Principalities & Powersrnby Samuel FrancisrnStupid and ProudrnWhen the editors of the New Republicrntold writer Stephen Rodrick to get hisrncute little fanny down to Washington’srnOmni Shoreham Hotel and cover thernfirst conference of Pat Buchanan’s AmericanrnCause Foundation last May, Mr.rnRodrick must have felt something like arncharacter in Sartre’s “No Exit.” Thernprospect of idling for an entire weekendrnamong the sworn enemies of RobertrnMapplethorpe and Hillary Clinton isrnabout as enticing an assignment for arnbudding New Republican as reportingrnon the recent water-tasting contest inrnBerkeley Springs, West Virginia. Nevertheless,rneven the Buchanan Brigadesrnmight be good for a snort, he probablyrnfigured, and who knows, he might get tornmeet a real, live anti-Semite of the kindrnhe’s read so much about.rnSo Mr. Rodrick came, saw, and reported,rnand his magazine duly carriedrnhis reportage in its June 7 issue. Hernnever met any anti-Semites, but hernseems to have had himself a grand oldrntime anyhow.rn”[M] others in floral-print dresses, rednecksrnselling ‘Keep Our Privates Straight’rnstickers, clergy adorned in pro-life fetusrnbuttons and respected conservativernthinkers in navy blue suits grab croissantsrnand pour themselves coffee inrnDelft cups,” he snickered. Mr. Rodrickrndidn’t seem to get much out of thernspeeches at the conference except a fewrnmadcap quotes that New Republic readersrnmust think just rip the lid off whatrnthe Buchananites are really up to, but hernsure enjoyed himself making fun of thernpeople. The subject of the conferencernwas “Winning the Culture War,” andrnthere were citizens on hand who picketrnabortion centers, organize grass-rootsrnefforts against homosexual rights, andrnthink the public schools ought to bernclosed down by the local vice squad.rnThere was a black woman—Ezola Fosterrnof Los Angeles—who praised the LosrnAngeles Police Department. Then therernwas the lunch of what Mr. Rodrick distastefullyrnand not entirely accurately describedrnas “ham sandwiches and NillarnWafer pie,” which was probably not at allrnlike what they put into their mouths overrnat the New Republic. And there was evenrna man from Altoona, Pennsylvania.rnThat, however, is about as close tornanti-Semitism as the impenetrable Mr.rnRodrick could get. He had to contentrnhimself with a longish account of Mrs.rnFoster, who “discusses the difficulty inrnexpressing alternative viewpoints in thernAfrican-American community but soonrnveers into a forty-five minute filibusterrndetailing exactly how alternative herrnviews really are.” It seems Mrs. Fosterrnnot only likes the LAPD but also believesrnthat Jesse Jackson and certain otherrnblack leaders should be in jail and thatrnpublic schools have become socialistrntraining centers. Well, now, we at thernNew Republic are all for “alternatives,” ofrncourse, but that wasn’t precisely whatrnwe had in mind, especially for “African-rnAmericans.” Regrettably, Mr. Rodrickrnnever asked Mrs. Foster what shernthought of his magazine. Had she toldrnhim, he might have lost his Nilla Waferrnpie even before the conference was over.rnYou can’t expect mc^re from the NewrnRepublic and its lesser lights than thernsophomoric snobberv dressed up as enlightenmentrnthat Mr. Rodrick burpedrnout in his story. Nor, as it develops, canrnyou expect much more from the magazinerngenerally thought of, in what passesrnfor a free country these davs, as the NewrnRepublic’s counterpart on the right, NationalrnReview. The other NR also sent arnreporter to cover the proceedings, onernMatt Scully, a former speechwriter forrnDan Quayle, and Mr. Scully also spentrnthe first paragraph of his article puttingrna bit of distance between the inhabitantsrnof the conference and the UptownrnRight as represented by his own journal.rnAmong the funny-faces Mr. Scully spiedrnwere “young staffers who look as if theyrnhave just left Salt Lake City on their firstrnmission abroad” and “a woman in satinrngloves and a sun hat with crepe ‘eil, recallingrnBarbara Stanwck or Claire Trevorrnin a 1940’s thriller.” These, he fretted,rnwere “the sort of political eccentrics whornmake for ‘they’re-not-like-us’ caricaturesrnin the Washington Post Style section.”rnBut Mr. Scully went on to say thatrnsuch “eccentrics” were indeed “principledrnand articulate, and prefer winningrnelections to winning good ink in thernStyle section.” That’s nice, but for somernreason he, like Mr. Rodrick, felt compelledrnto crack wise about the good folksrnwho attended.rnThe fact is that there just weren’t veryrnmany oddwads at the Buchanan conference.rnI have been attending gatheringsrnof the right for some 24 years, and I havernseldom seen a more normal-lookingrncrowd than showed up for this one.rnThese were, almost to a man and woman.rnMiddle Americans, principled andrnarticulate to be sure, but also the kind ofrnpeople vou’d be glad to see walking towardrnyou in a parking lot after dark. Ifrnit’s funny-faces you want, go to any onernof the various conclaves sponsored byrnthe mainstream “conservative movement.”rnAt these geekfests, you will indeedrnrun into oung men who look likernfugitives from the Nerd Room in AnimalrnHouse, as well as the usual gaggle ofrn”populists” who rally the masses by directrnmail from Northern Virginia, mothersrnwho make good livings defendingrnfamily values et haven’t seen their ownrnhusbands and children since JimmyrnCarter was President, and petty functionariesrnin the federal government whornearn handsome fees lecturing on behalfrnof anarcho-capitalism. As for the NewrnRepublic and its tribe, if gatherings ofrnconservatives look like the bar scene inrnStar Wars, those of the left usually resemblernthe basement of the mental hospitalrnin Silence of the Lambs.rnMoreover, National Review, as well asrnthe other unofficial organ of the StupidrnParty, Human Events, both contrived tornmiss the larger meaning of the AmericanrnCause conference. Mr. Scully used arngood part of his article to scratch thernback of his old boss. Bill Kristol, a speakerrnat the conference and former chief ofrnstaff to Vice President Quayle, and whatrnboth NR and HF found most compellingrnwere Mr. Kristol’s comments onrna recent Atlantic Monthly cover story entitledrn”Dan Quayle Was Right.” This, inrnthe words of Human Events, proves tornMr. Kristol and presumably to itself thatrn”reasoned argument can eventually gainrnground even with hidebound liberals.”rnYep, we’ve got ’em on the run all right. Arnfew more reasoned arguments from Danrnand Bill like the ones they came up withrnlast year and we’ll have Jeffrey Dahmer inrncharge of the Food and Drug Adminis-rn8/CHRONICLESrnrnrn