Category: Imported

not ready to forgive old Jane her trip tonHanoi. The catalog of D&G, a Columbus,nGeorgia, dealer in “militaria,”noffers bumper stickers that read “BoycottnJane Fonda, American TraitornBitch” and — I’m sorry, folks, but thisnwas America in 1989 —somethingncalled “Hanoi Jane urinal targets.”nReminds me of the Mapplethorpe exhibit.nHere in Chapel Hill, home of vasectomizednbeavers, another blow wasnstruck...

Letter From Brazilnby Geoffrey WagnernNo PedestriansnThe last time I visited Brazil I arrivednon a Ladeco flight from Santiagonclutching a copy of Chile’s best newspaper,nEl Mercurio, wherein I wasnmuch impressed by an exclusive fromnthe ever-erudite pen of Thomas Molnar.nHis article dealt with the architecturalnrape of modern cities, of whichnPei’s monstrosity in front of the Louvrenis one...

THE ACADEMYnThe Ignorance ofnthe Doctorsnby George ^^^tsonnMontaigne in his Essays called itnignorance doctorale (1.54). Fournhundred years later an American journalistncalled it “educated incompetence.”nIt means the sort of nonknowledge,nor anti-knowledge, that cannfollow upon higher learning, especiallynwhen theorizing about politics, morality,nand the arts.nThat, in the first age of mass higherneducation in human history, is a largenmatter, and...

The point has nothing to do withnthe right or left, and easy conceptualizingndoes not belong to any single placenin the political spectrum. A highlynconservative colleague, when he heardnI was writing a book to prove thenobjectivity of literary judgments to bencalled The Certainty of Literature,nremarked scornfully: “You believenthere are absolute standards out therenthat everybody should submit...

are matters one knows for certain withoutnhaving to verify. “Why do I notnsatisfy myself that I have two feet whennI want to get up from a chair?” Looking,nafter all, would be useless: if onenfailed to see one’s feet one doubtsnone’s eyes. The same point is con^ntained, more elaborately, in the oldnjoke about “Can you play...

the partition — then promptly took upnwhere he had left off, wailing his toddlerngrief. At that point, I found one morenreason to resent Jeffrey’s mother. Shenhad provoked in me a petty thought:nServes you right, Mommy.nI dwell on this episode because itnseems to me a microcosm of currentnparental attitudes and behavior. Therenwere three problems in that...

ARTnGrandma’snAppointment innSamaranby John ChodesnWhen my grandmother was 89nshe became a mild celebrity as anpainter. Another Grandma Moses.nOnly better, at least I thought so. Shenbegan painting in her late 60’s, after hernhusband died, to fill the void and loneliness.nThen, quite unexpectedly, twonfamous artists stumbled upon her worknwhile she was exhibiting at the outdoornGreenwich Village Art Show....

change in this street. Her presence givesnit a real history, a link to a time whennthere was optimism here.n”Grandma, are you ready to go on?”n”Yes.” She took down another painting.nI photographed it. This one had andistinct circular movement, like an overheadnview of a hurricane. Charactersnand places went swirling into the vortex.nGrandma Lottie pointed to the...

i _i, ;ndancing till sun-up, then head straightnback to work, hardly tired. Our lovenwas better than sleep.”nIt was all there on the canvas. Lottienand Izzy working. Lottie and Izzyndancing, with a big smudgy yellownmoon radiating over them. But thennext scene was more obscure. Lottienand Izzy walking hand-in-hand. Smallnchildren wandered through the canvas.nThere was a crude...

transactionnNew and Recent Books on Family and PolicynN^-^nThe,. .npoliticsnHumannNaturenThomas FlemingnEajnilynQuestiDnsnReflections on thenAmerican Social CrisisnAllan C. CarlsonnTHE POLITICS OF HUMAN NATUREnThomas FlemingnThe effort to understand human nature in a politicalncontext is a daunting challenge that has beennundertaken in a variety of ways and by a myriad ofndisciplines through the ages. This volume takes up anvariety of...

UBERALnINTELLECTUALS:nHOW DO THEYnGET THAT WAY?nPaulJohnson anatomizes 20 of them —ntheir ideas, their lives, their moralsn”So full of life and energy and fascinating detail, and so rightnfor the moment, that anyone who picks it up will have a hardntime putting it down.” -NORMAN PODHORETZ, New York PostnWhy Johnson’s treatment is uniquen* The essential ideas of 20...

EDITORnThomas FlemingnMANAGING EDITORnKatherine DaltonnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSnChilton Williamson, ]r.nASSISTANT EDITORnTheodore PappasnART DIRECTORnAnna Mycek-WodeckinCONTRIBUTING EDITORSn]ohn W. Aldridge, Harold O.J.nBrown, Samuel Francis, GeorgenGarrett, Russell Kirk, E. ChristiannKopff, Clyde WilsonnCORRESPONDING EDITORSnOdie Faulk, ]ane Greer,nJohn Shelton Reed, Gary VasilashnEDITORIAL SECRETARYnLeann DobbsnPUBLISHERnAllan C. CarlsonnASSOCIATE PUBLISHERnMichael WardernPUBLICATION DIRECTORnGuy C. ReffettnCOMPOSITION MANAGERnAnita FedoranCIRCULATION MANAGERnRochelle FranknA Publication ofnThe Rockford InstitutenEditorial and Advertising Offices: 934...

THAT CONGRESS has never beennheld in greater contempt at any time innits two centuries is something all availablenevidence, whether statistical ornimpressionistic, indicates. When ournnoble Conscript Fathers, a few monthsnback, undertook to promote themselvesna little pay raise, public outragenachieved its greatest negative unanimitynsince the Japanese hit Peari Harbor.nThe unmistakable expression of thenpeople’s will has not fazed...

infinity. It does not matter whether thenrepresentative is a Democrat or a Republican,na liberal or a conservative, annabortionist or a pro-lifer, a rake, anpervert, a thief, or a drunk. All he hasnto do is make sure enough of us get ournshare of the gravy, that the balance ofnthose who think they are getting somethingnfrom the...

intellect, wins the day and changes thenwodd.nTake, for instance, geology — a fieldnfor students who were lazy jocks andndumb time-servers until, around thirtynyears ago, some wild genius discoverednplate tectonics and made the theorynstick. Now, if you’re running “thenplace where they send the geniuses,”nas IAS thinks of itself, your job is tonknow that geology has a...

Unfortunately, such a compromisenbetween the art community and thentaxpayers may not be possible. Despitenits bellyaching the NEA was not significantlynchastised by Congress for fundingnMapplethorpe and Serrano, and itnis hard to believe that if such a publicnoutcry could have no effect, anothernone will. In its 25-year history thenNEA has always more than recoverednfrom a budget cut,...

Nashville in the 1970’s to pursue ancareer in the music business, a worldnhe later described as a “worse junglenthan what I was in in Vietnam.”nSadler moved to Guatemala in thenmid 1980’s. Officially he was technicalnadviser to the Guatemalan Army, butnhis other pursuits were widely known.nHe was a fervent supporter of thenContra cause, and he relished...

and legal preferences of this or anynother country.nBut nothing offers more opportunitiesnfor one-worldist mischief thannenvironmentalism. Since the “environment”nextends across national borders,nmanaging it cannot be restricted to ansingle state and has to be undertaken bynseveral governments. The result of then”global environmental crises” now routinelyndiscovered every year will be thenregulation of the social, economic, andnpolitical life of...

-^”n^ ‘.n/nJn n^ —,—n?nnn^ffffv^n•riAn• # / •nnn^ /nround thenworld, there isnmuch talk ofnpeace and thatnis good. Ifet wenshould remember,nas PresidentnReagan said,n’•^’ “Peace isn’t simplynan absence ofn/, war, but a pres­nence of justice.”n. Tyranny, in all itsnforms, corruptsnjustice and stiflesn1 the human spirit.nWe must nevernforget this truth.nOur immigrantsnwont. They knownthat Americanismnis more than lovenof country; it...

PERSPECTIVEnPeace on Earth Among Men of Good WillnThe dilapidation of the Soviet Empire at the end ofn1989 became the minor premise of the argument thatnman’s dreams of peace and global unity are finally about tonbe realized at the end of the second millennium. Thenpeaceful crusade of East Germans across the border ^hasnconvinced otherwise sober men...

navigating through dangerous waters. But to listen to Mr.nWill or read the nation’s leading editorialists is like listeningnto a Pentacostalist preacher raving about the last days in thenunknown tongue. The occasion serves to remind us, if wencould ever forget, that, whether they choose to call themselvesnliberals or conservatives, our intellectual and culturalnleaders are only the...

No-Show might have been expected to put down allnpre-millennialist heresy for good. However, another, morenintellectual strain was imported from England in a formn(dispensationalism) that appealed powerfully to conservativenevangelicals who were offended by the liberal habit ofnequating God’s will with their own peculiar schemes ofnsocial reform.nThe post-millennialists had — and continue to have —nthe intellectuals, while...

Scene From Childhoodnby Robert B. ShawnThere was a farmer pushing a plownover and over, around four walls.nBetween each sight of him and the nextnwere tufts of flowers, a curious crop.nFor the first seven years of her lifenshe found him working when she woke up.nHe was in profile, hat pulled down,nface hardly showing, bent to his...

the editors of The National Interest. Though neoconservativesnhave managed to put together a debate on the issuesnraised by Fukuyama, they generally agree with his view ofnwhere things are drifting. Krauthammer, Will, Wattenberg,nand other neoconservatives may not like the dogmatic tonenand the references to a problem-free worid, but they sharenhis progressive vision. They too envisage a...

they live without deprivation? Though all classes in Americantoday are more affluent than they were in the 1930’s, theftnand robbery have increased exponentially in the last fiftynyears. In recent times, moreover, journalists and educatorsnhave taken to squabbling over political doctrines, so thatneven opposition to ideology has now turned into metaphysicalnanticommunism and its Menshevik equivalent of...

fraction of a generation. The Marquis de Sade we mightnalso paraphrase: until Gorbachev succeeds in attaching annAdam Smith corollary to his naively Stoical preachings ofnvirtue, he will find that private vices do not make publicnbenefits.nThe force of these observations is revealed in thenparticulars of Gorbachev’s policies. His first entry onto thenstage of reform was the...

constitutional norms.nGorbachev’s perestroika is a more formidable and forbiddingnundertaking than glasnost. If we examine thenperestroika of the past, we find ample reason to takenwarning. It is said that Peter the Great (1682-1725) pullednuphill with the strength often while the whole nation pulledndownhill, and his son Alexis was associated with a conspiracynwhich aimed to dispose of...

advantage of the newly enfranchised cooperative businessesnthat operate as a form of free enterprise.nThere is a whole series of ironies in the current Sovietnscene. Marxism teaches the primacy of economics in socialnand political development, that politics is a passive functionnof economics. Yet the history of the Soviet Union hasnillustrated with more dramatic irony than that...

slowly and reluctantly than seemed likely. Now, the combinednfactors of the fast pace of political reform and the slownpace of economic reform have catalyzed the expression ofndiscontent and thereby threaten the stability of the country.nIf the reform is at once too fast and too slow, it is as hard tonimagine now as it was in...

1928. Samoans, she wrote, “rate romantic fidelity in termsnof days or weeks at most, and are inclined to scoff at tales ofnlife-long devotion.”nWe can guess that neither the Mafia nor the Boy Scoutsnwould have thrived in such a society in which nature was putnon the side of the natural, sensual self, where it belongs, innopposition...

ing of ways, for the technological advances that makennuclear anxiety possible are also those that promise anmultiplication of options and an enhancement of life.nNuclear anxiety, therefore, threatens us in the same waynthat the impulse-denying ethic of our forefathers did. In anland flowing with milk and honey we are faced with thenprospect of returning to our...

The Blurb Writernby Dabney StuartnIn one year on the backnof 26 books his name appearednunder paragraphs he rarelynremembered writing. In somencases he couldn’t recallnthe book’s author, or the book either.nYet there they were — the booksnscattered on his desk, a table,nthe floor—covered with his indisputablenwords, and his name under themnlike an egg they had laid.nIt...

rewards than Gloria Steinem (nonpoetry,nthough, yes, “text”). He simplynreprints his 1980 essay on Stevens. Ifnyou’ve an appetite for poetry you’llnfind it exhilarating. If not, not.nAn Appetite for Poetry consists ofnten reprinted essays (Milton, Stevens,nEliot, Empson, other themes) prefacednby that long polemic Prologue. Polemic?nWell, the temperature stays moderate;nbut Kermode on The State ofnCriticism at the Present...

the Far West that these habits of enclosurenwere broken by the new kind ofnwriter which that settlement produced.n”Confronting an environment of extravagantnsize, weather, and configuration,nthe western imagination had tondiscard assumptions of imposing selfnand enclosing landscape, efforts that innthe West met inevitably with disaster.”nH avingnlaid the theoretical groundnof his argument, Bredahl proceedsnto demonstrate how Midwesternnand Western...

would reduce judicial discretion, butnnot much. The search for originalnmeaning can lead to “the constitutionalntext, records of the Philadelphianconvention, records of ratifying conventions,nthe newspaper accounts ofnthe day, the Federalist Papers, thenAnti-Federalist Papers,” as well as legislativenand executive constructions,nearly treatises, “the structure of thendocument and the government it created”nand — we’re still not finished —nthe need...

well. We read a writer as much for whatnhe sees and how he describes what hensees as for the story he has to tell, andnSettle not only has a lucid style but anwonderful eye. She understands withnperfect clarity the kind of strong-willednmother that makes for a weak-willednson. She understands, too, that thisnfree-ranging bachelor is bound...

Letter From Parisnby Curtis CatenModern Pyramids andnAncient SquaresnWe were driving past the Pavilion denFlore, which punctuates the southwesternnextremity of the Louvre’s GrandenGalerie, when my neighbor suddenlyngripped my arm and exclaimed, “Mira!nEstos techos! estas chimineas! Hombre!nEstupendo!” (Look! Those roofs,nthose chimneys! Man alive! Stupendous!)nSuch was the reaction of thenfamous Spanish cartoonist, AntonionMingote, to his first exposure to...

over the idea of planting a glass pyramidnsmack in the middle of the CournNapoleon. The project for the “GrandnLouvre” having thus been “approved”nby the responsible commission, it wasntransmitted on January 25, 1984, tonthe president of the Republic, who innearly February gave it his “definitivenaccord.”nThis autocratic decision stirred up anhullabaloo, which raged on for morenthan a...

region’s soul with the traditional, “OldnSouth” view that I wrote about lastnmonth. In the crucial matter of race,nfor instance, Southern worked conscientiouslynto portray and to celebrate anbiracial society — definitely not a colorblindnone, rather one that both blacksnand whites have built and must share.nIt sought black writers (successfully)nand subscribers (I don’t know), and itnwas. surprisingly...

LAWnTaking Leave ofnOur Censusnby Mark KrikoriannIllegal aliens will be counted in then1990 census — that’s right, illegal aliens.nAs a result, one or more states withna disproportionately large number ofnillegal residents will gain seats in thenHouse of Representatives at the expensenof states with few illegal immigrants.nAccording to calculations by thenCongressional Research Service, the inclusionnof illegals in...

ers. Those in Congress who wantnillegals counted have used this timenconstraint to their advantage — theynhave refused to consider any move tonexclude illegals until the year of thencount, when they can claim it’s too latento change anything.nWhile it is virtually assured thatnillegal aliens will be counted in thisnyear’s census, one thing is still uncertain.nDuring the...

since the notes in this measure are alsonmuch slower: eighth note, quarter note,neighth note. The last measure in thisnline is in 3/16 time, again a difficultnshift.nFor that triplet in the second measure,nthe musician must feel that thisnmeasure is made up of four beats ofnone-sixteenth each. He must space thenquintuplet of five notes evenly overnthese four...

from the extremes of tyranny andnchaos, rationalism and irrationalism —ntwo sides of the same coin. Rather thannexpanding musical possibilities, mostnnew notation is actually inhibiting, andnwhat is being inhibited is music. At thenextreme of rationalism, composernEarle Brown has defended serial musicnon the grounds that it is the techniquen”most rationally compatible with andnrelevant to many methods of...

ducted a national study of public attitudesntoward the civil justice system andntort law reform. The survey was commissionednby Aetna Life and Casualty,nan insurance company that is oftenninvolved in civil litigation and that favorsnchanges in some regulations governingncivil lawsuits. The poll’s questions addressedntopics ranging from citizens’nperceptions of current problems withnthe civil justice system to citizens’ attitudesntoward...

ask respondents whether they wouldnsupport such programs. Instead, it askednwhether respondents would “favor ornoppose” such programs. Thus, Harrisnagain probably overstated public supportnfor these special school programs.nFurthermore, Harris’s paraphrasing ofnthe question is very different from thendescription of the special programs thatnrespondents actually heard:nStarting special school programsnwith young underclass childrennwhen they are 8 years of age,ndesigned to...

ment — if it played to capacity (itnhasn’t).nThe change in musical theater fromnan emphasis on music, lyrics, and storynto an emphasis on spectacle has addednan additional $l-$2 million to alreadynoverexpensive production budgets.nThe falling chandelier and floatingncandelabra in Phantom of the Opera,nor the special ramps and tracks fornroller skaters dressed as trains in StarlightnExpress require hundreds...

transactionnNew and Recent Books on Family and PolicynThe,. .npoliticsnHumannNaturenThomas Flemingn’^- — ^’jnEajnilynQuestjpnsnReflections on thenAmerican Social CrisisnAllan C. CarlsonnTHE POLITICS OF HUMAN NATUREnThomas FlemingnThe effort to understand human nature in a politicalncontext is a daunting challenge that has beennundertaken in a variety of ways and by a myriad ofndisciplines through the ages. This volume takes up...

TAKE ANY 3 FaR $1 EAGllnPlus a 4th at the low Members’ Price.nNO RISK, NO COMMITMENT.nAOllNWnMADEBVnHAMtWCASRISETOMWnCEDffREVPEIlRETn1719. $22.50/$17.95nfioir American spiesntiBwnes they left behndnstilhsHjBsaw*jgnof Amencai rleigencenWUMMRCOIISONnSUSAN B.Trafro.nJOSGPHiLniBni)n2345. $24.95/$18.50nADW.M,ANDnTHE SERPENTnEIAMMSISntimti/v-fHS’^ffSffff’n7526. $1795/S15.50nM H i NnK E A V S NnA N DnE A B T HnC H A H 6 E Dn» I A C B tn/7« Ly Jft^Cp...

EDITORnThomas FlemingnMANAGING EDITORnKatherine DaltonnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSnChilton Williamson, Jr.nASSISTANT EDITORnTheodore PappasnART DIRECTORnAnna Mycek-WodeckinCONTRIBUTING EDITORSnJohn W. Aldridge, Harold O.J.nBrown, Samuel Francis, GeorgenGarrett, Russell Kirk, E. ChristiannKopff, Clyde WilsonnCORRESPONDING EDITORSnBryce Christensen, Odie Faulk,nJane Greer, John Shelton Reed,nGary VasilashnEDITORIAL SECRETARYnLeann DobbsnPUBLISHERnAllan C. CarlsonnASSOCIATE PUBLISHERnMichael WardernPUBLICATION DIRECTORnGuy C. ReffettnCOMPOSITION MANAGERnAnita FedoranCIRCULATION MANAGERnRochelle FranknA Publication ofnThe Rockford Institute:nEditorial and Advertising Offices:...

THE POLITICS OF RACE—nmayoral candidate Rudi Giuliani realizednafter the September 12 primarynthat to win as a Republican in anDemocratic town like New York, henwould have to get a large chunk ofnliberal and centrist Jews to desertnDavid Dinkins’ ticket. As soon as thenprimary was over, therefore, the Giulianincampaign started raising the blacknmenace, taking an ad in...