4.24.00
Judis Vs. Ponnuru, Round Two

4.24.00
The Goon with the Gun

4.22.00
This Is America?

4.22.00
Elián Raid: Simply Un-American

4.20.00
Elián Meets Dan and Oprah

4.18.00
Rocker's Return

4.17.00
Takin It to the Streets

4.17.00
Way Out There

4.13.00
Feds Overreach on Elián

4.12.00
The Big Deuce for Noonan

4.11.00
House Invites Juan Miguel to the Hill

4.10.00
NRO Tops NY Times

4.10.00
Judis Strikes Again

4.07.00
Elián Fatigue

4.05.00
Most Treasured Right

3.30.00
Anti-Hillary Tome Hits Bestseller List

3.29.00
Elian and his Enemies

3.29.00
Reagan: Wrong Man, Right Time?

3.28.00
Forbes Endorses Bush

3.28.00
Enter Saint Jack

3.27.00
Oscar Wrap

he "Notebook" section of the latest New Republic has a short item taking me to task for an NR Comment I wrote here two weeks ago. My sin: not disclosing that several leaders of the Club for Growth PAC are affiliated with National Review. Actually, my cover-up was even more thorough than The New Republic reveals: I didn't mention the Club for Growth at all.

While the article I was criticizing — a New Republic piece by John B. Judis — deals extensively with the Club for Growth, I didn't have any beef with its treatment of the club. I objected, rather, to the sloppiness of Judis's overall argument that "moderates" such as New Jersey congresswoman Marge Roukema should be in the saddle of the Republican party. Judis had, for instance, relied on survey data from Ohio to make a point about the politics of the Northeast. One can understand why The New Republic would now pass over these points in discreet silence.

Presumably The New Republic would have had no problem with my article if I had included a note along these lines: "The effort to oust Roukema, which Judis criticizes, is being led by a conservative group called the Club for Growth. NR's president Thomas L. 'Dusty' Rhodes and NR contributing editor Stephen Moore are two of the club's directors. Lawrence Kudlow, another contributing editor, serves on the club's founders committee. Most of our readers already know this, since 1) NR's connections with the club are mentioned twice in our April 17th issue, 2) we've been running articles by Moore since time was, and more recently ads with a forlorn-looking Moore asking for cash for the club, and 3) it's reasonable to assume we're near the center of any conservative troublemaking.

"Given all this, one might think it would be as superfluous to mention the NR-Club for Growth axis as it would be for The New Republic to include a remark about the Marty Peretz-Al Gore mutual-admiration society every time it runs a suck-up piece about the Vice President. But some readers, I suppose, may conclude that I am calling attention to Judis's inanity on orders from Rhodes et al. I assure them that I'm doing it only because it's fun, and Judis and The New Republic are annoying."

Alas, since I wrote the comment my conflicts of interest have gotten worse. I've toured the battlefield at Vicksburg with Steve and Allison Moore; I've visited the D-Day Museum in New Orleans with Dusty and Gleaves Rhodes (and NR publisher Ed Capano and his wife Margie — the conspiracy grows!). Speaking of conflicts of interest, for several months this year I wrote about an outfit called "the McCain campaign." I should have disclosed that Vin Weber, an adviser to the campaign, is also on NR's masthead. Anyone who wondered why my coverage of that campaign was so glowing now has the answer.

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