"Only in spirit," says the entity. "But, actually, the story comes out against the abuses."
Pat mulls this for a moment. "Hmm. Well, what else is in the issue?"
The entity gets testy. "I didn't beam in to talk to you about your magazine," it says. "I have an important message about FBI associate direc--"
"Come on," says Pat. "What piece comes after the cover story?"
The entity looks uncomfortable. "It's a warm profile of-- um, of George McGovern."
"Come again?"
"McGovern. And the campaign he ran in 1972. It-- Where are you going?"
But Buchanan has walked directly through the sputtering spirit, laughing at the lies of the creature from the future. Within half an hour he is downing his third glass of whiskey and convincing himself the encounter never took place.
(The McGovern profile, written by the libertarian journalist Bill Kauffman, is well worth reading, though it might confuse any reader who believes the whole country can be reduced to the colors red and blue. The same goes for Scott McConnell's paleoconservative appreciation of Eugene McCarthy, published in the same issue.)