IN THE October 14, 2013, ISSUE
Stumbling on Syria
President Obama says that his Syria policy is lacking only on “style.”
That is one way to put his repeated drawing of red lines over the use of chemical weapons, his ...
Also In This Issue
Articles
Bill de Blasio’s New York
Chances are that Bill de Blasio will be the next mayor of New York City. As the Democratic nominee in an overwhelmingly Democratic metropolis that voted for Barack Obama over ...
Our Hideous Capital
France’s greatest building is a church, Notre-Dame de Paris, while India’s greatest building is a royal mausoleum, the Taj Mahal. Our greatest building is a train station, Grand Central Terminal, ...
Comic-Book Liberalism
When the writers of the comic book Batwoman announced they were resigning from the series because the publisher, DC Comics, would not allow the titular character, a lesbian, to marry, ...
A Dialogue on Defunding
So why are all the Republicans in Washington, D.C., yelling at each other right now?
A bill, called a continuing resolution, has to be enacted for all the operations of government ...
Features
The Height of the Net
America long ago committed to providing for the basic needs of all its citizens, constructing a so-called safety net of government programs to catch those unable to support themselves. But ...
Divestment du Jour
Has President Obama declared war on America’s fossil-fuel industry? The administration has been at pains to deny claims by lawmakers of both parties that it is waging a “war on ...
How We Used to Do It
Israel’s dashing victory in the Six-Day War of 1967 left it in control of the Sinai Peninsula and the Palestinian territories. It also lured the Jewish state into a dangerously ...
Decision at Pine Ridge
Pine Ridge, S.D. — In August, a potentially momentous vote took place—not momentous for the nation, but for the nation of the Oglala Sioux, or Oglala Lakota, as they’re also ...
Books, Arts & Manners
The Roadmap
Back in the late 1980s, I was working at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass., while finishing my dissertation. At that time, I attended Harvard’s public-economics seminar, ...
The GOP at War
The testy exchange this summer over U.S. counterterrorism practices—involving two leading potential GOP presidential candidates, Kentucky senator Rand Paul and New Jersey governor Chris Christie—is part of a broad and ...
Strictly Irrational
Reviewing American Psychosis, I should declare an interest: Dr. Torrey was the first author who ever sent me a signed and dedicated copy of a book, and I have remained ...
Modern Love
It’s hard for new parents not to find themselves regarding childless twentysomethings with a mix of envy and contempt. Compared with the unavoidable reality that is parenthood, their freedom seems ...
The Rest Is Silence
I was meeting a colleague for dinner at a restaurant I had never been to. As soon as I walked in, I hit the wall of sound. The street door ...
A Catholic for All Seasons
Novelist, ambassador, vizier, poet: how fitting that some of Michael Novak’s monikers should parallel the rhythms of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” that classic Cold War title by John le Carré.
It ...
Sections
The Week
‐ Ted Cruz read Green Eggs and Ham to the Senate, and for all they know it could have been a chapter of the Affordable Care Act.
‐ Aaron Alexis, who ...
Suffer Little Children
The odiferous species of Jerkus internetus lacks the moral compass of the Mafia, and that’s saying something. As I understand Cosa Nostra mythology, you could whack a guy for cause, ...
Republican National Convention 2016
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: NOT FOR RELEASE
Opening Ceremony:
All delegates will assemble in the Starbucks near the off-ramp to I-40 before processing as a group to the Grand Ballroom in the Holiday Inn ...
Poetry
THE PORTRAIT
Her face hung white and empty as a spoon.
She had resisted every breeze and flutter
That shuffled dead air through the shutter,
Propped up all morning in a pose.
To flush the ...
Whose Islam?
The “war” part of the war on terror is pretty much over, and we’re now fighting it culturally, rhetorically. Which is not something we do well. Take the British prime ...
Stumbling on Syria
President Obama says that his Syria policy is lacking only on “style.”
That is one way to put his repeated drawing of red lines over the use of chemical weapons, his ...
Letters
A Period Problem
As a faithful reader, I was surprised to see an erroneous reference to “Harry S. Truman” in “Why Like Ike” (Kevin D. Williamson, September 2). The “S” in ...