This is why. Editor-In-Chief Martin Peretz thinks it’s just awful that poor Scooter Libby has to spend 30 months in jail. Why, all he did was perjure himself and obstruct a federal investigation. What’s the big deal?
TNR is supposed to be a liberal magazine. It hasn’t been for a long time, but it pretends. I did subscribe, briefly, once upon a time, ca. 2003. Lately the new owners have been trumpeting the “new” TNR. I’ve gotten two sample issues. See? It has a new format. It’s so much prettier.
The only change that would tempt me to renew is a complete overhaul of the masthead.
TNR hasn’t really been liberal for a long, long time – it’s move to the right began in earnest in the mid-80s after Michael Kinsley left as editor. Somehow, however, it maintains its image as a liberal magazine.
That said, I’ve always found it a well-written magazine and worth reading. The more ideological magazines on both sides of the spectrum tend to be a bit too predictable. The main problem with TNR is the gag-inducing Peretz stuff.
But I let my sub lapse when they halved the number of yearly issues but kept my yearly rate the same. The new issues are supposed to be bigger, but I find they take about the same amount of time to read. One of the things I liked about it before was that it was a weekly.
Maybe they should re-write the law regarding perjury..break it down into degrees like other crimes. This way Libby would only be charged with third degree perjury. He lied about a crime that didn’t exist, so it’s not really like real a lie, right? Same thing with obstruction, he obstructed a crime that didn’t exist. Poor Scooter.
When TNR came out in support of the Nicaraguan Contras in the early ’80s, I knew that my beloved magazine had gone over to the dark side. It was a sad day for America. I haven’t spent a nickel on the magazine since.