paper had fired me and stopped publishingrnmy column. The clerk replied thatrnquite a lot of readers had been cancelingrnfor that reason.rnAs editor-in-chief, Pruden had the legalrnright to fire me and the editorial authorityrnnot to publish material he didn’trnwant to publish. His rights in these respectsrnare not at issue; what is at issue isrnwhether he had good reason to exercisernthose rights in this case. However controversialrnmy column was or is, it neverrnharmed the paper, and the supportrnexpressed by readers testified that it remainedrna popular feature. As for Pruden’srnclaim that what I had writtenrnabout race might somehow damage thernpaper’s credibility, it’s a red herring.rnNo one other than Wes ever suggestedrnthat.rnBut the story isn’t over. This January,rnthe City Paper, a weekly Washingtonarearnadvertising vehicle, carried an articlernabout my recent misadventures. ThernCity Paper is a fashionably left-liberalrnpublication, sporting commercial ads forrnsuch Beltway emporia as “The PleasurernPlace,” which styles itself “Washington’srnPremier Erotic Boutique” where onernmay purchase essentials of Potomac livingrnlike “Quality Leather and LatexrnClothes and Toys,” as well as only slightlyrnless commercial personal ads forrn”Women Seeking Women” and “MenrnSeeking Men.” The paper’s article aboutrnme turned out to be a predictably leftistrnimitation of Jeffrey Dahmer preparingrnhis dinner, complimenting my writing asrn”nutty and despicable” and “reactionaryrnbilge.” After that it got nasty, but onernuseful feature of the article was what itrntells us about the other members of therncabal determined to bring me down.rnThe soi-disant leader of the cabalrnturned out to be someone named GregoryrnForster, a “policy analyst” for thernCenter for Equal Opportunity, which isrnan obscure neoconservative Beltwayrnfoundation headed by pro-immigrationrnactivist Linda Chavez. He and his superiorsrnseemed to take an unusual interestrnin my journalistic reflections. Forsterrntold the City Paper that “Lm essentiallyrnrunning a one-man crusade to get thisrnman [i.e., me] kicked out of the conservativernmovement.” But he’s only partlyrnright; it’s not exactly a “one-man” crusade,rnand Forster, age 22, definitely isn’trnrunning it.rnThe vice-president of Chavez’s center,rnone John Miller, a former writer for ThernNew Republic, told the City Paper that hernhad been keeping tabs on me for a longrntime. “I’ve wanted to run Sam Francisrnout of polite society for months, if notrnfor years,” Miller told the paper’s reporter,rnwho wrote that “neo-conservativesrnfind Francis and his ideas monstrous.”rnThe paper reported that Chavezrnherself was in on the plot (Chavez, in arnletter to the editor of the City Paper, laterrndenied that she had authorized anyrnsuch thing) and that Miller and Forsterrnproceeded “with her approval.” “Forsterrnbegan shopping a hit piece on Francis atrnconservative magazines in town (hernwon’t say which ones),” the City Paper reported.rn”He says he hoped to discreditrnFrancis among conservatives the samernway [William F.] Buckley had discreditedrnanti-Semitism half-a-century earlier.rn’I was putting out feelers to say, “HeyrnWashington Times, wake up, kick thisrnguy out.”. . . Before that happened.rnIS THE ROCKFORD INSTITUTE IN YOUR WILL?rnLrnPerhaps a better question is:rnDo YOU HAVK A CURRENT WILL?rnIf not, the laws of your particular state will determine what is to berndone with your estate upon your death. In addition, unless there isrnproper planning, federal estate taxes can claim up to 55% of yourrnproperty. If you would like to discuss elements of your estate planning,rnplease write or call:rn(815) 964-5811rnLEGACY PROGRAMrnTHE ROCKFORD INSTITUTErn934 NORTH MAIN STREETrnROCKFORD, IL 61103rnthey did.'”rnYet another member of the crusadernwas Morton Kaplan, publisher of ThernWorld & J, the 700-page monthly magazinernthe Washington Times Corporationrnpublishes. To this day I have never evenrnlaid eyes on Kaplan, though I heard fromrna reader last spring that he was complainingrnabout my columns. The CityrnPaper reported that “Kaplan began bitchingrnloudly about Francis eariy last year,”rnand he told the interviewer, “There arerncertain limits beyond which you don’trngo. If you say that Hitler is the greatestrnstatesman of the 20th century, you’re goingrnto be fired. I felt that when he wasrnidentified as an employee of the newspaper,rnthat was over the line.” In the nextrnsentence, Kaplan “acknowledges thatrnFrancis never defended Hitler,” but thernCity Paper says that “one can imagine hisrndoing it.” Not only do our guardians ofrn”polite society” mount secret crusades torndestroy you for what you have said, theyrnalso go after you for what they “imagine”rnyou might say.rnOddly, the City Paper article raps paleoconservativesrnfor their “paranoia” aboutrn”tenebrous cabals (often of Jews) threateningrnAmerican culture and values at everyrnturn,” but then concludes, “to bernfair, Francis did have his enemies.” Indeed.rnAs a matter of fact, the boastingrnadmissions by the wrecking crew atrnChavez’s outfit that they were out to getrnme are the most damning confirmationsrnof paleoconservatives’ “paranoia” aboutrnneoconservative intolerance ever published.rnI had never even heard of Forsterrnor Miller, have met Linda Chavez onlyrnbriefl}, and merely heard of Kaplan; yet Irnawoke one morning to discover that all ofrnthem were neck-deep in a campaign tornforce me out of my job and ruin me professionally.rnNot once did a single one ofrnthem contact me or offer any public criticismrnof anything I had written.rnThroughout the last 15 years or so,rnneoconservatives have engineered similarrnhit jobs on several paleoconservativesrnwhom they perceived as threats to themrnand their control of the Americanrnright—on M.E. Bradford, Joe Sobran,rnPaul Gottfried, and Pat Buchanan,rnamong others. You don’t have to bernparanoid to get the impression thatrnsomeone out there doesn’t like paleos,rndoesn’t want paleos writing “offensive”rnthings, and is willing to mount organizedrnbut secretive “crusades” to ruin theirrncareers.rnThough many paleos persist at thern44/CHRONICLESrnrnrn