THE WEEK

From what we gather, Lyndon Johnson’s brain was replaced by a political computer when he was three days old. So Hubert Humphrey must be the name that ticked out after the tubes and reels had solved the equations and finished their whirring. It wouldn’t be prudent to underestimate the senior senator from Minnesota. He talks so much that lots of people don’t notice he is pretty smart, and knows a thing or two—about political philosophy, which he once taught, as well as practical politicking. The Johnson computer calculated, undoubtedly, that Humphrey is the sidekick best able to bolster up the soft spots where the LBJ name has somewhat less than its usual dazzling magic: in the Midwestern battle-ground, where Humphrey is a known and sympathetic figure, and among the labor unions and civil rights battalions. With his charter ADA card, Humphrey is a sop, too, to the Democratic longhaired Left, which can’t stop getting a wee bit nauseated every time it takes a look at the LBJ White House; and yet, for some mysterious reason, Humphrey has never riled the Southerners the way most all-out civil righters do. For more Humphrey turn to John Chamberlain in this issue.

Seen any good anti-military films lately? We’re looking forward to the one about the jittery WAC who backs into Burt Lancaster and triggers the accidental firing of Robert S. McNamara.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

Presidential Election

From what we gather, Lyndon Johnson’s brain was replaced by a political computer when he was three days old. So Hubert Humphrey must be the name that ticked out after the tubes and reels had solved the equations and finished their whirring. It wouldn’t be prudent to underestimate the senior senator from Minnesota. He talks so much that lots of people don’t notice he is pretty smart, and knows a thing or two—about political philosophy, which he once taught, as well as practical politicking. The Johnson computer calculated, undoubtedly, that Humphrey is the sidekick best able to bolster up the soft spots where the LBJ name has somewhat less than its usual dazzling magic: in the Midwestern battle-ground, where Humphrey is a known and sympathetic figure, and among the labor unions and civil rights battalions. With his charter ADA card, Humphrey is a sop, too, to the Democratic longhaired Left, which can’t stop getting a wee bit nauseated every time it takes a look at the LBJ White House; and yet, for some mysterious reason, Humphrey has never riled the Southerners the way most all-out civil righters do. For more Humphrey turn to John Chamberlain in this issue.

Seen any good anti-military films lately? We’re looking forward to the one about the jittery WAC who backs into Burt Lancaster and triggers the accidental firing of Robert S. McNamara.