I know most of us know that The New Republic was something better before Crazy Marty got his hands on it (and yes there are still some very good things in it now) but I just read a great TNR piece written at the end of 1960 that reminded just how good it once was:
Knowing darn well that he isn't going to get it, we all join heartily in wishing the Hon. John F. Kennedy a Happy New Year, for such is the custom at this season; and Mr. Kennedy doubtless will return thanks politely for the wish although it is the belief, and the earnest hope of this superficial observer that a happy New Year is the last thing he desires.
. . . Every rational man desires a happy year, but if Mr. Kennedy puts it last on the list of his wishes the rest of us may well rejoice, for dismal experience has shown us that a happy President is all too likely to preside over a woebegone country. The two happiest Presidents of recent years undoubtedly were Coolidge and Eisenhower. We know what Coolidge brought us to; and what Eisenhower may have brought us to is no fit subject of speculation on a festive occasion.
It gets even better. More.
On Adlai Stevenson and the UN:
The critical nature of the coming year is only too glaringly evident. Few will be informed and none edified by reiteration of malaises it is sure to bring. Less obvious, but nevertheless real, are certain chances that Fortune, with some assistance from the gentleman himself, may favor Mr. Kennedy.
For instance, there is reasonable hope that Mr. Adlai E. Stevenson on the 21st day of the month will not find himself in the army of the unemployed. On that date he is supposed to report to the United Nations, if any. The thing has been falling apart with horrible speed in recent weeks, but it will probably last for another month, which would give Adlai time to be sworn in.
Support for Adlai Stevenson AND the UN? My Gawd. What must Marty think?
The crumbling of the world organization is an appalling thing, but that very fact may work to Mr. Kennedy's advantage. The jolt that it has administered to the typical American ought to wake him up and make him willing to support any intelligent effort to save the situation, even to the extent of lending aid and comfort to a Democratic President.
Heh. But get this, The New Republic was SHRILL about the Media:
By the same token the fact that by Thanksgiving Day, 1960, instead of by Washington's birthday the recession had forced itself into recognition even by the one party press is a bit of luck.
What rabid lambs! Attacking the Media for doing the bidding of Republicans!?! You want more? How about some disdain for a Southern Strategy and a call for strong partisanship?
Finally, the Dixiecrats have at last worked themselves into such a position that the separation of the sheep from the goats below the Potomac is no longer a problem. With Hodges, of North Carolina, in the Cabinet and Rusk, born in Georgia, heading it, nobody can accuse Kennedy of refusing recognition to the genuine Democrats of the South; so if he heaves out the men who tried to knife him, he will be bestowing its just reward upon what Cleveland called "party perfidy and party dishonor."
Wait up now. Did Markos work at The New Republic in a previous life? How very shrill of The New Republic.
And the cherry:
If the tottering United Nations can be propped up the tide of the Cold War will turn again in our favor. If the ailing economy can be treated with brains rather than with pious hopes and quotations from Adam Smith, the gold will begin to flow back. If the baleful influence of McCarthyism can be eliminated from the foreign service, the Western world will see us in a new light. If none but Democrats are admitted to party councils, treachery will become unprofitable.
My Gawd, now here is a writer for the ages. A good witty writer too. What ever happened to THAT TNR? I want it back.