classified jobholder, planner, and coordinatorrnin various corners of the federalrngovernment—including the WhiternHouse, where she worked in the WestrnWing’s counsel office, the so-calledrnScandal Room. Evidence of conspiracvrnis more plausibly sought in Mrs. Clinton’srnrole, and that of her legal team, inrnbuying Webster Hubbell’s silence, hidingrnhis Rose Law Firm papers, persuadingrnIra Magaziner to misrepresent therncomposition of the health care task force,rnand sending former Senator David Pr’orrn(D-AR) to ask Judge Susan WebberrnWright to release Susan McDougal fromrnprison.rnThe First Lady knows who her realrnenemy is, having to look no furtherasrnSenator Lauch Faircloth suggested —rnthan her own bedroom. Since thatrnfateful January morning, hundreds ofrnthousands of dollars worth of Americanrnanhques have likely been destroyed, andrnthe Lincoln Bed is probably reduced tornkindling as Hillarv continues in battlernmode. The President, she assures us, hasrngone back to work for the Americanrnpeople, from which we may infer that hernis being serviced by two or three extrarnhuman vacuum cleaners, in additionrnto those who attended him before thernscandal.rnHillary Clinton is Lady Macbeth withoutrna conscience. The truly amazingrnthing about her and her bestial husband,rnhowever, is even less their lack of consciencernthan their lack of shame. To riserneach morning and go about their dailyrnduties, meeting with their staffs, with thernCabinet, and with the press (let alonernspeaking with their daughter on the telephone);rngoing on television before an audiencernof 60 or 100 million people:rnmaintaining, that is, the pretense of truthrnand human decency in the knowledgernthat everyone with whom they have contactrnor communication ^nows —this isrnnot, as Hillary’s allies and admirersrnclaim, superhuman behavior. Rather itrnis subhuman. If the Clintons were actualrnhuman beings instead of, as it now appears,rnmembers of some separate species,rnthey would have resigned their co-presidencyrnin the first days of the Lewinskyrnscandal, fled Washington, and hid themselvesrnin the depths of the Mojave Desertrnor the loneliest parts of the ColoradornPlateau. And they would not have takenrnso much as Hillary’s compact mirrorrnwith them.rn— Chilton Williainson, Jr.rnT H E FRENCH are among the leastrnnoticed and celebrated of the contributorsrnto what has become the UnitedrnStates. But at one time New France coveredrna good part of North America. Therntwo most interesting provinces on therncontinent, Quebec and Louisiana,rnare remnants of that empire. Huguenotrnrefugees contributed talents to thernBritish colonies far out of proportion torntheir numbers.rnWhen the 13 colonies confirmed theirrnindependence at Yorktown, there werernmore French than American soldiersrnpresent and a French fleet on the coast.rnBut soon a promising alliance endedrnwhen the French got up to mischief withrnguillotines and military emperors, givingrnour Northeastern elite the excuse to returnrnto their natural Anglophilia. When,rnmore than a century later. General Pershingrnlanded in Europe and declaredrn”Lafayette, we are here,” it was a nicerntouch. But everybody knew we hadrncome to save the Brits and not the Frogs.rnThose of us, that is Chronicles readers,rnwho are interested in tradition, regionalism,rnpreserving authentic rooted culturesrnand know that “small is beautiful,” canrnlearn something from the French. Despiterntheir highly centralized governmentrnand a streak of avant-gardism, thernFrench remain the most tenaciously regionalist,rntraditionalist, and culturallyrnconservative of Europeans, and many retainrna strongly rooted Catholic faith.rnThe best way to learn this, other than arnlong sojourn, is from their film. ThernFrench are the best filmmakers in thernworld. (The Germans are the worst,rntheir film reflecdng the brutish nihilismrnof their language, philosophers, and history.)rnAnd for French film the best placernto start is with the rich heritage ofrnProvence. The popular book and televisionrnseries “A Year in Provence” was fullrnof insider references to previous triumphsrnof Provencal filmmaking datingrnback to the I930’s. The episode aboutrnthe runaway baker’s wife harked back tornMarcel Pagnol’s wonderful 1938 movie.rnThe Bakers Wife.rnPagnol, a novelist as well as a screenwriterrnand director, created a Provencalrnworld that raises the movies to the levelrnof literature. Though he died in 1974,rnhis legacy is still working. Pagnol’s storiesrnwere the basis for two marvelousrnpairs of recent films: ]ean de Florette andrnManon of the Spring (1987); and My Father’srnGlory and Mv Mother’s Castlern(1991).rnProvence and neighboring Languedocrnwere the original home of the medievalrntroubadour and thus the source ofrnthe great Western invendon—romanticrnlove. Despite the mild Mediterraneanrnclimate, which is responsible for suchrnfleshpots as Cannes, Nice, and Monaco,rnmost of Provence is rugged and not wellrnwatered. In pastoral and agriculturalrntimes it provided what Arnold Toynbeernwould call an optimum challenge forrnthose who had to live off the land. Thernneed for human ingenuity and endurancernand the moral conflicts thatrncome with the struggle for survival madernfor prime literary territory, like Ireland orrnMississippi. (This also has something torndo with why Aries, in Provence, has attractedrnmore great painters than any otherrnspot on earth.)rnAmong the strengths of Pagnol’s storiesrnare a long time perspective—generationsrnrather than a weekend; a sense ofrnreal people in real places. There is tragedyrnand evil but in a context that affirmsrnfamily, community, decency, and arnChristian civilization. Not much morerncan be asked of film.rnInterestingly, Pagnol’s first work wasrnurban. The trilogy Marius, Fanny, andrnCesar (1929-36), although based onrnMarseilles, has all the Christian virtuesrnof his moral stories. The trilog)’ formedrnthe basis for the American musical Fanny,rnan adaptation that had little to recommendrnit other than Leslie Caron’srnlegs. Among other titles either written orrndirected by Pagnol are Harvest (1937),rnThe Well-Diner’s Daughter (1941), andrnLetters from My Windmill (19 54). At thisrnlate stage of the millennium and Westernrnculture, this body of art remains a solidrnconsolation to those who care to see.rn— Clyde WilsonrnCARIBBEAN IMMIGRANTS inrnNew York City are feeling the effects ofrnseveral new immigration reform laws.rnAlthough New York’s immigration problemsrnare acute — as the rage seen in thernAbner Louima torture scandal attests —rnreform had to come from the federal level,rnsince Mayor Giuliani continues torn6/CHRONICLESrnrnrn