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Royal Treatment

By Julia Turner
Updated Friday, Aug. 22, 2003, at 6:06 PM ET
Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair, Sept. 2003
The issue ably demonstrates one pitfall of writing about royals—it's difficult to get anyone who knows anything to comment. A profile of Britain's princes, Will and Harry, dutifully quotes "the mother of an Eton classmate," "a former teacher," and Diana's hairdresser on topics ranging from the princes' grief to their smoking habits. Why all this interest in minutiae? "A leading member of Britain's Conservative party" hazards a guess: "Do you honestly think people would care half as much about William if he was the image of his father instead of his mother?" … A profile of Jordan's Queen Rania—a looker whose "incisive intellect," we are told, serves primarily to render her glamour "ever more potent"—does include comments from her highness, but also resorts to quotations from multiple people identified simply as "Jordanians." One such chatty subject offers this scoop on King Abdullah's regard for his wife: "People are saying he's besotted by her."

New Republic

New Republic, Sept. 1
The Weekly Standard recently chided journalists for referring to the California recall as a "circus" or "carnival" or "madness." But Ryan Lizza's amusing cover story avoids such suspect terms while showing that they apply quite nicely to current Left Coast goings-on. In his travels with a few of the 135 candidates, Lizza finds himself Velcro-ing tear-away pants up the side of stripper-candidate Mary Carey's leg and fielding PR questions from forlorn comedian-candidate Gallagher. Also, when he requests an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, "a press aide actually laughs at me." … Critical savaging of the week: Jed Perl on artist Matthew Barney's much-ballyhooed younger fans. At the Guggenheim this spring, Barney's "phony-baloney mythopoetic movies, accompanied by Dumpster loads of junk from some godforsaken gymnasium of the imagination, were unlikely to engage anybody who has the instinct for the power of images that can turn a youthful visitor into an inveterate museumgoer." Those who like Barney have been "snookered," Perl concludes.

Economist

Economist, Aug. 22
Despite last week's bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, "it is still possible to be bullish about Iraq," the magazine argues. Though America needs to devote more attention and cash to the reconstruction, the guerrillas there have no superpower allies, and most Iraqis believe that the United States hopes to rebuild and depart ASAP.

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, Aug. 24
A sympathetic profile of controversial Harvard President Lawrence Summers depicts him as a well-meaning bull in a china shop: His lightning-rod statements on affirmative action? His squabble with Cornel West? His rocky relationship with the Law School? All came to pass when Summers' "unintended acts of boorishness" were taken too personally, James Traub concludes. … "What is the good of a good divorce?" When splitting up, married couples choose mediation over litigation with increasing frequency. But a productive conversation about divorce can be confusing, one man notes: "I felt like, if we can work these things out in mediation, can't we work them out in the relationship?" … Italian Mafia expert Girolamo Lo Verso claims that Mafiosi have sex rarely and briefly: "They have quickies of about 40 seconds," he says. No word on how the incarcerated mobsters he interviews were induced to part with such info.

Weekly Standard

Weekly Standard, Aug. 25
The godfather of neoconservatism speaks. Irving Kristol (dad of Standard editor William) steps in to define what he calls "the neoconservative persuasion" and produces a list of core values that serves more as a handy—if unsurprising—checklist than as a cogent—or persuasive—explanation of why neocons believe what they do.  … Privatize the BBC! The cover story critiques the Beeb's scandal-plagued war coverage, and argues that the network is "unfair, unbalanced," and unworthy of the $4.3 billion British taxpayers send it annually. … The editorial calls the California recall "an advance in democratic accountability and grass-roots participation" since it could allow voters to thwart California pols beholden to "liberal special interests."

The Nation

The Nation, Sept. 1 and 8
Actually, counters The Nation's editorial, California's recall is "a gross abuse of the democratic process," since "the recall option was intended for use only in extraordinary circumstances—convictions, corruptions, infirmities and insanities." Californians should vote no. … Katha Pollitt explains why left-leaning supporters of presidential candidate Howard Dean won't jump ship once they learn more about his centrist views: "Alone among the major Democratic contenders, he has taken Bush on in an aggressive and forthright way." That's why voters are volunteering time and money, and pundits everywhere—some of whom Pollitt finds to be merely going "through the motions of taking [Dean] seriously"—would do well to take heed and drop the snark.

Newsweek and Time

Newsweek and Time, Aug. 25
Both newsmagazines front reports on last week's blackout: Newsweek calls it a "genteel affair," and Time reports that this "latest test of people's nerve and grace found them equipped with both." … Newsweek's story troublingly notes that the CIA raised concerns that terrorists might be involved at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, after government officials had assured Americans—"perhaps prematurely"—that the outages were a technical fluke; apparently the agency has received tips in the past that al-Qaida planned to target power grids, although there's no evidence that they did so last week. … A Time sidebar suggests that power parks—small communities that rely on local energy sources like solar panels or wind turbines—could take some pressure off the national grid. … In the editor's note, Newsweek also discloses the location of its emergency HQ: On Friday, the staff hopped buses to Mountain Lakes, N.J., where they produced much of the issue.

On California's front-runner: According to the most recent Field poll, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has slightly more voter support than the much-hyped Arnold Schwarzenegger. A Time profile notes that the Latino candidate is not guaranteed the support of Latinos, who make up 32 percent of the Golden State's population. Although he opposed Proposition 187, which would have deprived illegal immigrants of access to public services, he hasn't otherwise done much for Latino voters.

On suicide bombers who aren't crazy: Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria argues that it's counterproductive to view suicide bombers as "brainwashed" or "delusional." Examining the rise of such attacks in Chechnya and their decline in Turkey, he concludes that the bombings are political responses to political grievances; as a result, political solutions—like Turkey's attention to the needs of its Kurdish population—can diminish the number of attacks.

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Julia Turner is Slate's deputy editor. You can e-mail her at .
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