Substandard: The End of an Illusion
The sale of The Weekly Standard should put paid to any lingering illusion that the neoconservative empire was anything but a Potemkin Village. Whatever happens from this point on, the news of Rupert Murdoch’s repudiation of his ugliest stepchild is as refreshing a pick-me-up as the morning’s second Bloody Mary I am enjoying, anchored off Spetzai on the Bushido with Chronicles’ incomparably hospitable columnist, Taki. The only thing needed to make my happiness complete would be for the boys of National Review to take the hint and sell out for oh, maybe $2 million.
Allegedly, Murdoch sold the magazine for $1 million to Phillip Anschutz, the billionaire owner of The Clarity Media Group. I say allegedly because the price is either much too high or much too low. Too high, because only a fool would pay so much money for a property that does nothing but lose money without adding a glimmer of insight to political discussion in America. Too low, because if The Weekly Standard actually did enjoy the influence that its editors have been so loudly and insistently claiming, $50 million would not be nearly enough.
Murdoch sunk untold millions of his ill-gotten gains into TWS. I suppose that is the proper shorthand, since the “The Standard” properly means the Evening Standard–it’s funny that for all its supposed influence, the magazine does not have a well-known acronym or nickname. Not long ago they were claiming a “growing circulation” of 60,000, and that may well be the case—though no one should ever accept anything an editor says about circulation. I won’t embarrass the editors of certain of our competitors who have made wildly inflated claims that were punctured as soon as we began negotiating for their mailing lists. In typical editorial bull-speak, the Standard misleads would-be advertisers with this classic canard: “More than 65,000 politically active Americans nationwide receive the magazine each week.” Receive. That is like the Hillsdale newsletter Imprimis which claims I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands of “readers.” I don’t think I have ever met anyone who actually read Imprimis. The hard part actually, if you have ever been anyone in the conservative “movement,” is not receiving it. I’d ask them to take my name out of their computer, but that would be like unsubscribing to spam: It only makes your name a more valuable commodity to be included on the list of refuseniks who don’t want this propaganda defiling their mailbox.
When TWS was around 40,000, I heard from a well-placed and reliable source that Murdoch told them he would pull the plug, if they failed to reach 100,000. If the editors had sacrificed some small part of their salary and benefits, they might have had enough money to build up the circulation to a level acceptable to their master. If they had just cut down on some of the face paint they slathered on for their Fox News appearances, they could have paid for an additional 5000 subscribers at least. (Joke supplied by Taki—don’t blame me.) But The Weekly Standard was never about anything else but the income and ego-gratification of its editors, and this is the result. That slow sucking sound you hear all the way from New York is the credibility of Kristol and co. going down the drain.
Chronicles has never enjoyed the support of a billionaire publisher, and our annual losses must be miniscule in comparison with the Murdoch money Kristol has wasted, but even our piddling operation loses about $600,000 every year, and that money has to be made up with our semi-annual begging appeals. Nobody would offer us more than the token single dollar for Chronicles, but, if we had to sell, a fair price for our assets would be about $7 million. (Any wealthy donor or potential donor who wants to dispute the price is free to call me and discuss the fat pledge he is about to make. As they say in poker, you have to pay to see.) For Anschutz, a million is the equivalent of the buck it takes to seal a contract. It’s a rich man’s walking around money, in other words chump change. If you listen to Frum, Kristol, and Barnes, though, TWS has been the brains of the American Empire, but it went on the block for a lousy million. Some brains! Some empire!
I once told Pat Buchanan that Bill Kristol had declared him politically dead in the pages of TWS. “That guy,” Pat snorted, “he never gets anything right.” Unlike the stopped clock that is correct twice a day, the Standard’s editors have never got anything right, from weapons of mass destruction to the presidential aspirations of Steve Forbes to “John McCain’s Moment” that Bill Kristol was proclaiming last September. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that the few times I met Bill, I found him polite and friendly, and he is reported to have saved me from a dressing down in Congress. As Tessio tells Tom Hagen in The Godfather, this is nothing personal, just business. And in this business we have chosen, TWS has never contributed anything to American political commentary. When they are right, it is because they are saying what everyone else has been saying, and, when they are original or distinctive, they are wrong.
But, as the Frum declared in an interview, The Standard has influence. Do they really? Is it influence to run after a parade, shouting, “Me too, me too” and then claim not only to lead the parade but to have started it? It would not be so bad if their platitudinous conventional wisdom were at least some form of knee-jerk conservatism or capitalist greed, but it is neither. Bill’s father Irving (popularly known as “the godfather”), was famous for giving “two cheers for capitalism.” (They can’t even be clever without imitating someone, in this case E.M. Forster). But Irving’s politics have only evolved from his original Trotskyism to a cross between Swedish socialism and Taiwan’s state capitalism. The amiable dimwit Fred Barnes spilled the beans, as he so often does, when he called for big government conservatism. Fred was not quite bright enough to realize that he was uttering a contradiction in terms, and The Weekly Standard’s ideology is, at best, New Republic lite—an insipid brew that neither cheers nor inebriates.
TWS’s not-so-secret weapon was neither its ideology nor its “writers,” but Murdoch himself. It’s like the old Henny Youngman joke about the man who crossed a lion with a parrot.
“What does he say?”
“I don’t know, but when he talks I listen.”
Murdoch is not only a very powerful man, whose whims have to be catered to, but he also owns major newspapers and two television networks. Who would listen to Kristol’s platitudes—as poorly expressed as they are predictable—if he and his editors were not trotted out to tell their lies on Fox News?
The Weekly Standard did only two things. On the positive side, it provided a living for writers who cannot write and political intellectuals without intellect, but it also contributed to the senile dementia that has afflicted the conservative mind since the election of Ronald Reagan. Bill Kristol did not destroy conservatism all by himself. His father was a much more destructive force, but it would be a grave mistake to attribute too much blame to the Kristols and Podhoretzes. They were welcomed with open arms by the unprincipled leadership of the conservative movement. Parasites do not generally destroy a healthy organism. Of course, there were still good people working for Heritage, in the 1980’s, and writing for National Review, but the lightning success of the neoconservative Putsch was as revealing as Hitler’s Anschluss (the annexation of Austria that met with so little resistance.)
No one knows, exactly, what Philip Anschutz (#89 on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the universe) will decide to do with The Weekly Standard. His Examiner newspapers are roughly neocon, though somewhat to the left of TWS. Despite the denatured versions of the Narnia books he produced, Anschutz is said to be some kind of Christian conservative. If that were true, it ought to be bad news for the anti-Christian Israel-firsters at TWS. Unfortunately, conservative Evangelicals are the most loyal Likudniks who have ever goose-stepped behind Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu. Kill off all the Middle Eastern Christians, who have survived Arabi and Israeli terrorism, and they would not utter a peep, but just hint at something less than 110% support for Israel, and they’ll call you an anti-Semite. It was shortly after Anschutz started the Washington Examiner that someone called Dave Mastio slurred Sam Francis in its pages. For the time being, he may be perfectly comfortable with Kristol—until he notices how much money he is losing and gives TWS the same treatment he gave the Baltimore Examiner, which he shut down.
Whatever happens, Anschutz has already done us a big favor in revealing the low low price of the emperor’s new clothes. Ever since Obama’s election, the conservative chatter has been all about new ideas and new strategies, but the very fact that they are saying this shows how bankrupt the conservatives really are. With this set of rookies heading for the showers, perhaps a few remaining veterans might come out of hiding and show us some of the stuff they had when they won the pennant in 1980. Perhaps, but probably not. Still, this is no time to stifle our joy. As Horace wrote after Octavian’s victory at Actium, where he defeated those paragons of greed and ambition, Antony and Cleopatra, “Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus,” lines which an American poet of my generation translated as “I’ll just stay here and drink.”
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Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes kicked to the curb on 17th Street. To steal a phrase from Jake Barnes, "wouldn't it be pretty to think so."
A delightful piece.
This is another great benefit of the Bush Depression and the demise of newspapers. Murdoch's News Corp.'s price has dropped by more than half the past two years, leading him to cut the losers.
The Bush inflationary boom financed the Neocon wars and the Neocon propaganda. Now the boom has gone bust/
It's also worth remembering that Murdoch is the world's largest pornographer, both through his XXX TV channels and the naked girls he puts in his newspapers. So the Neocons are a porn-funded movement.
Google "Rupert Murdoch's Growing Porn Empire," by William Norman Grigg.
I was going to say a million bucks is chump change to wealthy men like Murdoch and Anschutz. The Progressive in nearby Madison may very well be worth more if it ever went on the open market. Whatever influence Kristol and company may think they have just flew the coop with that sale price.
Rich men do not willingly and continuously lose money on something unless they belive it profits them in the long run or in some other fashion beyond the balance sheet. That's how they stay rich. Murdoch started and funded the Weekly Standard for lo these past 15 years as a way of showing HIS influence when it came to public policy and opinion (I would not dare presume to call TWS intellectual) while TWS staff were more than happy to have Murdoch's money as a way of showing THEIR influence. Both sides were using each other. As of right now Murdoch no longer believes TWS is very useful in this regard because the people he employs are no longer very influential nor very correct when it comes to public policy and politics and may actually be a liability when it comes to dealing with the new administration. This is is what a disasterous war will do to you, it lays your assumption bare and finds them wanting. What all this proves is that Murdoch is a businessman first and foremost, not an ideologuge. He cuts his losses when its advantageous for him to do so.
No doubt Anschutz feels he made a steal by buying TWS dirt cheap and no doubt he bought it to try and muscle his way into the same world of public policy and opinion now that he has money to burn. Now TWS becomes his fireplace.
I agree with a comment above, this is a "delightful piece." However, what will this do to the mentoring of Sarah Palin by her political creator, Bill Kristol? While being in full agreement with Pat Buchanan's snort, i.e., “That guy,” Pat snorted, “he never gets anything right,” what would PJB's favorite Republican be without Kristol? And what does the enthusiasm that some "conservatives" have for Dr. Kristol's creation say for the intellectual vitality of 21st Century "conservatism?"
It's good news that the Weekly Standard has so little value, but Frum, Barnes, Kristol, and their equivalents are still all over the place. How do you get away from them? As the poet says, "Down every road there's always one more city."
During the Russian Civil War, Trotsky deployed "blocking units" to shoot Russians retreating from the front line.
In a sense, The Weekly Standard has served as a "blocking unit" for the conservative movement - always ready to snipe anyone moving too far to the Right.
The Washington Examiner's Dave Mastio trashed Sam Francis in his obituary of Sam. Mastio was inundated with critical mail, made a half-hearted apology when he admitted he didn't know much about Sam or even his writings, and was gone from the paper very shortly thereafter.
That finger in the wind belongs to Senator Joe Lieberman.
It's hard work, but somebody has to do it.
Wonderful news and as always, a very insightful post from Dr. Fleming. Sailing with Taki and getting this news must make him feel as though he's glimpsed into heaven!
However, it was Michael Corleone that uttered those memorable words, not Tessio. Tessio, however, did speak some words to Tom Hagen just as he was being led away late in the movie that Mr. Kristol might also now employ, "can you get me off the hook, for old times' sake?"
Internet is slow this minute on the boat, but here from a competent summary: "Tom Hagen surrounds Tessio with his men, and Tessio says " tell Michael it was only business, nothing personal."
I misspoke; I meant to say it was Michael who FIRST uttered those words -upon return from the hospital after McCluskey broke his jaw. Apologies to Dr. Fleming! He is correct that Tessio also spoke those words.
Reading about Mr. Anschutz, I am not sure that Mr. Kristol and Mr. Barnes have much to sweat over. In fact, Phillip Anschutz may be an improvement over Rupert Murdoch in the point-of-view of the current Weekly Standard line-up. Anschutz started in corporate agriculture, added oil and rail, then jumped into communications and gambling. His hyper-capitalist ways are a good fit with the Weekly Standard's views on global capitalism. As for Murdoch, he is most likely closer to his grand finale on this globe than Anschutz is and Murdoch has the liability of a wife and children with leftist political views. One could only surmise that the plug would be pulled on the Weekly Standard once Murdoch died. Now the younger Murdochs won't have that chance.
Who needs the Weekly Substandard anymore? In the last 30 years, a plethora of neocon think-tanks, radio programs, television networks, and magazines have emerged from Gehenna to infect our minds with their miasma. One magazine may perish, but two new propaganda mouthpieces rise in its place.
#11. Great article Mr. Fleming. I would be curious to learn more about the downfall of Heritage story. As far as Hillsdale, Imprimis notwithstanding, it's still considered pretty good considering what is out there, or isn't it?
I don't know enough about Hillsdale these days to form a judgment. I used to know a number of good people there and wish the college well. Every organization has to put out PR in order to attract and hold a base of donor support. In comparing The Standard with Hillsdale's PR sheet, any insult intended was against TWS.
Fair enough. I assume that the Neocons were on board within the Bush administration way before the election. It probably rarely happens that the President picks his advisors after the fact. While the Neocon foreign adventures are legend, their domestic policy views are just as odious. A case can be made that they are for big government and some form of socialism as well. With their blunders and inaction, instead of holding the leftist hordes back during their tenure, they have in fact enabled them for their current onslaught.
I just looked up Philip Anschutz. He is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, therefore he is probably not a dispensational pre-millennialist for whatever that's worth. Although, in my experience, excessive support for Israel among conservative Christians is not limited to dispy pre-mils. It has become a part of the culture of "mainstream" Christian conservatism regardless of denomination.
For some bizarre reason a few years ago I was invited to a Federalist Society luncheon speech at a restaurant in DC's Chinatown. I happened to be across the street on other business and went to hear their guest speaker -- an editor from the Weekly Standard -- some non-entity whose name is not worth remembering.
I asked him, "when will your magazine run a story about sample selection methods used by pollsters?" He waffled around the subject, probably because he was not familiar with any question that began neither with a sermon nor a how-do-you-feel-about. Dissatisfied with his pathetic excuse of an answer I got nasty and said "would you like me to repeat the question because I don't think you understood me?"
The moderator cut off all further discussion after that, but it told me all I needed to know about the quality of TWS's investigative reporters. I'm glad their gone! Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Dr Fleming, we have met at JRC functions and I have read Imprimis, but not so much recently since they have taken to pandering to neocon giants like William Bennett. When it arrives at my home each month, I place it in the downstairs bathroom for some light reading should the need arise. I have also visited the campus of Hillsdale and find it a very pleasant learning environment. My children were not interested in attending college anywhere and my interest in the college has waned.
Tom, I accept fully what you say in #15 above, and I doubt that anybody really familiar with Hillsdale would have taken offense in the first place. Imprimis has at times in its past been a rather serious publication, reflecting what at times have been serious on-campus seminars. But it was intended from the beginning to be a vehicle to advertise Hillsdale College's position in the academic universe, and to help round up donors and students in such a way as to help the college realize some very serious academic goals. It is distributed, free, and the mailing list is guarded carefully; and it has done its job. But this isn't about Hillsdale, it's about TWS, and you have sunk the nail into that one with a mighty blow.
Thanks, John, for your understanding. We used to do something called Main Street Memorandum, which was designed to advertise and promote TRI activities. We did not print things we disagreed with, but it did not reflect our ordinary standards of thought and discourse. And yes, friend Steve (from the Antipodes, as I recall), we have met more than once and I have always known who you really are. We have ways, as the Nazis always say in the movies.
Back in the office from Greece and none too happy about it. Athens was blazing hot, but I think I'd rather perish from the heat in Athens than enjoy the cool wave that hit the Midwest but, for my benefit, is now ending. How damp it is here.
By the way, Victor Davis Hanson was in Greece at the same time as Dr. Fleming. Any chance you crossed paths? Maybe engage in "a war like no other."