40 years
| Courtesy photo |
Among its conservative brethren, the American Spectator magazine has a history of throwing riotous parties that last well into the night.
Recommended Stories
Its 40th anniversary dinner at the Mandarin Oriental on Tuesday night did not disappoint. Bill Gunn, the president’s chief speechwriter, chose to party with the likes of Paul Wolfowitz, Grover Norquist, Kate O’Beirne, Robert Novak, and ex-Sen. George Allen rather than stay at the White House and talk French with the visiting French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Novelist Tom Wolfe (pictured) had high praise for the conservative monthly, arguing that the Spectator “did a more thorough job with Bill Clinton than Woodward and Bernstein did with Nixon.”
But he soon hushed the crowd by commending former Spectator scribe David Brock, who has left the conservative movement, repudiated much of his earlier work and now heads left-wing media watchdog Media Matters.
Wolfe recalled when journalists told Spectator Editor in Chief Bob Tyrell that Brock was gay. “We’re all gay here,” joked Tyrell.
Wolfe confessed that he’s unimpressed by the present field of Republican presidential candidates, but, when pressed, said he’d probably support Rudy Giuliani.
The evening was capped by Charles Krauthammer, who declined to give a speech, noting, “It’s 9:50. Only an idiot would give a speech at 9:50.”
