It’s not much, but for those readers who’ve missed dim flashes of news, while stymied by the Baltimore Orioles’ implosion (and GM Mike Elias’ nearly-certain firing), I’ve gathered a few nuts.
The ever-reliable David Frum, who, given his “Axis of Evil” credentials, is the country’s (and Canada’s) #1 NeverTrump mock-stentorian, offered a mixed-message tweet on May 20, in reaction to Kentucky’s Thomas Massie’s primary loss. He wrote: “Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney broke with their party to stand for democracy when it counted most and at severest political and personal risk. But they don’t make sly jokes about their opponents have phone numbers with Tel Aviv dialing codes.
Frum’s last sentence refers to Massie’s crack in his concession speech (which was really stupid, considering he’s not yet 60, a Congressman with a small-government bent who had a future): "I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv."
At the least it was a bad joke that stank of anti-Semitism; at the worst he’ll get lumped in with Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed, Ro Khanna and Ilhan Omar. Frum got that part right, but his J6 defense of Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney was, by now, repetitious and irrelevant. Dick Cheney’s daughter had no future in the GOP, so there was no “risk”; in fact, you couldn’t shut her up about “the loss of democracy” as she auditioned, and auditioned, for a new career. More ridiculous, if possible, is Frum’s playing horsey with Mitt Romney, now 79, who took no political risk because he was through with politics.
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The New York Times’ Bret Stephens, who, on a mandatory curve, is a decent columnist there, on May 20, under the headline “Hatred of Israel and the Degradation of the West,” wrote: “Hatred of Israel has become the sty in Western eyes that, as it grows larger, risks making too many people blind.” Stephens took on Israel critics from the right and left, with links, but didn’t have the balls to shoot a straight-to-the-heart-bullseye arrow at colleague Nicholas Kristof, who notoriously alleged, with disputed sources, that Israel was training dogs to rape Palestinians. One of the brilliant features of The Village Voice, decades ago, was the freedom given writers to attack one another in print. It was entertaining (if, at times, self-indulgent). The Times Co. has no real interest in what the paper prints, but you’d think (and would be wrong) that subscribers who don’t just skim the headlines, would relish intra-mural squabbles. But Stephens missed the mark, denying readers a point-counterpoint with Kristof.
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The erratic, but still-kicking Wall Street Journal wasn’t coy last week in its de facto endorsement of incumbent Susan Collins in her reelection bid this fall. An editorial concluded: “Ms. Collins is running for a sixth term this year and is a major target of Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Her opponent is Graham Platner, a prep school oysterman who until recently sported a Nazi tattoo and is a Bernie Sanders favorite. One certainty is Ms. Collins won’t be outworked.” The Journal noted a few objections about Collins, but said she’s accountable to voters by never missing a vote. I wouldn’t underestimate the Democrats’ myopic quest for electing very bad candidates (the race will be very expensive) and septuagenarian Collins could be left in the lurch.
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Moving along to lighter material, Rupert Murdoch’s son James (a mild lefty) bought Vox Media, which publishes the now-biweekly New York, a magazine that at its inception in 1968 was ground-breaking, run by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser, and published the likes of Nora Ephron, Jimmy Breslin, Tom Wolfe and Nicholas Pileggi and saw its blueprint spread to other cities.
“Since this magazine’s founding in 1968 it has had five owners; today it was announced that Lupa Systems, James Murdoch’s media and technology holding company, will become its sixth. Lupa is acquiring New York, as well as the Vox Media Podcast Network and Vox, from our parent company Vox Media. First, let me tell you what’s not changing—the fearless, independent journalism that you expect from us. We will continue to create news cycles, start conversations, contribute to the most important debates in politics and society, identify and explore what’s most interesting in contemporary culture, and always do our best to challenge our readers, surprise them, and help them make sense of the modern world. Our business model will remain built around our journalistic excellence, meaning that our business and editorial ambitions are in sync. Nothing is more paramount to us than our audience’s trust.”
When was the last example of fearless, independent journalism found New York’s pages or online? I can’t recall. The odious commentator Jonathan Chait’s departure for the richer offices of The Atlantic was a highlight for me, even better than America’s self-appointed Ethicist David Brooks leaving The New York Times for the same venue.
Was Rebecca Traister’s embarrassing 2024 cover story about “Kamalot,” an insipid attempt to pretend the dummy Vice President had energized the Democrats to defeat Donald Trump “fearless and independent”? Just another DNC contribution from the media. The come-on read: “Welcome to Kamalot! Our new issue grapples with the two weeks that reshaped the 2024 election—and the thrill of taking a risk on Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.” That was lost-in-the-funhouse material that remains mid-level political humor.
The accompanying photo shows Amy Sohn, who wrote the “Female Trouble” column for New York Press in the mid-1990s before getting poached by New York for 10 times what I paid her. She was apologetic, but I wouldn’t have it: urban weeklies were designed, in part, to let promising writers shine and then move to upper-echelon (at least $$$-wise) and I was happy for her. That’s the late Ned Vizzini on her right, at a NYP Christmas party.
Take a look at the clues to figure out the year: John Gardner’s Cold, Tama Janowitz’s By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee, Steve Lyons’ Killing Ground and Wallace Shawn’s The Designated Mourner are published; Graham Swift wins the Booker Prize; Jonathan Larson takes the Literature Pulitzer; the Sundance Channel debuts; Newt Gingrich is Speaker of the House; Abigail Breslin is born and Martin Balsam dies; Arthur debuts on PBS Kids; the U.S. wins the first World Cup of Hockey; and Braveheart wins Best Director and Best Picture Oscars;
—Follow Russ Smith on Twitter: @MUGGER2023