Because it’s going to be for sale:
A year ago, Chris Hughes, owner of the New Republic, vowed to continue his fight to transform the century-old magazine into a more digitally-focused media operation, despite a mass walkout by staffers who bristled at his efforts. On Monday, he said he was done.
What would I do with it? Well, there are two options. The first is to turn it back into a successful magazine that redefines the mainstream Left into something I’d consider respectable: which is to say, a movement with a rekindled belief in American exceptionalism, and that has reaffirmed its commitment to the notion that government shouldn’t spend money that it doesn’t actually have (John Maynard Keynes, what sins are committed in thy name!). Seriously: the Left is so incredibly bad at hashing out a workable liberalism these days that we pretty much have to do it for them. Obviously they can’t keep doing it on their own. A party defined by Alan Grayson and Elizabeth Warren isn’t a party at all; it’s a perpetual sneer.
But there’s the other option:
.@fardmuhammad preview of my plan for The New Republic pic.twitter.com/D087bFgnbM
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) January 11, 2016
I gotta say. The other option kind of sings to me.
Moe Lane
Or, you could go with Option C: Invent a new RPG named “The New Republic,” possibly set in a medieval fantasy world*, and make the magazine your official monthly game/campaign guide.
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Note that in the unlikely event your Powerball winnings and purchase of TNR for this purpose comes to pass, my “fee” for use of this idea is a five-years’ contract at a minimum of $100k a year with a generous benefits package, to be a contributing editor for the magazine — part of my duties to include being your personal bard, tasked with writing one epic poem per week praising the glory of Moe.
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* I only suggest medieval fantasy to avoid legal conflict with Disney over that “Space Battles” franchise, or whatever it’s called. My proposed broad concept for the game would include a lot of political intrigue between multiple royal and noble houses to control a bizarre little proto-democratic community that has sprung up in their midst. And of course, there would be lots of bizarre monsters, and swords/wands-for-hire, and plenty of questing possibilities. Because medieval fantasy, that’s why, and I don’t need a better reason.
I like the way you roll, Dem.
It’s not a bad proposal, but hot rods and pin-ups has a certain oomph to it.
Why do we need to buy The New Republic to do Option B or C?
Pain.
They don’t like cars or “objectified” women.
Occupying their abandoned territory is more insulting.
If you do, make sure that the staff who decides to stay on understand that they will be fact checked when they decide to make up stories. And by “fact checked” I mean “beaten into bloody rags.”
Option B has a certain panache about it.
You could dedicate it to the Star Wars post-Endor universe…
Or just turn it into a conservative magazine, just out of spite. Thats my plan.
You know, I would back a liberal – truly liberal – publication like what Moe describes. Not only does the American Left as a movement need an injection of adulthood; conservatives, libertarians, and other ‘right wing’ thinkers need an intelligent and coherent opposition. The combination of screeching and sneering that constitutes the Democrat Party these days is utterly ineffective as an intellectual foil for small government philosophies. Without that, our thinking is too likely to become stagnant, reactive, and cynical. I want liberals who can intelligently dispute my positions so that I can develop better positions and better arguments. I know they exist – I’ve encountered them online over the years – but they have no platform, no figurehead, no backing. We all need them to have that, for the good of the Republic.
You know who I’d get to run it, in that case? Ben Dreyfuss. Richard Dreyfuss’s kid. He’s a total liberal, but I think that you could get good pay copy out of him.
Sadly, it wouldn’t work.
I had a similar discussion back in 2007 with some lefties I thought to be sane about why Richardson wasn’t getting any traction. (This was before his corruption became known.)
He was everything they said they wanted in a candidate, and was easily the candidate most in line with the principles they espoused. But they had no interest whatsoever in voting for him. In fact, they were utterly flabbergasted that I would think that they’d have any interest in voting for him at all. (So much so, that they immediately started concocting conspiracy theories about why I would be “pushing” a democratic candidate. They felt quite vindicated when the accusations of corruption came out. Haven’t really talked to them since, come to think of it.)