Newsweek

We're nearing the end of our subscription, or as callers to the newspaper office down in Clinton frequently used to say, "our prescription," to Newsweek.

Ever since they redesigned and refocused their content in an attempt to survive the internet news age by concentrating more on news analysis rather than news reporting, it's tried a little too hard to be intellectual and instead has come off egg-headed. When I want that, I'll go to The Economist.

And Newsweek's cover headlines have grown tired with their overuse of of parentheses. Last week it was "How We (could have) Won in Vietnam."

This doesn't mean that once in awhile there isn't some good stuff in Newsweek. Editor Jon Meacham is a smart guy with a great vocabulary and an amazing grasp of history, which he doesn't seem to mind showing off. Still, even if it feels like homework, I read his column most every week.

Meacham's column in this week's issue, the one with the cover that so offended Sarah Palin's feminist sensibilities, is especially good. There's a Barry Goldwater/Richard Nixon analogy, but then Meacham makes a point about how the current political climate is ruining the chance for compromise in Washington, citing our own Lindsey Graham getting "censured" by the Charleston Republican Party for working with John Kerry on climate change.

This is what Meacham says, and I like it:

"The middle way is not always the right way -- far from it. But sometimes it is, and a wise nation should cultivate a political spirit that allows opponents to cooperate without fearing an automatic execution from their core supporters. Who knew that the real rogues in American politics would be the ones who dare to get along?"