The New Republic

TNR started off the week by trouncing The Atlantic at softball and settling in for a Sunday read of Ryan Lizza's New Yorker piece. But our peace of mind was soon disturbed.

Eve Fairbanks alerted us to the magazine's cover art, which the Obama campaign called "tasteless and offensive." Michael Crowley and Isaac Chotiner thought Obama was wrong to pick a fight about it, but Jason Zengerle disagreed and wondered if David Remnick didn't know what he was getting into. Ben Crair thought we were holding the New Yorker to an inane standard, Jamie Kirchick thought we were holding them to a double standard, and Sacha Zimmerman said we should compare them to the Weekly Standard. Dayo Olopade looked for balance.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama defined success in Iraq and aired a smart new ad. Crowley thought McCain dodged a bullet on Iraq, and he rethought Afghanistan--a war theater that frustrates Michelle Cottle. Luckily, there's always Joe Lieberman to kick around.

Jonathan Chait spent the week slamming John McCain for not knowing how to e-mail--a quirk Obama that may be exploiting. Noam Scheiber participated in a Sam's Club Republicanism smackdown, with Chait and Josh Patashnik joining the fray. Obama's June fundraising numbers arrived. Don't get too excited, said Crowley--and don't forget me, said Hillary.

And the week ended as it began, with softball.

--Barron YoungSmith

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