary Clinton "the hottest commodity in
American public life," urging her to run because: 1) She has sacrificed enough
of her own ambitions for her husband's career; 2) she's a born policy wonk; and
3) it would strengthen the Clintons' marriage. In a sidebar , George Stephanopoulos dissents: The New York press
will eat her alive, the Senate's a grind ("you won't fly on Air Force One or
ride in escorted motorcades"), and she'd eventually make an even better
presidential candidate. Time 's cover story is more restrained: New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
("makes Ken Starr look like a patsy") would rip her to shreds, and it's not
clear she even wants to run. The White House may be floating the idea simply to
dissipate the last whiffs of the impeachment scandal. Sidebar advice from Geraldine Ferraro and Dick Morris: Wait
for the Illinois race in 2004.
Newsweek
chronicles Osama bin Laden's evolution from wealthy Saudi
scion to hunted terrorist/Islamic fundamentalist icon. Bin Laden first
formulated his doctrinaire philosophy of jihad at a religious Saudi university,
refined it among American-backed Islamic rebels in Afghanistan in the '80s, and
used an international, Sudan-based terrorist network to launch it in the '90s.
... Is Madeleine Albright a great diplomat or merely a competent one? A
Time article suggests that Kosovo will be a litmus test for the
"Albright Doctrine," which consists of carefully nursed personal relationships
backed up by American military might.
U.S. News
& World Report
, March 1
(posted Tuesday, Feb.
23, 1999)
The world is aging,
frets the cover story . Life expectancy is climbing, fertility is
sliding, and the cost of supporting the elderly could cause a global recession.
The first casualty is Brazil, whose fat public pension program is eating up
government resources. ... A piece suggests that Americans aren't seduced by Republican
offers of a generous federal tax cut. Polls show that Americans are willing to
shun instant gratification to accomplish long-term goals such as repaying the
federal debt or revamping Social Security. ... The magazine reports that Ouija boards are passé; today's teen-age girl
turns to her witch handbook for spiritual advice. One popular version includes
the Bad Bus Driver spell, the Un-Ground Me spell, and the Just-Say-No
spell.
Weekly
Standard
, Feb. 22
(posted Tuesday, Feb.
23, 1999)
The cover story asserts
that Dan Quayle is a seasoned, ideologically consistent, genuinely religious
candidate who could restitch the Reagan coalition of economic and social
conservatives. Even his Murphy Brown speech has aged well: "People will
see that her sitcom has been canceled and that he's back on the scene," insists
his pollster. Quayle may be a formidable candidate, but the subsequent article
explains that George W. Bush has already been anointed the inevitable one. His
ideological and geographic support is wide, his fiscal support is deep, and his
kitchen Cabinet is already cooking up policy. ... The author of
California's Proposition 227, which replaced bilingual education with
English-only instruction, insists that immigrant voters will shun feel-good
appeals to diversity and tolerance. Instead, they're attracted by unabashed,
ideologically strict insistence on assimilation through English education.
The
Nation
, March 8
(posted Tuesday, Feb.
23, 1999)
An editorial reports what first motivated Hillary Clinton to
consider a bid for office: the possibility that Elizabeth Dole would be on the
Republican ballot in 2000. Reluctant to cede the precious gender gap to the
Republicans, the first lady initially wanted to be Al Gore's running mate.
... A liberal writer fantasizes about the conservative party he'd like
to debate: Unlike the Republican Party, it would be sober, earnestly religious,
and environmentalist. ... A piece argues that the impeachment process was driven by big
business in general and Big Tobacco in particular. Kenneth Starr had
represented the industry while in private practice and was appointed on the
advice of North Carolina's tobacco-indebted Republican senators.
