I’ve got no column in the magazine this week. Been working on something. But the new Time, with an Army dog tag on the cover, contains many other riches. Such as Joe Klein going nuclear on the White House (although he’s against impeachment), Mark Thompson describing the troubled state of the Army, Anita Hamilton explaining that–whatever Suze Orman says–women are actually better with their money than men, and a Poniewozikerrific list of the reasons why we all watch American Idol.
As someone who doesn’t watch American Idol (other than an episode or so per season just so I know what everybody’s talking about) I didn’t find a whole lot to identify with in the latter piece. I’ll have to wait for Poniewozik’s essay on “Why, of all the Reality Show Phenomena of the Past Decade, the Only One Justin Fox Has Chosen to Watch From Beginning to End Has Been Joe Millionaire.” Which isn’t going to reflect well on me at all, of course.