sight of the CapitoHne Hill. I looked atrnAaron; Aaron looked at me. It’s amazingrnhow in a crisis of this sort your brain eitherrnshuts down or defaults to foreign languagesrnpreviously studied, in my casernFrench and Spanish, in that order. “Howrndo we tell him to stop?” Aaron asked, butrnI couldn’t tell him. Either I ranked wellrntoward the...

Dinner at the Hotel Forum with (clockwise from left) Sharif Said, Bob Weir,rnChris Check, Mary Kohler, Chilton Williamson, Jr., Ruth Besemer, ClydernWilson, and Anne Wilson.rnit. ‘I’lie great cathedral was—for nie, atrnleast — a disappointment. The visualrnmagnitude of its proportions having beenrndeliberately reduced by architecturalrntricks, the edifice simply does not appearrnas gigantic as it certainU is...

Andrei Navrozov points out the bewildering aftereffects of the Tower of Babel.rnI recall, too, visiting S. Cecilia in Trasteverern(the little habited nun so disappointedrnwhen we gave her only the sum she requestedrnfor the tour), walking with thernFlemings beneath the plane trees on andrnin the neighborhood of the Viale Traste-rnere, Gail and I eniously eyeing thernpenthouse...

pile of masonry but not nearly so forbiddingrnnow as when Shelley saw it, thernbuilding having been painted a creamy yellowrnand converted into residential apartments.rnOnly the blackened shadowy archrnconnecting the two portions of the palacernacross a narrow cobbled street retains a hintrnof the monstrous Baroque crimes that occurredrnhere four centuries ago.rnFrom the Palazzo Cenci, I made...

biin group of w ealthy campaign contributors,rnmany of whom supported casinorngambling.rnRestaurants in Detroit’s Greektownrnliad posted campaign signs for both therncasino and ball-park initiatives bearingrnthe same slogan, “Detroit Needs Jobs.”rnLeading restaurant owners had bid onrnone of the gaming licenses with supportrnfrom both Archer and Council PresidentrnGil Hill, despite the fact that these samerninvestors were also delinciuent...

gins with the Christian Reconquista sponsoredrnby Juame I of Cataluiia and Aragonrnin 1235, long before NATO bombers gotrninto the business of preventing ethnicrncleansing. (A suggested bumper stickerrnfor folks opposed to NATO inten’entionism:rn”If NATO Had Got Here Sooner,rnYour Name Would Be Mohammed.”)rnOver the next 700 years, the islandrnprospered as a trading hub for Catalanrnmerchants and suffered...

was alarmed by President Clinton’s recentrnmove to deepen U.S. involvementrnin Colombia’s civil war by deliveringrn$1.3 billion of additional foreign aid tornthe Bogota regime. Actually, it’s farrnworse, I told her. Clinton is not merelyrnsending cash that could be easily stolenrnand, therefore, kept out of the civil war.rnHe’s sending attack helicopters, herbicide,rnand military “advisors” into thernColombian jungle.rnHer...

Letter From Londonrnby Derek TurnerrnBlair’s Ditch ProjectrnTonv Blair’s regime manages to be simultaneouslyrncomic and tragic, with arnslight tilt toward tragedy. The governmentrnis made up of chinless ChristianrnSocialists, Anglophobe Scots, aggrievedrnproletarians, shrewish women, and militantrnhomosexuals —most of whom seemrnto detest each other. The members of thernCabinet all have grandiose schemes,rnwhich tend toward unfeasibility andrnnever work out...

ship education” should include humanrightsrnprinciples and “understanding ofrnequality difference.” The granting ofrnbroadcasters’ licenses would be made dependentrnupon having a suitable quota ofrnminorit)’ employees and running propagandarnabout “cultural diversity’,” whilernpolitical parties should have an ethnicrn”audit” of members. Educational authoritiesrnwould be required to keep detailedrnstatistics on ethnicity; equality andrndiversit}’ awareness would be incorporatedrninto teacher training at all...

like a warm spring afternoon, with thernForum’s white marble bones showingrnthrough the open window like thernbleached skeleton of some nnlamentedrncasualt of social evolution, my mindrnkeeps turning back to Cortina, with allrnthat rude good health, sparkling withrnsnow and brimming v’ith mulled wine. Irnhave just come back, after two weeks ofrnpretending to ski alongside the Romansrnwho make...

•rnLouis BromfieldrnHamlin GarlandrnBooth TarkingtonrnGlenway WescottrnLaura Ingalls WilderrnSherwood AndersonrnErnest HemingwayrnOle RolvaagrnSinclair LewisrnSterling NorthrnEdgar Lee MastersrnVachel LindsayrnHart Crane,rnTHE ROCKFORD INSTITUTE’SrnFOURTH ANNUAL SUMMER SCHOOLrn”The American Midwest”rnJuly 24-28, 2001rnDr. Thomas FlemingrnPresident of The Rockford Institute and editor oi ChroniclerrnWilliam MillsrnAuthor of The Arkansas: An American River and the forthcoming Black Sea SketchesrnJustin RaimondornFounding editor oi Antiwar.com, author o{ Reclaiming...

The American InterestrnSharon’s Victory andrnU.S. Policy in the Middle EastrnWith the landshde victory of Ariel Sharonrnin the Israeh general election onrnFebruary 6, it is obvious that Americarnneeds to reevaluate its policy in the MiddlernEast. A revised policy should bernbased on three key premises.rnFirst, Israel is a small foreign country.rnIt is a friendly and democratic country,rnbut...

VITAL SIGNSrnGOVERNMENTrnYour Tax Dollarsrnat Workrnby Philip JenkinsrnRumor lias it that the Brookings histitutionrnis a well-regarded think tankrnstaffed by highh’ educated experts, whosernopinions are treated with great respect byrntlie nation’s policymakers. Unfortunate-rn1-, these experts do not inhabit the samernspiral arm of the galax) as the rest of us. Irnbase this conclusion on a widely publicizedrnreport released...

dollar corporate enrichment in any list ofrnfederal achievements. Many countriesrntalk about how desirable it is to transferrnwealth, but the United States has actuallyrndone it, albeit in the wrong direction.rnWhy be so modest?rnAmong the other federal triumphs, Irnwould place many of the consequencesrnof the civil-rights revolution, a complexrnand well-intentioned movement that certainlyrnachieved much good. But it...

dren. Each family is involved in a particularrnchurch or temple. Each adult volunteersrnin church or community organizationsrnin some capacity. And each of usrnis highly opinionated.rnOnly once in a long while do we agreernon anything. One such extraordinaryrnevent occurred on Thanksgiving Day,rn1999, during a lull in the conversation.rnMy sister Penny looked around the quietrntable and asked...

brother pointed to the man’s leather sandals,rnand said, “You’re wearing animalsrnon your feet,” and then slipped past thernspeechless protester.rnHumor may also help make our pointrnin a civilized way. One of my former collegernprofessors—a pacifist, a supporter ofrnliberal causes, an outspoken homosexualrn—remained my good friend until hisrnrecent death. Both of us eventually realizedrnthat our shared sense...

In The Darkrnby George McCartneyrnMoments, Redeemingrnand OtherwisernEven the weakest films can have a redeemingrnmoment or two. Whether it’srna clever actor reinventing a shopwornrnrole or an especially well-photographedrnscene, there is often enough to keep usrnfrom feeling entirely cheated of our timernand money. This month’s films underscorernthe point: None of the three reallyrnsucceeds (one is inexcusably tendentious),rnbut...

endless series of unsatisfying couplings,rnall sadly sterile of progeny. This plot linernworked well for Stoker’s novel and thernfew vampire films that adhered to it.rnAbsent Stoker’s subtext, however,rnMurnau’s film holds little interest. Perhapsrnthat is wh’ Merhige’s deconstructionrnof it seems so oddly flat and literal. Ifrnhis real vampire is playing the part ofrnDracula, then we must accept...

At Last!rnA book that exposes the true cultural significance of the Clinton presidencyrnThe }^onpatriotic 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....

THE ROCKFORD INSTITUTE’SrnThird International ConviviumrnTHE UNSINKABLE ISLANDrnNorsemen, Anglo-Normans, and Celts came to conquer and ended up going native.rnThe capacit}’ of the Irish to endure conquest and convert their “masters” makes a greatrnstory—told incomparably by their poets, novelists, dramatists, and pub raconteurs withoutrnwhom (if you believe them) English literature would have been a paltry affair.rnJoinrnChronicles editors...

EDITORrnThomas Flemingrnr,XEc;iiTiVEF,DrroRrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnAaron D. WolfrnARE DIRECT’ORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESIGNERrnMelanie AndersonrnCGKT’RIBUTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Carrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhiUh Jenkins, J.O. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnDonald Ijvingston, William Mills,rnWilliam Murchison, AndreirnNavrozov, Jacob NeusnerrnEILM EDITORrnGeorge McCartneyrnEORHTGN-AEEAIRS EDITORrnSrdja TrifkovicrnEEC;AL-AEH’AIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnREEIGION EDrrORrnHarold O.J. BrownrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobhsrnGIRCHEATTON MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford...

The same goes for the League of thernSouth. I joined this organization recentlyrneven though I liave to admit to a tingernof guilt for not fully understanding what Irnam supporting. You see, I was always ofrnthe t’pical opinion regarding the Southrn(I am sure you know what I mean), untilrnI was made aware, through readingrnChronicles, of how...

has been applied to subsequent retellingsrnof the case.rnAnyone wishing to understand thernthoroughly religious nature of contemporaryrnliberal ideologies could do no betterrnthan to watch Anatomy of a Hate Crime,rnMT^’s recent dramatized reconstructionrnof the story, and the first of a wave ofrnShepard-related passion tales. Of course,rnShepard is depicted as morally perfect,rnSana peiir et sans reproche, and any...

KING was a strong and clearrnvoice for freedom,” declared PresidentrnGeorge W. Bush during a Martin LutherrnKing, Jr., Day commemoration. Hisrnnominee for attorney general, JohnrnAshcroft, proudly proclaimed duringrnSenate testimony that, “By executive order,rnI made Missouri one of the first statesrnto recognize Martin Luther King Day.”rnThese are strange words from self-describedrnconservatives, even of the “compassionate”rnstripe.rnAlthough the Supreme...

AUBERON WAUGH, R.I.P. Therndeath in Janiiaty of the British journalistrn(and Chronicles contributor) occasionedrna startling outpouring of grief. The DailyrnTelegraph of London weighed in withrnfive pages, and that was just on the nextrnday. Every one of Waugh’s many admirersrnwas permitted a remembrance —evenrnin newspapers he had ridiculed, such asrnthe Observer and the Guardian. The coveragernwas so...

The Unsinkable IslandrnNorsemen, Anglo-Normans, and Celts came to conquer and ended up going native.rnThe capacity of the Irish to endure conquest and convert their “masters” makes a greatrnstory —told incomparablv by their poets, novelists, dramatists, and pub raconteurs withoutrnwhom (if you believe them) English literature would have been a paltry affair.rnJoinrnChronicles editors Thomas Fleming, Scott...

PERSPECTIVErnThe Conspiracy of Conspiraciesrnby Thomas FlemingrnThe scene is Rome, about A.D. 300. The Augustus Maximianrnhas returned to the ancient capital to oversee the constructionrnof the lavish baths that will bear the name of the seniorrnAugustus, Diocletian. Although Maximian is a rough customerrnfrom the Balkans and speaks a tough-gu’ Latin that soundsrnmore like Rumanian than the...

trast, believed in everything, especially the more exotic demonsrnof Egypt and Syria. To tell the truth, lamblichus was a bit of arnnut, but his mishmash of Egyptian supershtion and Greek philosophyrnappealed to the mob.rnAt the last minute, he invited an old-fashioned patrician, AniciusrnPriscus, expert in Etruscan augury. Priscus was a wellknownrnsnob, an expert on senatorial...

with their Egyptian fantasies . . . “rnWithin moments, Anicius was on the torturers’ hooks as arnsuspected Christian, and lambhchus’s plan for setting up an officialrnanti-Christian church was adopted unanimously by Maximianrnand Galerius, as it were, the two vohng members of therncommittee. “But,” Porphyr)’ suggested delicately, “What if?”rn”Wliat if they do win? They have so...

comes universally respected as a fiercely incorruptible truthtellerrnwhose books get published simply because they are wonderful.rnEqually, the academic who exposes his predecessor’s venalrnfolly, such as his going to work with the Soviet archivesrnunder Brezhnev and being used by the Kremlin in the process,rnboosts his credibilit}’ before accepting Andropov’s invitation tornwork with those same archives, or...

Any detailed review of Suvorov’s argument is ob iously beyondrnthe scope of this article, nor is he my subject here. WhatrnI want the reader to consider, in the light of an argument that Irnpersonally regard as complete and irrefutable, are its politicalrnimplications. If Hitler was Stalin’s creature, were not Britainrnand the United States wrong to...

ten off as “conspiracy theorists.”rnThere are two ways of dealing with the Wliig position. Thernfirst is to reduce it to the absurd conclusion of the history professorrnfrom Cincinnati: Once we solve the problem of history,rnwe are confronted by an architectural problem, namely, whyrnpeople build all those rooms in all those buildings. The alternativernis more realistic:...

precisely because it repudiated the crude materialism of mostrnwell-known Enlightenment thinkers. In his treatise “Pythagorasrnor the consideration of a secret art of ruling both world andrngovernment,” Weishaupt proposed his system as the only possiblernway to implement the imperatives of the Enlightenment.rn”Is there any greater art,” he wrote,rnthan uniting independently thinking men from the fourrncorners of...

200 years. Weishaupt was wise enough to see that “reason” ofrnthe sort proposed by the Masonic lodges of strict observancernwould never bring about social order. As the chaos in thosernlodges proved, reason often led to conflicting ideas about whichrnprogram to follow. The Illuminist system took the law into itsrnown hands and molded its members’ behavior...

Cui Bono?rnConspiracy Theories: A Rothbardian Perspectivernby Justin RaimondornDuring the debate over our unnaturally extended presidentialrnelection, David Corn, associate editor of the Nation,rnappeared on CNN’s Crossfire and took up the cudgel in defensernof Gore and his fellow coup-plotters. The smarmy Corn parriedrnhis opponent’s contention that Al Gore and the Democratsrnwere trying to steal the election with...

ologies, we are expected to believe that the actions of politiciansrnand parties are undertaken for the good of the countr)’ ratherrndian the vulgar self-interest of the participants. No ordinary personrnbelieves this (especially these days), but this civic conceit isrnstill ritually invoked by the three major interest groups supportedrnb’ the state: big business, big labor, and...

should culminate in Al Gore’s beerhall putsch.rnEmploying the temiinology of the Austrian School of economicsrn(elaborated by Ludwig von Mises, his teacher and mentor),rnRothbard put it this va-:rnThe “conspiracy theorist,” at his best, is simply a personrnwho possesses basic praxeological insight: that men act,rnthat they choose means in order to obtain certain preferredrnends. The opponents of...

cians thought to be friendly to Arab interests and helped to defeatrntwo Illinois members of Congress, Charles Percy and PaulrnFindley, for championing negotiations between the Israelis andrntlie PLO. Even more shamelessly, AIPAC has exploited misplacedrnAmerican Christian guilt over the holocaust when lobbyingrnfor U.S. military support for Israel. If the source had notrnbeen a right-wing journalist,...

“All the NewsrnUnfit to Print” ignsi of tJie QTimesirnVol. 3 No. 3 March 2001rnThe pro-Gore bias of the American mediarnduring the five weeks of post-electionrnlegal and political wrangling was as unsurprisingrnas it was obvious. Most foreignrnmedia were even less restrained. On Decemberrn14, BBC commentator Brian Barronrntold British television viewers thatrnGeorge W. Bush’s “mandate is all...

“rocky at best”:rnThe major wild card is whetherrnthe new U.S. Administration willrnattempt to proceed with the peacernprocess in the mold of Oslo, orrnrealize that the Oslo mold hasrnbeen broken and a whole new conceptrnis in order. The cornerstonernof this new concept shouldrnbe that i t is not I s r a e l ‘ s...

ing most of his life in the early 20th century,rnand no modern poet seems to havernpaid any attention to him.rnCrowley joined up with a secret grouprncalling itself the “Hermetic Order of thernGolden Dawn,” which has been the subjectrnof far more romance and intriguernthan it ever merited. The Golden Dawnrndid harbor some writers of note, includingrnthe...

Any time I catch you, you will pay.rnOr the secretive, impenetrable CousinrnLilias (the family black sheep?), whornSeems to move in time to a bellrnthat tollsrnBeyond the carehil measures ofrnnight and day,rnHer mind a prospect of indifferentrnskies.rnOr Uncle Wallace, who, with sifter inrnhand, preaches the virtues of restraint inrnall things, corporeal and spiritual, andrnabout whom the...

Port William and the town’s self-appointedrnsophisticate, are flesh and blood. Havingrncome to Port William in her superficialrnlove for Roy Overhold, a native son,rnCecelia proceeds to lord it over therntownspeople with her own superior upbringingrnand “refined” tastes. “She didrnnot like Port William pronunciation, diction,rnand grammar,” Jayber explains.rn”She did not like its public loafing andrnspitting. She did...