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The Pullout Method
Newsweek on troop withdrawals from the past.
By Christopher Beam, Paige Ferrari, Paul Gottschling, and Stephanie Wu
Posted Monday, April 16, 2007, at 10:49 AM ET
Newsweek, April 23
The cover piece discusses the cancellation of Don Imus' radio show. Imus provided an "influential salon for the politically connected" and used his shock-jock persona to scold the political elite. However, his recent slur against the predominantly black Rutgers women's basketball team went too far: "The Rutgers players weren't well-fed journalists or posturing politicians, public figures who could fend for themselves." Imus' ousting demonstrates America's increasing diversity. "[T]he grace and dignity of female scholar-athletes toppled one of the media powerhouses of the age." … Another piece compares the proposed withdrawal from Iraq to historical withdrawals—America from Vietnam, Britain from India, France from Algeria. Pulling out always led to "carnage and chaos," but "the aftermath in every case was made worse by the fact that governments waited so long to admit that a pullout might be necessary." With the House and Senate both advocating a 2008 withdrawal, it is especially important to heed the past when considering potential repercussions of withdrawal as refugee crises, proxy wars, and massacre.—S.W.
Time, April 23
The cover story discusses the limits of socially provocative speech on radio and television. Once, audiences and broadcast personalities assumed that "people were free to joke about their own kind." But now, "we live in a mash-up world, where people … feel free to borrow one another's cultural signifiers." The new permissiveness blends with Web 2.0 interconnectivity, and "[e]very public figure … now has two audiences: the one he or she is addressing and the one that will eventually read the blogs or see the viral video." Don Imus, despite his clubby relations with politicos, experienced the pitfalls of this phenomenon firsthand. … A piece profiles the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Kurdistan enjoys relative stability, thanks to the protection of the no-fly-zone and a reform-minded, secular government. But the region is "uncomfortably attached to a war-ravaged nation, and surrounded by unfriendly neighbors." Kurds disdain the bevy of displaced Arabs from southern and central Iraq, and the upcoming referendum on Kurdish independence will only exacerbate the tension.—P.G.
Washington Monthly, May
The splashy tabloidesque cover package investigates the phenomenon of D.C. power couples. When Dick Cheney arranged to leak Joe Wilson's Nigeria expedition as a case of nepotism, few reporters initially took the bait. This is because Washington—particularly its reporters—"has no real quarrel … with power couples whose professional lives occasionally overlap." But when it comes to marriage, "the problem with Washington is rarely the possible conflicts of interest. It's the concealment of them." What to do? For starters, the author recommends a blanket ban on marriage between lobbyists and elected officials. … A profile of Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, depicts the congressman as a populist who recognizes that America "can't wall itself off from the global economy." After winning the 2002 election with a combination of youthful exuberance (he was 29) and industrial protectionism, Ryan is now a rising star who somehow appeals to both sides of the trade debate. His solution: education that prepares kids for a "truly global economy."—C.B.
Economist, April 14
The cover article previews leading candidates in France's upcoming election. Nicolas Sarkozy tops polls, but he faces competition from far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen and socialist Ségolène Royal. Whoever wins must address France's problems: "the slowest-growing large economy in Europe, a state that soaks up half of GDP, the fastest-rising public debt in western Europe over the past ten years and, above all, entrenched high unemployment." While the Economist cautions against Sarkozy's "economic populism" and "nativism," it endorses him as "the best of the bunch" for his openness to change and willingness to "repair France's tattered relations with America." … A special report on Brazil contrasts the promise of the country's natural resources with its lagging economy. Since the end of the 1970s, Brazil's economic growth has not kept pace with other developing countries like China, India, and Russia. One problem is what "businessmen refer to despairingly as custo Brasil (the cost of Brazil)": high transportation costs, government corruption, and a failing education system.—P.F.
New York Times Magazine, April 15
An article assesses the new political importance of Paris' "impoverished immigrant suburbs." Nicolas Sarkozy, France's former minister of the interior, became infamous in 2005 after he referred to youth rioters, who were predominantly Muslim, as "racaille," or scum. Now his presidential campaign is largely defined by his "mutually antagonistic relationship" with immigrant youth living outside Paris. "[H]e may have calculated that being despised in the suburbs will help him with the electorate as a whole more than it will hurt him." Many other politicians have adopted the strategy, "bowing to the prevailing winds and taking a tougher stance towards the immigrant youth." … The cover article by Thomas Friedman exhorts Americans to stop deeming conservationism as "sissy," or "vaguely French." "Strategic green ideology" is taking hold in mainstream America, but it still needs to be adopted globally. According to Friedman, "Green will not go down Main Street America unless it also goes down Main Street China, India and Brazil."—P.F.
New York, April 16
The cover piece explains hedge funds, which could triple their assets by 2010. Unlike stock-and-bond-centered mutual funds, hedge funds "employ whatever investing tools they want, including leverage, the use of derivatives like options and futures, and short sales." These "alternative investments" have gained new legitimacy, but dark days may lie ahead: Hedge funds must take increasingly greater risks to justify their costs and could buckle if interest rates spike. … An article relates the story of serial killer Charles Cullen, who donated a kidney to a former girlfriend's dying brother, Ernie Peckman. After all of Peckman's friends and relatives failed to match his tissue type, his mother discovered that Cullen was a viable donor. But Cullen, "the biggest serial killer in American history … was the last guy anyone wanted to do a favor for." Cullen faced an outraged public, unwilling hospitals, and delays from prosecutors, but he made it to the operating table before his donor status expired.—P.G.
The New Yorker, April 16
An article explores the Pirahã, a tribe in northwestern Brazil whose unorthodox language confounds social scientists and linguists. The Pirahã language is "unrelated to any other extant tongue, and based on just eight consonants and three vowels." It sounds like "a profusion of exotic songbirds" and is "scarcely discernible, to the uninitiated, as human speech." The Pirahã never learned Portuguese and seem immune to Brazilian cultural influences. One expert says, "[N]obody has resisted change like this in the history of the Amazon, and maybe of the world." … A piece investigates the daily struggle of the commuter. "Extreme commuters"—road warriors who brave more than 90 minutes each way—currently number 3.5 million. Bigger homes, lower taxes, or better schools may be the payoff for longer drives to work, but studies show that few commuters are happier for the trade. One study suggests that those who commute an hour each way require "forty per cent more in salary to be as 'satisfied' with life as a non-commuter."—P.F.
Christopher Beam is a Slate editorial assistant.
Paige Ferrari is a Slate intern.
Paul Gottschling is a Slate intern.
Stephanie Wu is a Slate intern.
Article URL: slate.com
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