The Premier Conservative Magazine.

National Review is the most thorough journal of modern day conservativism. William Buckley has moved into retirement but Rich Lowry does an admirable job of being Editor in Chief. Their columnists and reporters are outstanding. Their stories are well-documented and they take their burden of publishing only the truth quite seriously. NR has recently become better looking with the addition of color photography. The covers of the books they discuss are replicated in color and Mark Steyn's essay in the back is adorned with a picture as well. Their snippets of news in paragraph form, which appear at the front, make for fast, informational reading and they'll be treasured by one's short-attention span friends if you pass them on. Also of note, is the digital version of the magazine which can be obtained on the cheap and downloaded or read online. I've had it for 4 years time and found value in every issue.

Excellent, Well Documented Articles And Analysis

"National Review" is the premier conservative current events journal in the world today. The magazine is unapologetically conservative, yet has a frequent libertarian streak (note, for instance, the coverage of the marijuana legalization movement in the July 12, 2004 issue.) While I don't always agree with some of the positions taken, I always find the reasoning that the articles are based on interesting and worth reading. I appreciate that the magazine is up front about its conservatism, and does not go through the charade of pretending to be neutral on issues. If only "Time" and "Newsweek" on the left were as honest.

The best sections of the magazine, for a quick news briefing, are "For the Record" and "The Week", conveniently located in the front of the magazine. Although I like and respect William F. Buckley, I tire quickly of the grammarphilic column "Notes & Asides" which deals largely with pointless debates on the subject of arcane grammatical rules. (Who cares?) That is really the only section of the magazine I tend to gloss over on a regular basis. "National Review" is particularly good as spotting inconsistencies in positions and political flip-flops. It is exceptional about covering (with well documented sources) liberal mainstream media bias. In particular the July 26, 2004 issue is particularly enlightening on the issue, running several interrelated articles on the subject dealing with everything from Reuters, which refuses to use the word "terrorist" in its stories as it is too prejudicial against...well...terrorists, to an excellent piece by Rachel Friedman on Peter Jennings, in which more than ample evidence of his rampant bias is evidenced. (Quote from Jennings: "My mother...was pretty anti-American. And so was I in some respects, raised with anti-Americanism in my blood, or in my mother's milk at least.")

Some of the more negative reviews of the magazine note that some of the editors are Catholic. (For the record, I am not.) This seems to bother some reviewers inordinately, and I have to ask this: Why? Don't Catholics have as much right to express themselves as any other person of any other religion? Some of the editors are Jewish. So what? If they think and write well, and report accurately with documented sources, I could not care less, and don't see why anyone else should either. It has also been noted that John Kerry has been receiving a lot of attention recently in "National Review", which at least one reviewer thought made the magazine a mouthpiece for the Republican Party. I am a tad confused by that turn of logic, inasmuch as "National Review" is by definition a magazine that covers current political events, and right now, John Kerry is important news. Further along these lines, exposing flaws and inconsistencies in Kerry's statements does not make "National Review" a mouthpiece of the Republicans. It just seems that way because on all important issues and values the Republican Party and "National Review" agree. That is an important distinction.

"National Review" is not a slick, glossy magazine designed to sell as many copies as possible by exploiting misfortune (if you want that, I suggest "Time"). It actually is a collection of very bright people writing incisive, important articles and commentary vital to the future of our country. I highly recommend "National Review".

tried and true, tops!

National Review is legendary conservative opinion, now updated with progressive conservatives.