At the close of a week surely inspired by Dante’s Inferno, here are our picks for the week’s coolest endings.
From “Head of State,” Susan Glasser’s profile of Hillary Clinton as chief diplomat:
So at the end of our conversation, I asked her the question: What would it take for her to run again for president in 2016? “Nothing,” she replied quickly. Then she laughed. Even the Chinese, she said, had asked her about it at Wednesday night’s dinner, suggesting she should run. They were “saying things like, ‘Well, you know, I mean 2016 is not so far away.… You may retire, but you’re very young,'” Clinton recalled.
Maybe, I ventured, that’s why they had in the end been willing to accommodate her on Chen; they were investing in a future with a possible President Clinton.
She wouldn’t answer. At least not for the record.
From “Sifting Through (Glenn Beck’s) Madness For The Word, The Line, The Way,” Marin Cogan bears witness to Glenn Beck’s keynote address/transfiguration at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual conference:
Beck is weeping. The audience stands and delivers rapturous applause. And I am like: O_o
From “Jersey Boys,” Jeffrey Goldberg’s firsthand account of Governor Chris Christie’s unrequited love for the Boss:
Springsteen reaches the crucial moment of the song: “The change was made uptown / And the Big Man joined the band” and suddenly everything stops. A video tribute appears on huge screens above the stage, and an immense, sustained roar fills the arena. Christie has seen this before, at the Garden. “It’s just … Bruce,” he says. “He’s a genius.” He looks out at Springsteen in wonder.
The show ends on this transcendent note. Christie says his goodbyes and makes his way out of the suite. He is mobbed. Everyone wants a handshake, a hug, or a picture. We make our way down to the loading dock. Springsteen is somewhere nearby. Christie looks in the direction of the stage, turns around, and makes his way out. State troopers have his motorcade ready. He gets into the car and drives away.
We welcome other nominees in the comments section.
The Editors are the staffers of the Columbia Journalism Review.