Looking for Liberty

One of the perks of my job in Washington, D.C., is working across the street from a B. Dalton's bookstore, which is a frequent lunchtime pit stop. Even though it's not very big, it carries Liberty in the magazine rack. Bookstores like this ordinarily save their upper displays and front rows for mainstream magazines, so it's not too surprising to find that magazines like Liberty and Z usually sit on the back tier of the bottom shelf, virtually out of sight.

That changed when the April 2001 issue hit the stands. One day I walked into the store, and Liberty had been place out front on the middle shelf, within comfortable reach. Everyone walking by the racks could easily see the magazine and make out the cover titles. Why the sudden change, I wondered? Then I noticed — "Bill Clinton: A Celebration" had top billing on the cover of this issue.

I almost immediately chided myself for thinking that a Clinton-friendly headline would be enough to warrant choice placement on hte magazine racks. After all, the subtitle called him "a liar, a thief, and a sociopath" — qualities that were evidently not barriers enough to keep Bill from being "a wonderful president." I decided the bookstore had probably just rearranged the placement of some magazines, and that this was Liberty's new spot.

I kept an eye out anyway, and sure enough, as soon as the May issue arrived, Liberty had returned to crouching-customer status.

One month in one bookstore doesn't signal a trend by any means, but it may warrant some experimentation. Paying apparent lip service to big-government partisans on the cover may lead to more curious readers, and more opportunities to trounce them with the full-fledged arguments within. —Eric D. Dixon

(Printed in Liberty, July 2001 issue.)