Newsweek, according to Howard Kurtz and Jon Meacham, has carved out a path that is totally new and totally different, breaking away from its old objectivity as a news magazine for the multitudes that runs down the middle, and recasting itself as an elite publication for the elite (and the liberal) few. But for something new and different, it certainly seems to be old and familiar, in fact almost exactly what it’s been for at least the last year. There’s the big, dreamy photo of Barack Obama, (check); the view of the world, as seen by Obama (check); the series of stories (by liberal writers) about how dreamy Obama can be. There is nary a cross word (check) about His Sublimity. The big difference is that, on this cover, the name “Obama” is printed out twice.

Aside from this, the other big difference is that this Newsweek has many fewer readers than it had B.O. (Before Obama), or before he took over the whole magazine. This year, as the Big O was reaching his apogee, the magazine nose-dived, losing, Kurtz says, nearly $20 million, and leading to the sensible business decision to double down on the Obama-immersion, and raise the newsstand price to nearly six bucks.