Okay, so I open one of the last remaining issues of my soon-to-lapse subscription to the New Republic (June 9) and what do I see on the page that should be numbered 11? A "house ad" headlined, "THE TNR PRIMARY." (For those of you not familiar with the ins-and-outs of the magazine business, a "house ad" is an advertisement promoting the magazine itself or an affiliate thereof.)

It’s a teaser ad, to boot, alerting readers to an upcoming regular feature, described as "Eight Months, Six Candidates, One Winner," that directs readers to a page on TNR's web site for timely updates as the primary campaign progresses.

Six Democratic candidates? Just six?

Hmm…that's curious. So who are TNR's six candidates?

Well, let's see, in strict alphabetical order, the mode chosen by TNR, there's Howard Dean, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Bob Graham, John Kerry, and Joe Lieberman.

Just those six, huh?

No surprise, given the magazine's history and the current editor's parochial proclivities that there is no mention of any of the, uh, "colored" candidates, namely Carol Moseley-Braun and Al Sharpton. Even more surprising, I think, is the absence of Dennis Kucinich. I mean, I realize he's not Jewish, but he's a white guy, right?

You know, for a magazine that repeatedly has pissed and moaned in the past about how the media and the early caucuses and primaries have too much influence over the Democratic Party's nominating process, this is not only startling, it's disgraceful.

I guess it's just one more reason for me to let my subscription lapse. (As if Editor-in-Chief Martin Peretz's pathetic essay, "Honors," in the same issue weren't enough.)