University and Rutgers University, as wellrnas visiting professorships at the Universityrnof Michigan Law School, the Collegernof William and Mary, Tulane University,rnCambridge University, Yale University,rnand Columbia University. Since 1990,rnhe has been Distinguished Scholar-in-rnResidence at the University Center inrnGeorgia.rnThe Ingersoll Foundation is the philanthropicrndivision of Ingersoll MillingrnMachine Company of Rockford, Illinois.rnThe Rockford Institute administers thernprizes. Past recipients of the T.S. EliotrnAward are Muriel Spark (1992), MariornVargas Llosa (1991), Charles Causlevrn(1990), George Garrett (1989), WalkerrnPercy (1988), Octavio Paz (1987), V.S.rnNaipaul (1986), Eugene lonesco (1985),rnAnthony Powell (1984), and Jorge LuisrnBorges (1983). Walter Burkert (1992),rnJohn Lukacs (1991), Forrest McDonaldrn(1990), Edward O. Wilson (1989), EdwardrnShils (1988), Josef Pieper (1987),rnAndrew Lytic (1986), Robert Nisbetrn(1985), Russell Kirk (1984), and JamesrnBurnham (1983) are the previous recipientsrnof the Richard M. Weaver Award.rnAs for other news, David R. Slavitt’srntranslation of The Fables of Avianus isrndue out this fall from Johns HopkinsrnUniversity Press. The complete work ofrnthis early fifth-century Roman writer,rncomprising 42 elegiac fables, has beenrnrendered into contemporary Englishrnverse by the Chronicles contributor.rnJohns Hopkins University Press callsrnSlavitt’s translation “splendid” and saysrnthis volume reveals Avianus as “a shrewdrnpoet who can unmask hypocrisy andrnovercome adversity every bit as well as hisrnsavvy master Aesop.”rnWe would also like to note that therndate of the National Carrying CapacityrnNetwork conference announced in ourrnSeptember issue has been changed tornNovember 5, 1993. For more information,rncontact Ed Lvtwak at 800-466-rn4866.rnPrincipalities & Powersrnby Samuel FrancisrnPeople of a Different StripernPrecisely when it first occurred to IllinoisrnSenator Carol Moseley-Braun to layrnher traps for the United Daughters ofrnthe Confederacy and its iniquitous insigniarncontaining the Confederate “Starsrnand Bars” we are not given to know, butrncertainly it was well before the senator,rninvariably described in the press as thern”Senate’s first black female member,”rnsplashed into American living roomsrnwith her now-famous tantrum on thernSenate floor last summer. As early asrnApril, Mrs. Moseley-Braun, who had arrivedrnin the Senate only a few monthsrnbefore, announced her intention to opposernrenewal of the congressionally approvedrnpatent for the UDC insigniarnwhen the matter came before the JudiciaryrnCommittee. This announcement,rnlike most of what issues from Mrs. Moseley-rnBraun’s lips, generally passed unnoticed,rnthough some Southerners and notrna few Northerners who care about theirrncountry’s history tried to sound thernalarm that mischief was afoot.rnBy late July, the mischief was up andrngalloping. Sometime in the spring, therncommittee yielded to Mrs. Moseley-rnBraun’s unique blend of threat, whine,rnand smear and voted overwhelminglyrnnot to renew the patent for the insigniarnthat had received unanimous and noncontroversialrnassent in every Congressrnthat had considered it since 1898. Thatrnwould have been the end of the matter,rnhad not Senators Strom Thurmond andrnJesse Helms contrived in July to offer anrnamendment to slip the patent through.rnAs in the days of yore, their amendmentrnpassed, but then someone alerted thernFirst Black Female Member of the Senate,rnwho perched herself in the path ofrnthe legislation and once again began tornemit her characteristic noise.rnIn what the Washington Post the nextrnday described as “a speech bristling withrnoutrage,” Mrs. Moseley-Braun, whosern”voice was eloquent and angry,” denouncedrnand insulted the flag, the Confederacy,rnthe UDC, the senators whornproposed the amendment, the senatorsrnwho supported the amendment, the senatorsrnwho opposed the amendment, andrnthe Senate itself. Finally, after consumingrnan inordinate amount of time thatrncould have been used for raising taxes,rndeclaring war on harmless countries, orrnswelling the belly of the state, the Senate,rnlike the committee earlier, yielded tornher imprecations and by a vote of 75 torn25 undid what it had just done by defeatingrnthe Thurmond-Helms amendment.rnWhatever “anger,” “outrage,” or “eloquence”rnthe First Black Female Memberrnof the Senate evinced, it cannot be saidrnthat she exhibited much command of elementaryrnlogic, nor was the conduct ofrnher senatorial colleagues much better.rnIt was her argument that for the Senaternto grant a patent to a seal that containedrna depiction of the Confederate flag wasrnto give what she called an “imprimatur”rnto racism. Since the Confederacy was itselfrnracist, its flag was and is a symbol ofrnracism, and therefore anyone who displaysrnthe flag or uses it as a symbol at allrnis also a racist, as is anyone who votes forrna patent for a seal that uses the flag.rnThis line of reasoning set off a predictablernchain reaction of senators professingrntheir own abhorrence of racism,rnthe most ridiculous and repellent linkrnin the chain being the ponderous HowellrnHeflin of Alabama, who waddled forwardrnto bleat about his own Confederaternancestors and how today they would certainlyrnjoin him in voting against thernUDC patent. Not to be outdone. SenatorrnDaniel Patrick Moynihan managedrnto remain sober long enough during therndebate to lisp that “for the Senate to endorsernit [the Confederate flag] is somethingrnI do not think we had any idea wernwere capable of.” That, of course, was arnbald-faced lie, since Mr. Moynihan knewrnvery well that the UDC patent comes uprnfor renewal every 14 years and has beenrnunanimouslv “endorsed” by the Senate,rnincluding him, each and every time.rnThere seems to have been little or nornchallenge to the premise of Mrs. Moseley-rnBraun’s argument that the Confederacyrnwas racist. It might have been interesting,rndid we possess senators capablern8/CHRONICLESrnrnrn