Letters
Letters Social Menckenism In your January/February 1993 issue, Tom Wicker—like so many liberals before him—rhapsodizes bizarrely about that "brilliant writer ... consoling friend, ardent...
...If liberal judges, starting with the Warren Court, hadn't meted out wrist-slaps for serious crimes, mandatory minimum sentences wouldn't be necessary...
...But they also reward performance in such areas as Feature Writing, Personal Service, Public Interest, Fiction, Photography, and General Excellence (among others...
...Printed in U.S.A...
...ERWIN FUCHS Seattle, Washington The editors reply: Please see "Righting Sentences," page 26...
...The openness, of course, also allows them to decide whether there is, on the other hand, enough of a conflict or outrageous self-promotion to, say, lead them to cancel their subscriptions...
...That fact explains his deadly hatred of the New Deal, his enthusiasm for the Second Reich, and his failure to see anything seriously wrong with the Third...
...While I doubt that the courts, despite their current hostility to many forms of religion and religious activities, would allow such laws to take effect, you should be ashamed for continuing to advocate them...
...This turns the First Amendment freedoms of religion and speech on their heads, creating a class of speech (religious speech) that is discriminated against...
...As Mencken stated constantly and loudly throughout his lifetime, he hated such things because he was an enthusiastic Nietzschean and social Darwinist and thus hated all Judeo-Christian morality...
...Back issues, $4.50...
...Thus, religious organizations, to the extent that they offer basement nurseries or free lunch programs as charitable functions, could legitimately be exempt from taxation, but to the extent that they perform exclusively religious functions should not be exempt from taxes applied to the rest of us...
...RUTH WHITNEY Ms...
...He is inaccurate on several counts: In 1992, Glamour won one prize, not two, and it was in Public Interest, not in either of the categories you mention...
...On the other hand, a tax exemption for charitable activity that may include part of what a church does would be legitimate...
...fiction published in Glamour has also been included in the O. Henry collection...
...ISSN 00430633...
...Following Kennedy's death, under a succession of spineless or corrupt presidents, with the exceptions of Jimmy Carter and the untested Bill Clinton, the Mob once again prospered...
...It's deadly, too...
...The conflict of interest seems clear...
...Glamour, for one, has also been recognized by the American Medical Association, Women in Communications, the National Women's Political Caucus, the Newswomen's Club of New York, the New York Association of Black Journalists, and the Northwestern University School of Journalism...
...For change of address, please provide six weeks' notice and include old address label...
...BRUCE MOOMAW Cameron Park, California The editors reply: H. L. Mencken was a many-sided man...
...All rights reserved...
...Tom Wicker pointed out the positive...
...However, the judges can 2 The Washington Monthly/April 1993 The Monthly Editor in Chief Charles Peters Publisher Mary T. Beiro Editors Christopher Georges, Jon Meacham, David Segal Contributing Editors Jonathan Alter, Thomas N. Bethell, Tom Bethell, Taylor Branch, Matthew Cooper, Gregg Easterbrook, James Fallows, Paul Glastris, Mickey Kaus, Phil Keisling, Michael Kinsley, Nicholas Lemann, Suzannah Lessard, Arthur Levine, Timothy Noah, Joseph Nocera, Leonard Reed, John Rothchild, Jonathan Rowe,Walter Shapiro, Scott Shuger, Steven Waldman Editorial Advisory Board Graham Allison, James David Barber, Edgar Cahn, David Halberstam, Murray Kempton, Richard Reeves, Hugh Sidey Production Manager Sridhar Tallapragada Advertising Director Jennifer L. Schindeler Assistant to the Editor Pam Matthews Interns Mike Bach, Marion Davis, Jennifer Elsea, Rebecca Evans, Ann O'Hanlon, David Smyth, John Zebrowski Proofers Nancy Ayala, Carol Emert, John Kalajian, Jack Shellenberger, Nina Teicholz, Valerie Worthington Subscription rates: U.S...
...A tax exemption for religion alone violates the First Amendment...
...The award was for a three-part series of articles on abortion...
...Peters principle...
...In fact, brothers John and Robert Kennedy conducted a crushing crusade against the Mob, quadrupling the prior rate of racketeering convictions...
...The Washington Monthly is indexed in the Book Review Index, Political Science Abstracts, Public Affairs Information Service, the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, the Social Science Index, and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory and may be obtained on microfilm from University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI 48106...
...Whitney is editor in chief of Glamour Magazine 4 The Washington Monthly/April 1993...
...Published monthly except combined July/August and January/February issues by The Washington Monthly Company, 1611 Connecticut Ave...
...This seems to be a windmill worth tilting at...
...Greene is an associate professor of history and communication at Cazevonia College...
...Medal mettle In your eagerness to slam the National Magazine Awards (NMA) ["Heavy Medals," David Segal, March] you set up a straw man: that the awards should only be in recognition of "serious, hard-hitting, news oriented" journalism...
...perceptive editor [and] shrewd observer" H. L. Mencken, and his detestation of "moral indignation," "the sentimental," "the maudlin," "the whole sham of democracy," the "tendency to color all values with concepts of lightness and wrongness," and the "inability to throw off the Puritan obsession with sin...
...If editors of glossies had the power you say we do, believe me, I would've arranged to win more often...
...Conflicts in and of themselves are not automatically bad...
...Allow me to suggest another crusade that may interest your editorial board: How about an article excoriating author/publishers who are brazen enough to flag their book on the cover of their magazine, and even include in the magazine's pages a full page advertisement for their book...
...President Kennedy's memory and his nobler national vision compel us to recognize the courage and importance of his vigilant efforts to combat organized crime...
...NW, Washington, DC 20009 (202) 462-0128...
...Unfortunately, in Washington, most such conflicts remain unknown and undisclosed...
...In other words, where the conflict is exposed for the world to see—as when the author's byline clearly states that he is also the editor-in-chief of the magazine—readers can decide for themselves whether the book excerpt has enough merit to justify running...
...Whenever the pendulum swings to one extreme, it invariably swings to the other before it stops somewhere in the center...
...Second class postage paid at Mechan-icsburg, PA...
...Stories of Joseph Kennedy's solicitation of Mob help for his son's election and of JFK's own affair with Giancana mistress Judith Campbell leave the unfortunate impression of laxity by President Kennedy toward organized crime...
...I don't believe that national tolerance for this menace is unrelated to the proliferation of guns, drugs, and failed S&Ls that have plagued our society in the assassination's aftermath...
...Also worth noting is that Glamour won its first General Excellence award in 1981, a year in which Dick Stolley, then editor of People, was chairman...
...For several years, I have followed your publication's attacks on the cigarette industry, government waste, and inside-the-beltway gridlock with interest, and usually with approval...
...JOHN ROBERT GREENE Cazevonia, New York Mr...
...As Michael Kinsley once asked in these pages, "Is it a conflict of interest for a mother to have a second child...
...Reproduction by any method whatsoever without permission is prohibited...
...Venomous diatribes and assassination plots by underworld figures against them, monitored in 1962 and 1963, attest to the efficacy of this crusade...
...For Canadian and foreign subscriptions, add $7 for surface delivery...
...ANDREW P. STUART Madison, Wisconsin Topic sentence I fully agree that sentencing "Bob" to 20 or 30 years is a miscarriage of justice and a disgrace ["Lemon Laws," David Segal, January/February...
...1993 The Washington Monthly Co...
...for air mail delivery add $32...
...Reprints of articles are available to individuals or schools at $1.50 each (prepaid...
...It's outrageous that people don't seem to want to hear anything other than the usual cant...
...consoling friend, ardent defender...
...Mob cruel The most tragic misperception concerning Mafia efforts to help JFK in the 1960 election is not about the extent of their success, which Charles Peters questions in "Tilting at Windmills" [January/February], but about their implications concerning Kennedy's integrity...
...KEVIN SMITH Stamford, Connecticut The editors reply: We oppose—and we believe the Constitution opposes as well—singling out religion for help or harm...
...One can admire news magazines without feeling that there should be no other kind...
...Pennies from heaven I am appalled to see the Monthly continues to promote discrimination in the form of taxing religious organizations, while other nonprofits ranging from the ACLU to the Red Cross to the University of Southern California would remain tax-exempt...
...For reprint rights for all or part of an article call S. Tallapragada at (202) 462-0128...
...three years, $92...
...blame only themselves...
...Beg pardon...
...Those interested in the real Mencken can begin by reading his books on Nietzsche and democracy, and the pieces on him by Benjamin Demott in the May 1978 Atlantic, James Wolcott in the September 1980 Esquire, Garry Wills in the February 19, 1990 New Republic, and Nicholas Lemann in none other than the May 1990 Washington Monthly...
...and possessions: one year, $35...
...Postmaster: Send change of address to The Washington Monthly, Box 587, Mount Morris IL, 61054...
...Enough so that How Washington Really Works [Charles Peters, January/February] has become a required text in our political science courses...
...Recent winners include The New Republic and The New Yorker, the latter three times...
...Your writer suggests that, as chairman of the NMA committee in 1992, I "logrolled" Glamour into winning for General Excellence and Reporting...
...two years, $66...
...DAVID S. SCHEIM Silver Spring, Maryland Publish and perish While I was dismayed to read Michael Fumento's article in the December 1992 issue ["Technical Foul"], I'm appalled at the treatment he has received for his work ["Beat the Press," Leslie Kaufman, March...
...Send correspondence concerning subscriptions, undelivered copies, and changes of address to Box 587, Mount Morris IL, 61054...
...Nicholas Lemann recognized the negative in "Snob Rule" in our May 1990 issue...
...The editors reply: We believe in blatant conflicts of interest...
...The NMAs do have a Reporting category...
...Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope...
...There are other kinds, and some of them are better than others...
...The point is that they are aware of the conflict...
...Meanwhile, liberals and moderates will presumably continue heaping praise on a literally murderous, psychopathic snob simply because he was anti-religious and opposed sexual censorship...
Vol. 25 • April 1993 • No. 4
