They all hate Amurica!

The magazine's editorial voice supported the invasion at the time, though some writers dissented, and in the summer of 2004, the New Republic published a famous cover package of essays under the heading "Were We Wrong?" "The question mark is gone," Foer said.

As they sail boldly along with the prevailing current....

Peretz was the one good thing about the magazine so I'm glad I dropped it after 20 years. They lost Fred Barnes and Mort Kondrake a few years ago when the Weekly Standard launched so it was pretty much a one-sided publication except for Peretz.

The real The New Republic may have a chance of rebirth as a true liberal voice.

I was an off and on subscriber from the early 60s until sometime in the 80s when the evil neocon spell fell over its already dead body. If they shove Peretz's putrid body into the freezer I may subscribe again. But some more staff culling beyond Marty would be needed before I'd let it into my mailbox.

"We've become more liberal," Foer said, pointing out that he used his first issue to embrace universal healthcare and "retract" a famous 1994 piece that helped bring down Bill Clinton's 1994 heathcare reform plan.

Well, great, I guess, but, so what? I mean, its far too late to change the past, and says nothing all that substantive about how the approach changes going forward. (Ditto with taking the question mark off about the war; everyone's figured out you were wrong about the war, now, so its great that you admit that, but it would be nice if you weren't the last people to have such insights...)

Hey, Kev. Does your ass hurt? Because IOZ kicked it good.

All the magazine has were various DLCers, none of whom had anything fresh to write. Peretz is a rabid anti-Arab and makes as little sense and Dershowitz and Benny Morris. I occasionally check out the The Plank, but The Spine is just sickening.

Ugh. TNR was one of the few places one would go to find responsible democrats. I'm going to have to cancel my subscription now.

By "responsible" you seem to mean "deadender neocons who won't admit they're wrong no matter how idiotic they look." In which case the problem is you're looking for them under the democratic label. Look for the same thing under the republican label and you can find lots and lots and lots of them. But look fast, they're scurrying off of the sinking GOP ship left and right.

Klepto: Yeah, I almost reprinted that just for the artistry of the thing. In the end, though, it was a little too banal to bother with. But he's certainly right about my plebian taste in literature.

So they lose some American Phlegm types, but will they pick up any subs to compensate?

"The question mark is gone," Foer said.

"Also, we permuted the first and second words."

Marty's wife run out of money?

I'm rather partial to the old republic myself. Before Bush and Cheney destroyed it.

God damn Obama...
God damn that black bastard to hell:

"Now, keep in mind, this is the same guy that said we'd be greeted as liberators, the same guy that said that we're in the last throes. I'm sure he forecast sun today," Obama said to laughter from supporters holding campaign signs over their heads to keep dry. "When Dick Cheney says it's a good thing, you know that you've probably got some big problems."

Where's my fucking shotgun?

Hendrick Hertzberg was the one good thing about the magazine back in the 80s -- early and then late. When he left the first time, so did I.

Now I subscribe to the New Yorker. Same reason.

Bite me TNR.

Wonder if those putzes, when they finally get laid off, will all go on to become resident scholars at AEI, or the Brookings Saban Center, or the Hudson Institute, or the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, or the Middle East Forum, etc., etc.

Dump Peretz and I may even consider reading it again. But I'll hold off subscribing until it's clear that the creeps who destroyed it aren't coming back.

Interesting, because CanWest is considered a "conservative" media outlet in Canada. (Which, I concede, might be a different meaning of the term conservative then below the 49th. That said, its no Fox News)

Read Peretz only a few times.

Couldn't keep anything down afterwards.

Not a fan of TNR, never will be.

Where's my fucking shotgun?

Here it is Unca Dick.

BLAM!

Oops!

Scott Tribe,
If what I have read in the past is correct, CanWest just loves the Marty Peretz types. CanWest is very pro-Israel. Put it another way, they are the Canadian version of "Holy" Joe Lieberman.

"We've become more liberal."

I guess they saw what happened to Air America and decided to run over the cliffs, too.

That depends what outlet of CanWest you go by. If you're referring to their National Post newspaper, some of their columnists are pro-Israel.. and they may have an editorial or 2 in that fashion (but then, I cant be sure, as I dont go out of my way to read it). The Global Television Network ... less so.

Then again, except when things like the Israel-Lebanon war pop up, you don't see as much editorializing on the Israel/Palestine question.

The TRN a Canadian Mag, well gee whiz must be a sad day for centrist Dems everywhere, and poor little DLC Hillary, I mean what with her Campaign Chairman, Terry McAuliffe warning Democratic donors that "you are either with us or against us".

Howard Dean is going to have the last laugh on Hillary for Preznut campaign. Screwing herself over like that even before she's really gotten out of the gate.

And I wonder where TNR's Peter Beinart is going to be, somewhere beside Judith Miller in the freelance reporter's line up? Showing a business card that says, "call us, we're your access people". All the while wonder where is Murdock when you really need him?

And somehow, I can only imagain what the UN people would like the US cititzens to know. Maybe they'll put forth an article on why Mafia style Priznuts are not really a good idea since their only objective is to butcher democracy for completely self serving agendas.

For those longing for the good old days of the New Republic, check out:

"The New Republic Reader: Eighty Years of Opinion and Debate" edited by Dorothy Wickenden

Fire Marty and everything'll be peachy.

Murdoch will buy them, just to shut them up.

You guys are forever trying to get journalists fired. DeLong is worse.

Some Democrats are like moths attracted to a flame.

These Democrats relish losing.

Lost causes are so much more fun. So righteously cool. So ME. So all about ME. Ummmm.

Thus, with victory staring them in the face, these Democrats indulge themselves by courting defeat, by carefully picking and championing a candidate who hasn't a prayer of winning, by turning their backs on the candidate who can win. Damn, it feels ever so good . . . don't you know? Ummmm.

Not a whole lot of Democrats, for sure, but enough to assure a win for the other side.

Ummmm. Ohhhh.

Educated tonight.

I was way too busy when I arrived in the US (1979) to read THR. When I did get to glance into it, I figured it had always been right-wing(supporting all kinds of violence across central America, etc.), so that has been my perception since then. Now I hear different.

But they supported war against Iraq. What changed? Now they are sorry?

Kind of a long time coming turn-around.

So I ask USians, if you've read The Economist that length of time or longer, what are your perceptions? Any political change?

Interested in what you've seen change.

So the witch hunt has begun, and the liberal establishment has out-sourced the job to Canadians.

To Al, accountability is just a witch hunt in disguise.

I think you Al's should pack up and leave the country in protest.

Iraq is a libertarians wet-dream right now, plenty of guns and minimal government regulation and oversight. You'll love it! You righties have an opportunity to by-god show us dirty hippie lefties lefties how to do a society right!!! I encourage you to do so. We await a much-deserved humbling. C'mon, hop-to.

Since they still have that jackass Marty Peretz around, I guess I'll still hope that the whole shebang fails and closes shop. Who needs these dumbass patsies to the Republican party?

Hey, it'll be GLOSSIER--just like "George" magazine, another of the dumber magazine ideas ever foisted on (a very small portion of) the public. ("George" did have a few good articles, though.)

I still miss reading Stephen Glass stories when they first ran and thinking, "Where does he meet all of these amazing, fantastic characters?"

The New Republic(an) will become "more liberal" the day Marty Peretz is dangling from a rope hanging from the first lamp post outside the main entrance of the editorial offices.

Bedwetter: "I guess they saw what happened to Air America and decided to run over the cliffs, too."

Yeah, talk about hanging out over unsupported space! Don't look down, Coyote, don't look down!

rusty: "Thus, with victory staring them in the face, these Democrats indulge themselves by courting defeat..."

And how's your victory party going over in Iraq, bedsprings?

liberals are bad, coloreds are dumb, Arabs are savages and war is good

20 years of TNR summed up in four phrases

Well I just let my TNR subscription lapse and as long as Perez has anything to do with it I will not even consider reading it again let alone subscribing again.

All this tells you is that their subscriptions have fallen, so they are soliciting more advertising.

Adverts for what, one wonders. The advertising might reveal the true nature of TNR readers.

Since this is the CanWest media company buying TNR, do not expect any improvement in the magazine.

You mean they've gone "bi-monthly"---bi-weekly would be a twice-a-week publication schedule.

KEVIN DRUM: Yeah, I almost reprinted that just for the artistry of the thing. In the end, though, it was a little too banal to bother with. But he's certainly right about my plebian [sic] taste in literature.

Don't get too excited; CanWest is the Canadian version of David Broder centrism. Owned by the Asper family, socially liberal but hawkish. The flagship National Post was pro Iraq war,and the Aspers have been criticized for meddling with editorial content, especially when the subject is Israel.

Marty Peretz is in no danger of losing his job.

I've been reading TNR since my parents subscribed in the 60s. Each time I renew for the back of the book, and in hope that the front can return to it's roots.

I've decided to give up, especially since they have widely varying subscription rates depending where you look. My latest renewal bill is $80/ yr., while web rates are about $34 today. It pisses me off when a company thinks I'm stupid. I've found I have the same reaction to the Republican Party.

Derek: the terms "bimonthly" and "biweekly" have been so abused over the years that they have become meaningless. "Bimonthly" can mean either every two months (the original meaning) or semimonthly (twice per month).

Look it up.

Yes, the terms have become synonymous. But actually they are talking about making the magazine bi-curious.

Big deal.

I let my subscription to TNR finally lapse last year. I can't remember what it was that finally convinced me to do it, probably something Peretz said before they gave him his own padded blog. I thought after toughing it out through their 2002-2003 war fever I was in for the long haul. Guess not.

The one thing I miss about the place is posting on the Plank. Some of the regular readers there were great at savaging the magazine. Especially about its tendency towards silly conventional wisdom-bucking pieces designed to do nothing but be contrarian.

After last years "In Defense of Ann Coulter" piece, there was even something of a contest going on to write headlines like this. My favorite, coincidentaly, was always "Canada: Our Angry Southern Neighbor"

One reason to love George Bush:

Remember when conservatism was on the march? Seemed like the cons had all the new ideas, got the most adoring press, had the cleverest columnists, and all those southern Democrats were jumping ship to the other side? Now the whole thing is reversed.

Feels sugood!

For this we owe a heavy debt of gratitude to the big W. The con core doesn't get how he's sold them down the river yet. If they ever do, watch out George!

"Canada: Our Angry Southern Neighbor"

Must be written in Detroit . . .

All it would take for TNR to become "more liberal" is for them to reduce the required daily genuflections to Ronald Reagan from five to merely three.

If they want to start on the long, hard, slow road to actual credibility as a magazine of progressive ideas, they are so far behind they're going to have start out moving backward.

Becoming the last non-psychotic magazine in the country to embrace universal health care doesn't even begin to cut it.