The New Republic, the first mass audience opinion magazine, blew itself up yesterday and it's hard to see how ownership and the editors are going to put the pieces back together. First published as a weekly back in 1914, there have been many iterations of the magazine as it has constantly reinvented itself over the years. But the one constant has been quality writing far superior to any other magazine of its type. The names on its masthead over the years reads like a who's who of the best writers of the 20th century. Even Buckley's National Review called TNR "one of the most interesting magazines in the United States." During the 1980's TNR was a must read for political junkies from across the spectrum. In addition to featuring writers like Jean Kirkpatrick and Charles Krauthammer, conservative intellectuals like Irving Kristol and Edward Luttwak were frequently featured. The point wasn't that TNR was a "conservative" publication. Far from...(Read Full Post)