Go ahead, read it online. If you pick up a copy, you’ll also be treated to an Edward Sorel illustration of an idea many have constructed but perhaps no one has artfully depicted. Here’s Colin Powell, as the Cowardly Lion (no guts); Condoleezaa Rice as Dorothy (no home) and with Donald Rumsfeld as Toto; Dick Cheney as the Tin Man (no heart), and George Bush as the scarecrow (this one’s pretty much a no-brainer). Sorel’s caption: “In the spirit of the Powell doctrine, the Secretary of State is reported to be devising a clear-cut exit strategy.” The lion is retreating back down the Yellow-Brick Road, away from the oil fires in the distance. I’d love this on a T-shirt. Sorel may not be the first to think of it (here’s a 2001 essay by Patrick O’Grady in 2001, who figured the “Statue of Liberty” as Dorothy, and Karl Rove as the man behind the curtain), but he captures the wayward gang of four (five) leading this country into some unknown Oz.
Plus a new short story by Jhumpa Lahiri. And the cartoons are funny, too.