This is the issue with Barry Blitt’s cover image of Barack Obama interviewing the dogs, a flight of fancy that manages to capture something essential about the serious, careful president-elect, I thought. I found the juxtaposition of Larissa MacFarquhar’s Profile of Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine, and Patricia Marx’s look at recessionary fashion most intriguing.

In transit from West Coast to East, Benjamin Chambers was able to register his impressions via iPhone (I really must acquire one of those things):

“Some things I’ve liked this week:
“P. 19, brief review of a show of artifacts from 12 cultures circa the Bronze age. Quote: ‘Battalions of pitilessly educational wall texts and labels beseige about three hundred and fifty often tiny, mostly terrific objects in ivory, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and lots else. Duly benumbed, you may slip the odd item of power or caprice into a pocket of memory, to take home.’

“E. Kolbert’s TOTT comment on the Big 3 bailout is sharp, a useful summary, and challenges Obama to address the root issues. Quote: ‘It would, of course, be foolish to allow the American economy to collapse in order to make a point. And it’s possible to conclude that the Big Three deserve on every front to fail and still decide to rescue them. But such a decision will itself be a form of temporizing, and will only pass the problems on to the next Administration. Real change—as opposed to the kind in slogans—is hard and, by definition, disruptive. If Obama has any intention of fulfilling his campaign promises, sooner or later he’s going to have to face up to that.’

“Graeme Wood’s Afghan piece feels truncated, but nails the difficulty of the forgotten war and the drawbacks of pitting ethnic minorities against each other. Also chock full of mini-stories that cry out for dramatization: e.g., the police unit that took heavy losses, and, shamed into patrolling, sang songs and wrapped their rifles in flowers. Or the army unit that attack a position and steal grapes along the way.”

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