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(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081019/NYSU004 )

"We're Heading Left Once Again" (p. 38). Senior Editor Jonathan Alterwrites a counterpoint to Jon Meacham's essay, saying that for all thestatistical permutations, analyzing the makeup of the American electorate forthe past half-century is fairly simple. "Since about 1980, we've been livingin a center-right America, but we're center-center now, and likely headedleft. Even if McCain pulls an upset, the Democratic Congress would nudge himleftward on issues like alternative energy and taxes (and his health care planwould be DOA). Should Obama win, he will press hard for his ambitious agenda,even, aides say, at the risk of being a one-term president. Then it would allbe about execution."

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TECHTONIC SHIFTS: DAN LYONS: "Why is Jerry Yang Still in Charge?" (p.24). Senior Editor Dan Lyons writes that eight months ago, Yahoo! CEO JerryYang had a chance to sell his company to Microsoft for $43 billion. Herefused. Now Yahoo's market value stands at $18 billion. A spokesman for Yahoonotes that Yahoo was willing to sell at a higher price, and that Microsoft,not Yahoo, walked away from the deal. No matter how it happened, Yahoo'sfailure to hook up with Microsoft may rank as one of the greatest boneheadedmoves in the history of tech." And Yang remains in charge, "furiouslyscrambling to come up with a Plan B for turning around his ailing Internetcompany."

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POLITICS: "Do the Wright Thing" (p. 44). White House Correspondent HollyBailey reports that top aides to John McCain share the dismay of his hard-coresupporters who would like to see him go after Barack Obama by bringing up theRev. Jeremiah Wright again. McCain won't. The main reason: any attack could beviewed as racially insensitive -- or stir up racist sentiments -- and thatgets personal for McCain. There was a racial smear directed at his familyduring the South Carolina primary in 2000, when he ran against George W. Bush.Plus, Bailey reports, there are probably other factors. Bringing up Wright atthis point would open his campaign to charges of hypocrisy and evendesperation.

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INTERNATIONAL: "In Iraq, the Doctors Are Out" (p. 46). Baghdad BureauChief Larry Kaplow reports that while Baghdad is not as violent as it was fouryears ago, bringing real stability to the city depends on thousands ofeducated professionals who fled the country during the war and its aftermath.The place can't be fixed without their help. But unlike most other refugees,Iraq's engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers and doctors had the skills to landresidence permits and good jobs elsewhere. Now they have less incentive thanmost to return to a land where they could again be subject to the brutaldictates of gun-wielding illiterates. The medical profession in particular hasbeen hollowed out.

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TERROR: "The Biscuit Breaker" (p. 48). Deputy Washington Bureau Chief DanEphron profiles psychologist Steven Reisner, who has made it his mission toget psychologists out of the business of helping the military as they breakdown prisoners. In 2004, he read about the secret program at Guantanamo Bayand other sites where military and civilian psychologists have often watchedthrough the glass when detainees have been interrogated. He is convinced thatsome of the techniques used in those interrogations amounted to torture.Reisner's crusade has been waged largely within the American PsychologicalAssociation -- in the minutiae of association bylaws and on the pages ofinternal listservs. Last week, balloting began for a new APA president inwhat for many is a referendum on the relationship between psychologists andthe military.

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BUSINESS: "The Money Man" (p. 52). Senior Editor Michael Hirsh profilesFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who, in recent weeks, has been trying,in effect, to save the world. He has super-empowered the Fed, expanding itslending authority in unprecedented ways, while fighting off a global financialpanic that feels to him alarmingly like the one that led to the GreatDepression, his life's focus as a scholar. In the past year, Bernanke has morethan doubled the Fed's balance sheet -- the amount it can spend -- to $1.77trillion, and flung open new lending windows to commercial businesses andgovernments across the world.

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CULTURE: "The Original Culture Warrior" (p. 62). Senior Writer JeremyMcCarter previews the Leonard Bernstein celebration in New York City. Led byCarnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic, "Bernstein: The Best of AllPossible Worlds" marks the 90th anniversary of his birth and the 50thanniversary of his appointment as music director of the Philharmonic. McCarterwrites that the Bernstein festival reminds us that one of our civilization'striumphs has been finding ways to reconcile "elite" and "popular," to stoptreating the words like opposing epithets. At a time when so many other echoesof Camelot are in the air, we may yet see the return of its cultural spirit,one that few Americans have embodied as fully as Lenny Bernstein.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/164499

TELEVISION: "Sarah Palin, Reality Star" (p. 67). Associate Editor JoshuaAlston reports that Sarah Palin missed an opportunity in her interview withKatie Couric to make the argument that hailing from Alaska is a qualificationfor the vice presidency. It's not because Alaska is close to Russia, butbecause Alaska is Alaska. Alaska is a big hit in American homes, as it's thesetting of so many "He-Man" television shows -- the nonfiction genre thatfocuses on unpleasant, difficult and dangerous work. Alaska, at least thereality television version, is an intimidating force. It's huge. It'sdesolate. It's freezing cold. Alaska does not forgive. Alaska is not yourfriend. And Palin is the embodiment of Alaskan grit.

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SOURCE Newsweek