Ugly Stuff at the Nation

This past March the Nation marked its 120th anniversary with a special issue containing articles of varying interest. One of them, alas, stood out—a racist diatribe by Gore Vidal concerning Israel, American Jews, and “fifth columnists.” It is many years since I have read anything quite like this in a serious magazine.

As if to make clear that his racist venom is not confined to Jews, Vidal starts out with a bit of “yellow peril” nativism that has a long...