he was luxuriating in his grandiose,rncanopied bed, it occurred to him to turnrnover and luxuriate on his side, but then —rnPFRRR! —he decided against it. Hernstayed put, flat on his back. “I swear tornyon,” said my friend, “it was demonic.rnThe very instant the desire to turn overrntook hold of me, straight avva’ I couldrnhear the...

The American Interestrnhy Srdja TrifkovicrnA Balkans Policy for thernNew AdministrationrnAmerican policies in the Balkans overrnthe past decade ha’e come to embody allrnthat is wrong with the fundamental assumptionsrnof the decisionmakers inrnWashington. A thorough revision ofrnthose policies would be an important steprntoward a more pragmatic American strategy-rnin world affairs based on the nationalrninterest.rnThis is no longer...

VITAL SIGNSrnPOETRYrnThe Ax, the Scythe,rnand the Penrnby Bruce GuernseyrnA~ s we speed along tlie informationrnlighway at the close of one niillcnninmrnand the beginning of another, itrnmight be wise to stop for a moment, if notrnby woods on a snowy evening, at least atrnthe next rest area. When Robert Frostrnslowed his mare to a halt that...

dividuality—a “live free or die” kind ofrnspirit like that of the state of New Hampshire,rnwhere most of them were written.rnOn tlieir most primitive level, toolsrnsneh as the ax and scythe aid physical survivalrnby making a clearing in Frost’srnwoods where the trees in “Spring Pools”rn”darken natnre” —where the “blot outrnand drink up and sweep away” the...

tique” on which my wife and daughterrnwork —my last line of defense —alsornfailed, the result of a “hardware incompatibilit)”rnerror that cropped up for no apparentrnreason.rnIn about as much time as it takes to tellrnit, I went from having three functioningrncomputers to haing none. Suddenly, Irnwas in a state of professional paralysis, lexicographicrnlimbo, unable to completernwork...

thing of the past, going the way of liveryrnstahles and raihoad depots — maintainedrnas curiosities, perliaps, but not as viablerninstitutions in a communih-‘s (or a college’s)rnmakeup. Already, this trend is inrnmotion. Most of my students go to the librar-rnonl- after exhaushng all efforts tornfind the data thev need on the internet,rnand man’ tell me that...

also print a copy for my files. I neverrnknow when this system is going to crashrnagain.rnClay Reynolds is an associate professorrnof literary and aesthetic studies at thernUniversity of Texas at Dallas. Hisrnmost recent novel is Monnments.rnFictions Into Filmrnby Geoffrey WagnerrnIsaw that book.” Are we likely tornhear this more and more from thernnext generation? A reviewer...

In The Darkrnhy George McCartneyrnAccidental Heroes,rnOrdinary Tragediesrnl,a,st c’ar, M. Night Slnamalaii pertoiincdrna miiuiv miracle: Mouting HolKwoocl’srn|3<)lic ot giing the pubhc wliatrnit’s supposed to want, he found a wav torntell a uioralh complex talc and, at thernsame time, make it a huge popular success.rnI Isiug—at times strategiealh hcudingrn—the coiueutions of the traditionalrnghost storw he gac us...

sh’le that worked so well within the ghoststoryrncon’entions oiThe Sixth Sense. Appliedrnto superhero antics, this approachrncan’t help but seeni leadenly prctenhous.rnhi an early scene, Elijah refuses to sell anrnoriginal hand-drawn portrait of a superlierornto a customer who intends to give itrnto his ten-year-old as a gift. With offendedrndignit)’, he angrily points out that, althoughrnsuch drawings...

The Hundredth Meridianrnhy Chilton Williamson, ]r.rnDemocracy and thernArt of HandloadingrnSwisli . . . CTcdk —chunk. Swish . . .rncredk — chunk. At the top of the pressrnstroke tlic luhricated brass shell rises intornthe top of the press frame where it is engagedrnb the sizing die, serewed downrnand seenred b- the locking nut. On therndow nstroke...

are concerned. No one is content withrnliimself or witli other people; no one satisfiedrnwith Hfc —his own or his neighbor’srnor the nation’s. People wish to be leftrnalone solely to pursne their vices, some ofrnwhich are encouraged by the regime;rnotherwise, they feel pleased and fnlfilledrnonly when inserting themselves into odierrnpeople’s lives. Unlike relaxed Americans,rnmobilized ones are...

CHRONICLES’ BACK ISSUES, TAPES, AND BOOKSrnOn the Roots of Our Civilization *rnTHE DECLINE OF THE WEST: FROM THE ALAMO TO KOSOVO—Junern1999—^Tliomas Fleming on gambling and the frontier spirit, Roger D. McGrath on Americansrnthen and now. William Murchison on retjiking the Alamo, and David B. Kopel onrnthe gun and the frontier Plus Doug Bandow on our...

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....

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnEXKCUTIVE EDITORrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnAaron D. WolfrnART DIRECTORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESIGNERrnMelanie AndersonrnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhilib Jenkins, ].0. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnDonald Livingston, William Mills,rnWilliam Murchison, AndreirnNavrozov, Jacob NeusnerrnFILM EDITORrnGeorge McCartneyrnFOREIGN-AFFAIRS EDITORrnSrdja TrifkovicrnLEGAL-AFFAIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnRELIGION F.DI TORrnHarold O.J. BrownrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnCindy...

sons (vengeance on recalcitrant Sontherners).rnBut in order to assess that debt,rnAmericans wonld have to reassess thernmyth that makes a ruthless imperialist-rnDarwinian war for national consolidationrnin the last century into a holy crusade.rnAnd that would be too painful.rn— Clyde WilsonrnColumbia, SCrnDr. Jenkins Responds:rnSo much of what Clyde Wilson says onrnthe subject of racial reparations is so...

dependence. In such a case, the governmentrnof Canada has a constitntional dut-rnto accommodate the people of Quebecrnin their wish. The judgment even saysrnthat, if the government of Canada failsrnin this dut)-, Quebec may proceed unilaterallyrnto secede without further negotiationsrnand without a constitutionalrnamendment allowing the withdrawal.rnJean Chretien’s government has sincernpassed the Clarity Act, which deliberatelyrnmisrepresents the...

CULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnTHE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONrnof 2000 is one of the great non-events ofrnmodern history. Paradoxicallv, it mayhaverna powerful effect in waking peoplernup to the realit)’ of what we laughinglyrncall our “democrahc institutions.”rnSo f;ir from this election calling intornquestion the “wisdom of the FoundingrnP’athers,” it proves tliey were right to setrnup safeguards against the very system wcrnhave...

milk us like the cattle we are, but theyrncould not pretend that the cattle had actuallyrnsold themselves to tlie political herdsman.rnThat is how revolutions begin.rnYes, as a good American and thereforerna coward, I hope that Mr. Bush can takernthis election from Mr. Gore by anyrnmeans fair or foul, but as a republicanrnand a patriot, I...

Women for America) the Christian lovemakingrnmanual The Act of Marriage.rnWith the approaching new millennium,rnthe cultural mood in America (or at leastrnamong evangelicals) seemed ready forrnanother rapture novel. In 1996, LaHayerndrafted another writer, Jerry Jenkins, andrnbegan work on Left Behind. They couldrnnever have anticipated the phenomenalrnsuccess their novel would enjoy.rnThe idea of “rapture” has been aroundrnfor...

PERSPECTIVErnRediscovering Firernby Thomas FlemingrnWhat is paleoconservatism? The term seems to connectrnthe American hard right with paleoHthic anthropoidsrnwho wooed their women with ckibs and ate raw meat becausernthey were too stupid to discover fire. Even though Paul Gottfriedrnand I are probably responsible for popularizing the term, Irnnever adopted it, if only because it implies that we...

now let the state make reparations by passing pro-family legislation”;rnor “Let us restore family values but not with the crushingrnburden of patriarchy and inequality that disfigured earlierrnregimes: We have learned something, after all, in 2,000 years.”rnWhat have we learned? Not to mind our own business? Notrnto accept responsibility for ourselves and our families? Scientificrnand economic...

conservatives betrayed their fundamental ignorance of the naturernboth of a legitimate commonwealth and of the modernrnstate. The commonwealth can only create conditions that arernpropitious for the good life; it cannot compel good books to bernwritten or moral lives to be led. That was the wisdom of St.rnThomas, and it is a pity that his teachings...

VIEWSrnWHATrnISrnPALEOCONSERVATISM?rnAs a movement, paleoconservatism may he only IS years old,rnhut the principles that it embraces are timeless and enduring.rnIn the following essays (longer versions of which will he collectedrnin a book later this year). Chronicles’ editors explain whatrnpaleoconservatives are fighting against, and what we stand for.rnJANUARY 2001/13rnrnrn Add to Favorites

cion. A great statesman does not seduce his people into a needlessrnwar; he keeps them out of it.rnWhen the Soviet Union dissolved by peaceful secession, itrnwas only 70 years old—the same age as the United States whenrnit dissolved in 1860. Did Gorbachev fail as a statesman becausernhe negohated a peaceful dissolution of the U.S.S.R.? Likewise,rnif...

Ci/tsdficKSrniirnMr. Wilson’s WarsrnDevolution or Revolution?rnby Scott P. RichertrnNational aspirations must be respected; peoples mayrnnow be dominated and governed only by their ownrnconsent. ‘Self-determination’ is not a mere phrase. It is an imperahvernprinciple of action, which statesmen vill henceforth ignorernat their peril.”rnWoodrow Wilson’s words, recorded in the New York Timesrnon February 12,1918, defined the 20th centur’...

“All the NewsrnUnfit to Print” isnsi of tlje tKimesirnVol. 3 No. 1 January 2001rn”Target: America,” screamed the headlinesrnfollowing last October’s attack onrnthe U.S.S. Cole in Aden. The nation wasrnsupposedly outraged. But Joe Sobranrngave us a more accurate reading. “Nobodyrnreally cared,” he wrote; ordinaryrnAmericans know perfectly well that theyrnweren’t the targets:rnA warship, allegedly “their” warship,rnwas. Ihey...

Department letter leaked to the paper, resettlementrnof the islands “would significantlyrndegrade the strategic importance ofrna vital military asset unique in the region.”rnThe exiles want to repopulate two islandsrnsome 140 miles from the base, but an assistantrnsecretary of state for political-militaryrnaffairs wrote to his British colleaguesrnto express the United States government’srnserious concern overrnthe inevitable compromise to...

position in the War Between the States.rnOnly Davidson remained unreconstructedrnto the end, an ardent hater of centralizationrnin all its guises in government, inrnthe arts, and in American social life; hernnever trimmed his political sails to meetrnthe winds of fashion, hi many ways, hernwas the Last Agrarian (to crib a chapternamernfrom Winchell’s book). While thernDemocratic Party,...

siecle pedantries of James Joyce, therninfantilism of Gertrnde Stein andrnvarious Parisian coteries—thesernfurnished the catchwords of thernclever people.rnDavidson so hated New York and all itrnrepresented that, when he drove to Vermontrnto attend the Bread Loaf every year,rnhe did his best to circumvent the city,rneven if it meant going hundreds of milesrnout of his way.rnDavidson was a...

might as a general rule prefer more flamboyantrnsubjects, what I believe makes thisrnportrait a stunner is Meyers’ (perhaps reluctant)rnrecognition that j.F. Powers’ is thernrealest type of the literary life. Meyersrnseems both appalled and attracted by hisrnlate friend’s meager existence, perhaps forrnthe reason that he recognizes him to havernbeen an example of what amounts, byrnnow, to...

Letter From Rockfordrnby Scott P. RichertrnIt Ain’t Over’Til It’s OverrnOctober 26, 2000, dawned pretty muchrnlike ever)’ other day here in Rockford, Ilhnois.rnAfter ten years of Hving under therndictatorship of a federal magistrate, wernhad decided that nothing would everrnchange. And then something did.rnOn that glorious Indian summerrnmorning, the Illinois Supreme Court, byrna vote of six to...

taxation. In February 1998, they, alongrnwith board member David Strommer,rnMike O’Brien, and Chronicles’ legal-affairsrneditor Stephen Presser joined Dr.rnFleming and Representative Manzullornon the same stage, pledging never to givernup the fight against judieial taxation.rnIn December 1998, the board membersrntook their strongest stand ever by refusingrnto approve a tort-tax levy. Instead,rnthey placed on the April 1999 ballot...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Venicernhy Andrei NavrozovrnThe VisitorsrnThe first chill of autumn, which remindsrnus locals to order firewood from the mainlandrnfor our illegal fireplaces, is always arnmoment of reckoning. Not for nothingrndoes the Russian Aesop, Kndov, in his fablernof the socially responsible ant and thernbohemian dragonfly, suggest that such arnmoment has arrised when a wintr)’ blastrngets in...

do we care about princes andrnprincesses? To us, the names to bernrevered belonged to those whornfreed Venice from Byzantium:rnCorner, Ipato, Bembo, Contarini,rnMorosini, Dandolo, Tiepolo,rnGradenigo, Falier… All right, alsornpeople like Querini, Zorzi, Soranzo,rnZiani, who later joinedrnthem. Then came the new patricians,rnand even though they provedrnto be my undoing, I accept thosernamong them who were inscribed inrnthe...

difficult for British politicians to take independentrnaction on any issue. The EuropeanrnUnion’s record on this topic, asrnon so many others, is devoid of commonrnsense. Under the E.U. Human RightsrnAct, which takes effect in Britain in October,rnschools could be sued for banningrnhomosexual sex among pupils over 16.rnThe Section 28 debate exposed the dividernbetween Britain’s elites and...

port’s authors.rnBut those who wish to strike at the rootrnof biology and replace family life withrnmultitudinous casual copulations are notrnhaving it all their way. hi addition to BrianrnSouter’s one-man crusade and the politicalrncampaigning of Lady Young, therernhas been resistance at other levels. TorycontrolledrnKent County Council hasrnbanned the promotion of homosexualityrnin its schools and stated that...

but at least Miss Baldwin fits the profile ofrna Dutch beautv- Her name is SarahrnVande Berg.rnAfter visiting Baldwin, I drove a fewrnmiles north in search of an Orthodoxrnchurch that was the center of a Russianrnsettlement in southwest Barron Count)’,rnnot far from the little hamlet of Clayton.rnI disco’ered it in The Atlas of WisconsinrnCulture, a book...

thing in the next century, it m;i}- be thernlast basdon of resistance to the forces ofrnnnhmitcd immigration —so long asrnplaces like Baldwin keep having “Let’srnGo Dutch” Days.rnOne sign of hope: Eileen, in her 70’s,rnwas the oldest member of the KlompenrnDancers.rnSean Scallon is a reporter for a weeklyrnnewspaper in Ellsworth, Wisconsin.rnLetter From Russiarnhy Denis PetrovrnWhen Will...

he is huiign’. The thieves run everything,rnhe says, and Putin’s attempts at restoringrnorder appear halfliearted. What Russiarnneeds is anotlier Stalin. I can on] sigli.rnA rich, poor, sad, lively, foreboding, hospitablerncountry. Wliat would Russia bernwithout poetr)’?rnI leae the window open in my hotelrnroom and sit down to read the newspapers.rnThe stories are about oligarch/rnKremlin machinations and...

his march; here had brave ladsrnfrom the Land of Flowers and all thernstates inter’ening bivouacked for arnlong, long night, from whose slumbersrnno bugle might wake them.rnThe events in Tazwell in the year 2000rncould not match those in the fallen Confederaterncapital in 1866. That ceremonyrninvolved the whole community, whichrnhad yet to recover from the devastation ofrnwar....

NATO, R.I.P.rnAt the European Union summit in Nicernlast December France initiated plans forrna new Eiuopean military structure.rnWhile the stated purpose of the emergingrn15-member alliance is to complementrnNA TO rather than replace it, there isrngrowing concern in Washington that thernultimate objective of French and Germanrnstrategic planners is to sever therntrans-Atlantic military cord altogether.rnWith most key European...

“Of course, some day, there will be arnworld government.”rn”That would be a catastrophe,” I sputtered.rn”Well, when we have evolved enoughrnsocially,” he said.rnIn other words, never? I wanted to say.rnInstead, I bit my tongue. I was sure I wasrnright, but I couldn’t articulate the reasons.rn”A catastrophe,” was all I couldrnchoke out. “An absolute catastrophe.”rnI’ve learned not...

and I could hear the tinkle and clatter asrnthe last broken pieces hit the ones thatrnhad preceded them.rnMay 21, 1981, was already hot in thernClear Lake suburb of Houston, Texas, anrnastronaut/engineer-dominated middleclassrncommunity adjacent to NASA’srnLyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Thernmain highway into Clear Lake, NASArnRoad-1, boasted a Texas-sized billboardrnthat proclaimed: “CLEAR LAKE: ArnGREAT PLACE FOR...

influx of transfers from public schools.rnNearly all were promptly placed one tornthree grade levels back, and many teachersrnsoon questioned the wisdom of havingrnaccepted so many at once. Although near-rnIv all were white and middle-to-upperrnclass, there was a decided difference inrntheir academic backgrounds and conduct.rnThe new transfers and their parentsrncontinually pushed for mixed, schoolsponsoredrndances for pre-teenagers...

judges (both of whom are haphazardlyrnelevated from the mass of lawyers), andrnthis may account for the chaotic naturernof American judicial practice and legalrneducation.rnThere are some internal pressures forrnchange (Northwestern’s law-school deanrndragged us kicking and screaming intornthe production of a “strategic plan” to accomplishrnsome of the goals I’ve listedrnhere, and several other law schools arerndoing the...