Have you ever been reading Slate
and found yourself thinking,
"This is great, but if only if were more conservative..."? Then
LibertyWire is for you! The new
online publication, being launched in mid-August, is billing itself as "a
conservative version of Slate."
David
Kuo (left), a former Special Assistant to President Bush and author of tell-all
Bush indictment Tempting
Faith, is going to be the CEO. Bill Bennett (right), former
Secretary of Education and Drug Czar under Bush 41 and host of Morning in America, will be the
editor chairman. I spoke with Kuo on the phone a few days ago, and though he would not
divulge much on-the-record, he confirmed his and Bennett's involvement. (Bennett has not returned my
request for an interview.) The
publication also claims to have snagged staffers from publications like National Review, The Atlantic, Roll Call, Human Events,
and Reason.
A job listing I found for the new endeavor claims it will be "general interest," along the lines of "Slate, Esquire, Good, City Journal, The Atlantic or The New Yorker" (seriously, City Journal!?) but with an "editorial slant [that] is big tent right-of-center -- as open-minded about what we publish as The New Republic, The New Yorker or The New York Times Magazine, but on the center-right rather than the center-left." They'll even take submissions from "an editor at The Nation" or "an Obama campaign volunteer."
We'll publish apolitical pieces, explicitly conservative and libertarian pieces and even an occasional left-of-center piece. We're committed to rendering the world as it is, engaging ideas rather than dismissing them, intellectual honesty and conciliation rather than polemic....Liberty Wire will work to restore both civility and intellectual honesty to online cultural and political discussions.
For those who cringe at the publication's name--LibertyWire does sound more like an e-mail newsletter from the Heritage Foundation--have no fear: A name change may be in the works. No word yet on if they'll have the conservative take on handheld fabric steamers or "2 Girls, 1 Cup" reaction videos.
--Zvika Krieger