The Rove Presidency
Karl Rove had the plan, the power, and the historic chance to remake American politics. What went wrong?
September 2007
In This Issue
Joshua Green on Karl Rove; Matthew Scully on Michael Gerson's careerist machinations; Robert D. Kaplan on the B-2 bomber; James Fallows on Macau; Clive Crook on Private Equity; B.R. Myers on the amoral gourmet; Christopher Hitchens on Edmund Wilson; Wayne Curtis visits the hippies of Guatemala; and much more.
Features
Present at the Creation
The only person the speechwriter Michael Gerson made look better than President Bush was Michael Gerson. The shaping of a Washington reputation, as witnessed by a White House colleague
The Plane That Would Bomb Iran
Inside the cockpit and culture of the B-2, whose pilots may carry the greatest responsibility in the U.S. military today [Web only: Slideshow: "Spirit in the Sky."]
Macau’s Big Gamble
Even as foreign investors pour billions into ever-glitzier casinos, the tiny peninsula’s bid to become the Vegas of the Orient depends on China’s larger willingness to embrace transparency and the rule of law. [Web only: Slideshow: "The Many Faces of Macau."]
Media
Articles on journalism by H.L. Mencken, Ralph Pulitzer, David Halberstam, Walter Lippmann, and James Fallows
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Blue Period
Can the Democrats succeed where Karl Rove failed?
Calendar
Air-guitar heroes; a Ukrainian grudge match; Noriega tastes freedom
Primary Sources
Blinded by zeros; prostitutes and their johns; a user's guide to nuclear devastation
Fatah and Hamas
The Atlantic recently asked a group of foreign-policy authorities about the struggle in the Palestinian territories.
Classify This
The Bush administration’s pathological hiding of information
Cashing Out
Is private equity just another bubble, or a sign of sickness in America’s public stock markets?
Books
The Other Elizabeth Taylor
Editor’s Choice: The late English writer is overdue for the recognition and readers she deserves.
Hard to Swallow
The gourmet’s ongoing failure to think in moral terms
The King Is Dead
With his extravagant designs, Paul Poiret ruled the world of fashion—until modern simplicity did him in.
Literary Companion
How Edmund Wilson made the labor of criticism into an art
Cover to Cover
A guide to additional releases
The Grateful Living
Old hippies and New Agers commune along the shores of Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán. [Web only: Slideshow: "On the Shores of Lake Atitlán."]
Sarah E. Crowder / AP The Secret of the Irish Scone
At Camp Bread, in San Francisco, a baker rehabilitates one of the most frequently abused members of the pastry family.
Beautiful Minds
On television shows like CSI and Numb3rs, scientists are still weird—but a geeky glamour has replaced the old stereotypes.
Quirked Around
The unbearable lightness of Ira Glass, Wes Anderson, and other paragons of indie sensibility
Word Court
The art of ant eating; another N word
