VITAL SIGNSrnFOREIGN POLICYrnBeat the Drumrnby Scott McConnellrnThere arc some foreign-policy questionsrnthat require all the wisdomrnAmerica’s leaders can summon —andrnsome good luck as well. Responding tornChina’s emergence as a military and economicrnpower, for instance, may prove asrndifficult for the international system asrncoming to terms with Germany’s rise wasrnin the last century, with the consequencesrnfor getting it...

weighed in with a pieee by StephenrnSchwartz, a San Francisco-based writerrnwho visited the region and presented arnpicture of Kosovo Albanian poHtics sornsweetened that it called to mind the acconntsrnof commimist countries producedrnby the duped liberal polihcal pilgrimsrnof the Cold War era. Perhapsrncognizant that it was not American policyrnto support armed separatist insurrectionsrn(and that an American...

ton despisers . . . and ultra-sophisticatedrn’realist’ intellectuals who have divinedrnthat America has no interest in the Balkans.”rnIt was a more perilous momentrnthan when it seemed that Pat Buchananrnmight grab the presidential nominationrnin 1996: most Republicans, after all, werernnot Buehananites. But in 1999, most Republicansrnwere unenthusiastic aboutrnClinton’s bombing campaign. The editorsrnpulled their hair out when...

most vanish. Black political clout dependsrnon thousands of vocal, energehc,rnquick-to-mobilize, university-entrenchedrnallies.rnNarrow financial self-interest cannotrnexplain the bond. No personal gainrncomes to white academics who embracernthe racial party line. Indeed, endorsementrnsubverts selfish monetar)’ advancement.rnLucrative minority faculty appointments,rnseparate “black studies”rnprograms, and race-based channeling ofrnresearch funds impose costs, not benefits,rnon white academics.rnWhat about cultural affinity? Havernwhite liberal faculty and...

bring release. This step might require arnfederal “transition” program which, inrnturn, might obligate other bureaucrats tornmonitor employment progress with periodicrnevaluations. If the newly gained “independence”rnmisfires, safety-net programsrnstand by for additional retrainingrnand counseling.rnIgnoring blacks politically is precarious;rninner-cit’ residents are not detachedrnAppalachian whites or apathetic Asians.rnThey can burn down cities. Imagine professorsrnopting for Korean immigrants tornachieve their...

life. For many academics, this is an unacknowledgedrnconfluence of interests,rnnot a diabolical plot.rnIn their endless support of the civilrightsrnmovement, liberal academics seeminglyrnhave covered themselves in glory. Atrnleast initially, the assistance was sincerernand did ameliorate many of America’srnworst faults. But, alas, the honeymoon isrnover. As in enduring marriages, relationshipsrnevolve. Yesterday’s passionate affectionrnhas been replaced by a...

In The Darkrnby George McCartneyrnSo What’s a Metaphor?rnA.I., Steven Spielberg’s fantasy about a roboticrnfuture, should stand as an object lessonrnto directors: Any film that includesrnFred Astaire on its soundtrack had betterrnbe light on its feet. Astaire’s eloquent walkonrnhere reveals A. J. to be shod in concrete.rnFort)’ minutes into tlie narrative, we meetrnGigolo joe ()ude Law...

reported to have entertained: that, ultimately,rnhumanity will be subsumed andrnredeemed by the artificial higher intelligencernof a computerized robot culture.rnIn what seems a desperate coda, Spielbergrnintroduces—as a deus ex machina —rna band of sleek, jointless mechanical beingsrnto lend their gleaming hands to thernproceedings. They look suspiciously likernthe benevolent aliens who came to enlightenrnus all at the...

The Hundredth Meridianrnhy Chilton Williamson, ]r.rnSunday SummerrnIn June, the sun gets up about the timernthe pollen release ends. Keeping thernbedroom window down in the earlvrnmorning hours is a simple preventive forrnhay fever that requires only getting uprnaround 2:00 A.M. to drop the window. It’srneasier to take a pill the night before andrnforget about it. And...

drove out of town, stopping for a six-packrnof beer and a bag of ice from a coneniencernstore in West Laramie.rnYon could pull a horse trailer np JelmrnMountain, I suppose, but what would bernthe point in doing it? I parked the rig besidernthe two-track near the base of the hillrnand rode horseback as far as the...

^le ^o/i/i f/lanc/o/p/i GViz/j GoniCfS to fnoc/i/o/u^/rn2001: the 225thrnanniversary ofrnthe AmericanrnRevolution and thern25th anniversaryrnof Chronicles andrnThe RockfordrnInstitute.rnThe Rockford InstituternandrnChronicles: A Magazine of American CulturernPresents:rnThe 12th Annual Meeting ofrnTHE JOHN RANDOLPH CLUBrn”Tyranny and Revolution”rnNovember 9-10, 2001rnSince the Revolution, limited government, personal liberty, and states’ rights have beenrnground away by the forces of the counterrevolution that concentrated...

[I]t is because the Serbians have been warlike that we have found it possible to be peaceful.rnIf they are fierce it is because no courage short of sheer fanaticism could have kept the frontiers ofrnChristendom against such locust-clouds of foes, while we were electing our first parliaments and building ourrnfirst cathedrals. While all that we...

EDITORrnThomaa FlemingrnKXEC DTIVK EDITORrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnAaron D. WolfrnART DIRECTORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESIONERrnMelanie AndersonrnCONTRiBlJTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhilip Jenkins, j.O. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, Bill Kaiiffman,rnDonald Livingston, William Mills,rnWilliam Murchison, AndreirnNavrozov, Jacob NeusnerrnFILM EDITORrnGeorge McCartneyrnppREIC^N-AIT-‘AIRS I<:DIT0RrnSrdja TrifkovicrnLEC;AL-AFFAIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnREI-ICION EDITORrnHarold O.J. BrownrnCIRCULATION MANAC;ERrnCindy LinkrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford...

a large part of our lives maintaining federal,rnstate, and priate land. Are those ofrnV.1S wlio choose to preserve nature worth)’rnof the epithet “slaves to nature”?rnMr. Williamson shonld stick to knockaboutrntales of the people and places of thernWest, the landscapes, the distances, andrnwhat immigration is doing to take it allrnaway. That, we know, he can do...

CULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnBOSNIA is the United Nations’ firstrnmajor experiment in nation-building,rnand the experiences of this multiethnic/rnmulticultural state provide discouragingrnevidence that the “international community”rnis no more virtuous or high-mindedrnthan the old rogues who governed nation-rnstates. Take the case of ThomasrnMiller, the United States ambassador inrnSarajevo, who is rumored to have eonspiredrna year ago with Milorad Dodik,rnthen prime...

those from Eastern Europe and the ThirdrnWorld—are involved in large-scale smugglingrnof American cigarettes that arrivernfrom Montenegro and are then shippedrnvia Bosnia to the European Union.”rnForeigners have absolute power inrnBosnia. The results were to be expected.rnAs for Anrbassador Miller and his cronyrnMilorad Dodik, watch this space.rnSrdja TrifkovicrnT H E MISSOURI S Y N O D of...

or above the ‘replacement level’ of 2.1rnchildren per woman,” but that’s hardlv arnconsolation, considering one third of ourrnnation’s births are illegitimate. In otherrnwords, married couples are not replacingrnthemselves, and a growing illegitimaternpopulation is also bad economic news,rnimless you are among the few who havernfound a way to profit from an expandingrnwelfare state.rnAs governments in the...

[I]t is because the Serbians have been warlike that we have found it possible to be peaceful.rnIf they are fierce it is because no courage short of sheer fanaticism could have kept the frontiers ofrnChristendom against such locust-clouds of foes, while we were electing our first parliaments and building ourrnfirst cathedrals. While all that we...

PERSPECTIVErn”Wasted Away Again in Margaritaville”rnby Thomas FlemingrnThe arrest of the 19-year-old Bush twins for drinking liquorrnin an Austin restaurant gave the news-starved (and starvedbrained)rnpress something to cackle over. The girls, clearly in arnstate of arrested adolescent rebellion, checked their Secret Servicernagents at the door and, even after the restaurant rejectedrnJenna’s fake ID, succeeded in getting...

It is not merely that puritans are mistaken (which they are),rnor that they dehberately and perversely misinterpret Scripturern(which they do), but that they set themselves up as self-maderngods in opposition to the moral freedom we enjoy as followersrnof Christ and members of His Church. If they do not wish torndrink wine (except, of course, in...

National Endowmentsrnby Paul LakernFrom courtly MaecenasrnHorace receivedrnA rich Sabine farmrnPeopled by slaves.rnSilver-tongued VirgilrnPraisedrnCaesar Augustus, Rome’srnFar flung empire, and grewrnEpic in fame.rnLight-hearted OvidrnKnewrnBoredom and sorrowrnFirst hand,rnFor a fewrnIndelicate words, dyingrnUnreconciledrnTo imperial powerrnIn a rude andrnBarbarous land.rnOne hint of disgust inrnAn age’s corruptionrnBrings exile and shame.rnEven in thisrnLess than AugustanrnAge, dangers abound.rnThink what such patronagernCosts, then,rnBefore courting...

tive veneer to a socict)- founded upon brutalit}’ and exploitation:rninsisting that people choose the correct fork for dinner whilernpeople were being lynched outside. A good case can be made,rnthough, that appeals to manners had at least as much of an effectrnas law in improving people’s lives, in extending their lifechances.rnI think, for instance, of Mark...

ing of good manners and gentlemanliness, with mixed results.rnThe end of the road, I suppose, was D.H. Lawrence, and thernsick charade of Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier.rnThe American tradition of manners has always been rough —rnperhaps because of the frontier, and perhaps even more becausernof resentment of class distinctions. The results have notrnalways been...

them invited me to come see him, and then abandoned the appointment,rnfor which I had traveled many miles, on therngrounds that he had a superior immediate opportunity. Anotherrninvited me to talk to him and then dismissed me as though Irnhad not been asked to be there. A third (I do not remember himrnand there is...

What Makes Southern Manners Pecuhar?rnby Ward S.AllenrnSoutherners live in the 18th century.” This commonrncharge is not altogether false, since the peculiar hahits,rncustoms, and meanings of words found often in the AmericanrnSouth are found also in 18th-century English authors. MostrnEnglish-speaking people use the word “manners” now only inrnthe senses designated by the Oxford English Dictionary as...

clung to the idea, which led clever people in step with the timesrnto disparage Southerners for their peculiar manners. “Southernrnmen were proud of being gentlemen, although they have beenrntold in ever’ conceivable va that it was a foolish pride” (BasilrnL, Gildersleeve, The Creed of the Old South, 1865-1915). Butrnthis verv idea of a gentleman has...

Master: You should have added “sir.”rnBoy: Nearly six months, sir.rnSoutherners fiird terms of respect natural. Children usernthem in addressing their parents; students use them in addressingrnteachers; workmen use them in addressing overseers; laymenrnuse them in addressing pastors and priests. These termsrnare common in various relations of society.rnAn old friend of mine lay ill and extremely...

u ing attack on cen- figure on the politicalrnright —from Newt Gingrich to thernmembers of National Alliance —in thernweeks after the bombing made clear,rnbut Michel and Ilerbeck provide nornevidence (nor does an’ other reliablernsource that I know of) that tlie perpetratorsrnof the bombing intended it to do so.rnMichel and ficrbeck mention onl’rnbrieflx McVeigh’s insignificant contactsrnwith...

168 people with the writer of thesernletters. . . . 1 do know one thing: Inrnthe written word, at least, he iiasrnnot a whis]3er ot conseienee.rnMeX’eigh elainied to Miehcl andrnHerheek that he did not know thern-lurrah Building had a daeare eenter,rnthat it w as not isihlc from the .street, thatrnhe would hae pieked another target...

work (“It would have reached Spain severalrnmonths ago had it not been for therntardiness, indisposition, and eventuallyrnthe death of your secretary”). But very littlernis known about his personal life.rnGiorgio Vasari knew Titian personallyrnand described him as “a most healthyrnand fortunate man, who has receivedrnnothing but favours from heaven, hi additionrnto his genius he possesses the...

Letter From Rockfordrnby Scott P. RichertrnDeath at the Wal-MartrnRockford made the national news againrnin late Mav, when the wire services ranrnshocking headlines about a pregnantrnshoplifter gunned down by police at a localrnWal-Mart. Talk radio buzzed withrnangr debates between those who congratulatedrnthe police on a job well donernand those who couldn’t understand howrnofficers could possibly shoot...

^le^^^^/j/i f/la/ic/o/p/t G/it/) Go/?i&s’ to f/tocA/o/uJrn2001: the 225thrnanniversary ofrnthe AmericanrnRevolution and thern25th anniversaryrnof Chronicles andrnThe RockfordrnInstitute.rnThe Rockford InstituternandrnChronicles: A Magazine of American CulturernPresents:rnThe 12th Annual Meeting ofrnTHE JOHN RANDOLPH CLUBrn”Tyranny and Revolution”rnNovember 9-10, 2001rnSince the Revolution, limited government, personal liberty, and states’ rights have beenrnground away by the forces of the counterrevolution that concentrated political...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnNevadarnby Eddie AllenrnStill Riding the RailsrnThe onlv interruption in ?2 hours of dri-rning was a five-hour respite in a no-starrnmotel somewhere in western Nebraska.rnPlivsically exhausted and emotionallyrninebriated by the nearness of the destination,rnI marveled at the sight of a UnionrnPaeifie freight train, eastbound, in therneening’s final thrust of amber sunlight.rnIt steadih’ snaked its way...

Aiark Ross performs at the NationalrnHobo Association Rendezvous 2000.rnits legal-affairs department, listed as “NornBail” John. Potter’s personal resumernreads like a great American novel. Hernfirst reached for the grab irons of a freightrncar at the tender age of 15. With his fascinationrnand curiosity aroused by thernview of a Utah canyon from a boxcar, hernwent on to...

power), independent media with a materialrnbase controlled by the state, and unlimitedrnbusiness opportunities for thosernchosen to enjoy them. Not much in thernway of verisimilitude, but if you are thernpresident of a multinational corporationrndesperate to sell your country down thernriver, it’s more than enough to bringrnround the stodgiest shareholder.rnAnyway, punters like Berezovsky andrnZhukov were among the...

Letter From thernUpper Midwestrnby Sean ScallonrnOne Man’s Idea Is Another’s . .rnLet’s say you have an idea. Any old idea.rnNo matter how big or small, grandiose orrnsimple.rnYou naturally want to share that idearnwith someone, anyone, maybe no one.rnMaybe you want to keep it to yourself,rnfearing negative reaction. Or maybe yournthink your idea is so good,...

right out of the globahst hymnal: Therncartel would be bad for free trade; werncouldn’t browbeat European farmers forrnopen markets if we have local trade barriersrnourselves; we wouldn’t be able to importrndairy products from New Zealand; itrnwould not be in the spirit of NAFTA andrnGATT; other regions would form theirrnown compacts, and—horror of horrors—rnregionalism might spread...

on Passover by means of eating it.rnBut if it does not have the taste ofrncereal, it is not subject to dough offering.rnAnd a person does not fulfilrnhis obligation to eat unleavenedrnbread of Passover by means of eatingrnit.rnWheat flour differs from rice in thernfundamental way already noted; Wlieatrnsustains the natural processes by whichrnlife commences and is...

progress toward peace. The enormousrnflow of drug money incapacitates therngovernment, because a bureaucrat willingrnto look the other way for the drugrnlords can become rich; if he’s unwilling,rnhe’s likely to become dead.rnWlien ])eople travel to a foreign land,rnthe beaut’, intelligence, sadness, and humorrnof human life seem so penetratinglyrnclear that they retLirn to their normal livesrnmore alive....

The American Interestrnby Srdja TrifkovicrnAverting War With ChinarnNo foreign-policy issue facing the UnitedrnStates is more important than our longtermrnrelationship with China, the mostrnpopulous nation and the fourth-largestrncountry on Earth. If we think in terms ofrnuninterrupted statehood, China is thernoldest nation-state, accustomed to takingrnthe long view in foreign affairs. More significantly,rnif its present rate of economicrngrowth...

flicts in perspective, stressing the widerrnrelationship, including trade, whichrnearned China an $84-billion surplus withrnthe United States last year. In the shortrnterm, China will refrain from strong reactions,rnjust as it did after the “accidental”rnbombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgradernin 1999. It will grin and bear it,rnwhile pursuing aggressive economicrngrowth and embarking on a steady militaryrnbuildup...

At Last!rnA book that exposes the true cultural significance of the Clinton presidencyrnThe Nonpatriotic President: A Survey of the Clinton Yearsrnby Janet Scott BarlowrnWhitewater . . . Filegate . . . Monica LewinskyrnThe scandals are only the beginningrnIf you think that Bill Clinton’s influence will end when hernleaves office, you need to read this book....

VITAL SIGNSrnMANNERSrnii^rnyyrnWe Say Grace,rnWe Say Ma’am . . .rnby Williani MurchisonrnThe news descended with crushingrnforce: I must be getting really old.rnRising from the dinner table, I hadrnpulled back my wife’s chair, and our waiterrncomplimented me. He complimentedrnme for the kind of civil and reflexive actionrnto which my generation was bred inrnthe post-World War II years?...