from below rises to cool the entire house.rn”And it doesn’t cost her a cent!” Andrearnfinished admiringly.rnThe conversation turned briefly tornshow business, for me a well-timed reminderrnthat Andrea Marcovicci, whom Irnknow almost entirely so far as a singer andrnmusician, is in addition a distinguishedrnactress whose life and career remainrndeeply embedded in the theatrical andrnfilm worlds. (Bringing...
The Hundredth Meridian
CHRONICLES’ BACK ISSUES, TAPES, AND BOOKSrnOn Constitutionalism, and Judicial TyrannyrnDECONSTRUCTING JUSTICE—July 1999—Thomas Fleming on justice andrnthoughtcrime, Philip Jenkins on the presumption of innocence and other fairy tales,rnStephen B. Presser on the living Constitution and the death of sovereignty, and AntonyrnFlew on the mirage of John Rawls. Plus Justin Raimondo on Matthew Shepard and thernthought police...
The Hundredth Meridian
Four Romes: One Eternal Cityrn-•^fe^.rne^MMf^rn^^Km^%%M?^^rnSi’fc…rn^>9CJpUrn^H^”^ ^O^BF – ‘ .^^flUft^rn^IHff^ ‘>^£’ ^^UBIBQ ^ K ^ ^ i r – ^ ^ i ^rn^ ^ ^ H r i n^^f^^ii ***’Ir^nMr^F^rn^ ^ ^ • u | g H | w | ^ a^yHi^j^^^^rn'”‘–p’rn•rn4Jrn**#rn/o/nrnChronicles editors Thomas Fleming, ChiltonrnWilliamson, Jr., Srdja Trifkovic, and Andrei Navrozov,rnalong with architectrnDr. James Patrick,...
Polemics & Exchanges
EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnEXECUTIVE EDITORrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnJeffrey Thomas KuhnerrnART DIRECTORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESIGNERrnMelanie AndersonrnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhilip Jenkins, J.O. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnDonald Livingston, William Mills,rnWilliam Murchison, Andreirnhlavrozov, Jacob NeusnerrnFILM EDITORrnGeorge McCartneyrnFOREIGN AFFAIRS EDITORrnSrdja TrifkovicrnLEGAL AFFAIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnRELIGION EDITORrnHarold O.J. BrownrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnCIRCULATION...
Polemics & Exchanges
raelite socieh’, below the pure Israeliternstock, even into Rabbinic times—a phenomenonrnthat attests to the importancernof bloodlines throughout Jewish histor)’.rnWhile the marriage practices of the Kohanimrnare indeed stricter than those ofrnother Jews, there is no question that marriagerninto the Jewish gene pool was veryrninfrequent until quite recently, and modernrnpopulation genetic studies show ver}’rnlittle genetic admixture between...
Cultural Revolutions
dencc, I assume that the reason for thisrnlag is cultural. Protcstauts who wallow inrnsocial guilt and hac lost the Puritanrnvirtues are headed for self-destruction.rnBut they ha’e certainly not been cognitirncly shortchanged. Nor have the otherrnscions of a rich European ci’ilization,rnw hich has been indispen.sablc for the intellectualrnand artistic enrichment of Jewsrnand other groups.rnA final point:...
Cultural Revolutions
candidate. Exeryone knows the list —rnTraxelgate, national health care, campaignrnfinance scandals, the bombing ofrnYugoslavia.rnBut despite her chic radicalism, Mrs.rnClinton is not the political operator thatrnher husband is. She is cold, rigid, andrnself-righteous. The notion that she couldrnbecome a serious force in American politicsrnis an illusion of both the left and thernright.rnFor all of Mrs. Clinton’s...
Cultural Revolutions
gyman who actually bears arms againstrnthe foe.rnA reviewer in National Review complainedrnthat Gibson’s character “does notrnfight for principle or country—at leastrnnot at first—but for vengeance. The relevantrnpolitical institution is not South Carolina,rnbut the family. This seems like arnpretty serious cop-out for a film calledrn’The Patriot.'”rnBut maybe that’s a point that few peoplerntoday (especially at National...
Cultural Revolutions
ing moralit}’ and religion from the publicrnsquare, and, in general, carrying out thernextraconstitutional, policymaking legacyrnof die Warren Court.rnMany of those on the Court who seemrnnot to care about their constitutional rolernwere Republican appointees, but it is thernDemocrats who want to make the futurernof Supreme Court policymaking a campaignrnissue. Al Gore was quick to declarernthat the...
Burn This Book
PERSPECTIVErnBurn This Bookrnby Thomas FlemingrnWhy do we send our children to school, much less to a collegernor a university? I have put this question to anyrnnumber of parents, teachers, and headmasters and only rarelyrnreceived a better answer than “So they can get a good job.”rnNever having had what most people would call a good job,...
Burn This Book
his essay on the “Educahon of Children,” Montaigne wanted torndebunk the French schooHng of his da’, and in writing al)outrnthe proper subjects of study, he puts moral studies first, addingrnthis curious aphorism: “Among the liberal arts, let us begin withrnthe art that makes us free.” (“Entre les arts liberaux, commen^rnons par I’art qui nous fait...
Burn This Book
to some other nation.”rnThen how do we choose? Montaigne has no difficulty in decidingrnthat other nations and cultures are superior to his own.rnWhile French legal insdtutions “by their lack of rule and formrnencourage disorder and corruption,” China is a “kingdomrnwhose government and arts, without having any intercourse orrnknowledge of our own, surpasses what we have...
After the Avalanche
and histon,’.” Only 32 percent of those polled considered thisrnlast goal essential.rnNone of the top goals of those surveed wonld have beenrncounted among the primary purposes of collegiate learning beforernthat sudden frost ElvcK n Waugh called, in Brideshead Revisited,rnThe Age of Hooper, histead, these goals suggest a culturernpopulated by what C.S. Lewis called trousered apes...
How Metaphors Are Made
adding, “It was an advantage when there was one common discipHnernand ever}’ nation studied the doings of hvo states. Now,rnthe}’ learn how to mend motor cars.”rnOf all the differences between the old college and the new,rnthe most obxious is the absence of Jesus Christ from the presupposihonsrnthat underlie academic life. Thomas Arnold, thernemblematic English schoolmaster,...
Going the Distance
Community/Local College. In recent years, homeschoolingrnfamilies have found that two plus two costs less than four. Attendingrna community college for two years enables their 16-rnyear-old student to live at home, saves them lots of money, givesrnthe student practice in going to college, and results in creditsrnthat can be transferred to a more prestigious institution. Therndownside...
Barbecue Shacks, Palmetto Groves, and Other Schools
em thinkers: Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henr)-, George Mason,rnSt. George Tucker, John Randolph, Abel Upshur, John C. Calhoun,rnWilliam Gilmore Simms, Albert Taylor Bledsoe, RobertrnLouis Dabney, Basil Gildersleeve, the Nashville Agrarians,rnRichard M. Weaver, M.E. Bradford, and many others.rnThe cultural elites goerning America today have embracedrnthe very intellectual and spiritual pathologies against which thernSouthern tradition has consistentl) inveighed....
Signs of the Times
“All the NewsrnUnfit to Print” ignsJ of tl^e QDimesfrnVol. 2 No. 9 September 2000rnThe parking lot of a shopping mall inrnBiloxi, Mississippi, was packed withrnyoung blacks in town for an event calledrnBlack Spring Break. Suddenly, a shoutrnwent up from several male voices:rn”There’s a white girl! There’s a whiterngirl!”rnSeconds l a t e r , the...
Signs of the Times
the Serbs:rnMr. B l a i r ‘ s worst crime to daternhas been his cruel and pointlessrndecision to wage warrnagainst the Serbs, but thernblame for t h i s must also attachrnto the Government and the wholernHouse of Commons, which encouragedrnhim to t r y [and nowrnsays] that the bombing had beenrni l l...
An Empire, If You Can Bear It
OPINIONSrnAn Empire^ If You Can Bear Itrnby Justin Raimondorn’The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.”rn—William McKinleyrnBlowback: The Costs andrnConsequences of American Empirernby Chalmers JohnsonrnNew York: MetropoUtan Books;rn268 pp., $26.00rnI n his classic shidy of “isolationism,”rnNot to the Swift, Justus Doeneckerntakes note of a phenomenon called “AsiarnFirstism” — the view of conservativernpoliticians...
An Empire, If You Can Bear It
their subsequent o’ereapacit’. Japan is arncase in point. During the Cold War, thernconntrv’s strategic ahie outweighed—inrnthe eves of U.S. poHtical leaders and economicrnplanners — its growing role as anrneconomic competitor. Americans providedrnopen access to their markets withoutrndemanding reciprocitv, while thernJapanese supinely accepted Hicir role as arneunuch state, disarmed but kept fat andrnhapp b their American...
An Empire, If You Can Bear It
China, where the media is openly controlledrnby the state, is an example of “softrntotalitarianism”; Johnson contrasts thernChinese system with the Japanese modelrnof speech control, wherernsuch freedoms exist on paper butrnare attenuated in part by cartelizationrnof the news media—pressrnclubs in Japan can impose collectivernor individual penalties on journalistsrnwho report news that irritatesrnthe state.rnElections are formally held...
Facilis Discensus Averno
FMANCIPATION, PRIMmVISM,rnINDMDIL^LISM, SEI .F-CONSCIOUSNESS,rnABSTR,^CTION, ANALYSIS,rnSPECIALISM, SCIENTISM, SECULARISM.rnREDUCTIONISM.rnHa ing been a wallflower all mv life atrndances and of die male persnasion intornthe bargain, I ean onlv imagine that diernexperience of reading this book might berncomparable to dancing with a partnerrnwho fails to exert what nsed to be called arnsufficiently strong lead. While Barzunrnleans heavilv on die...
Obscurely Called: Richard Wilbur at Eighty
With its deft rhymes and dazzlingrnturns of phrase, “Praise in Summer”rnseems at first glance a confection ofrnwords as airy and elusive as the poems ofrnWallace Stevens, who had a substantialrn(and perhaps unfortunate) influence onrnWilbur’s youthful work. Readers ofrnWilbur’s early books tended to regardrnhim, in the words of the Oxford Companionrnto American Literature, as “classic, urbane,rnoften...
Rinse, Please
Four Romes: One Eternal CityrnJoinrnChronicles editors Thomas Fleming, ChiltonrnWilliamson, Jr., Srdja Trifkovic, and Andrei Navrozov,rnalong with architectrnDr. James Patrick, founder and provost of thernCollege of Saint Thomas More,rnand Italians . . .rnjournalist Alberto Carosa,rntheologian Roberto di Mattei andrnreactionary political insider, Marco RespintirnforrnThe Rockford Institute’s first Convivium of the (real) new millenniumrnJanuary 4-10, 2001rnto explorernThe Eternal...
Principalities & Powers
Principalities & Powersrnbv Samuel FrancisrnProcessions of the Damnedrn”Well, fellow, who are you?” demandsrnthe Earl of Warwick of a character whornappears on stage for the first time at thernend of George Bernard Shaw’s play Saintrn]oan. “I,” huffs the man who has justrnburned Joan of Arc at the stake, “am notrnaddressed as fellow, my lord. I am...
Principalities & Powers
cence in some cases, in others it ought tornprove guilt, an impHcation that blows thernargument about “certainty” out of the water.rnThe argument is that, as GovernorrnRyan says, until we “can be sure, withrnmoral certainty,” that no innocent personrnis being executed, we should have no executions.rnBut what if we are certain he isrnguilty? If the “conservative...
Letter From Venice
CORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Venicernby Andrei NavrozovrnAbout the TouristsrnSummer in Venice means tourists. Do Irnhate them? No more, I assure you, thanrna patient strieken with a mortal ihnessrnhates the individual viral agents, or virions,rnwhieh are draining the nueleie-synthesizingrnenergy of his body eells to replieaternthemselves. He hates the disease,rnwhich is making him weak, old, and uglyrneven as he...
Letter From Inner Israel
man Empire, Gibbon wrote of the nonconformistrnwho, in escaping from Rome,rncould once hope to find:rna secure refuge, a new fortune adequaternto his merit, the freedom ofrncomplaint, and perhaps the meansrnof revenge. But the empire of thernRomans filled the world, and,rnwhen that empire fell into thernhands of a single person, the worldrnbecame a safe and drear)’...
Crackpots
dangers, and “each case [is] to be judgedrnon its own merits by medical and rabbinicalrncounseling.” But Riskin is explicit:rn”When no mitigating circumstancesrnexist, and the proposed abortion proves tornbe only a desire to get rid of an inconvenience,rnJewish law . . . clearly forbids therntaking of potential life.”rnThat is, pure and simple, the view ofrnJudaism on...
Letter From the Upper Midwest
grv readers ridiculing the ludicrous proposal.rnAnother bill sought to make organ-harvestingrnmandatory. Even the director ofrnHawaii’s organ bank was appalled. Again,rna flood of letters protested the bill. If thernstate can take your body parts, what can’trnit claim? Does liberty mean anything tornwould-be lieart and eye grabbers?rnApparentiy not. hi that same session,rnthe Hawaii legislature was filled with...
Letter From the Upper Midwest
says baseball’s sellout is only about money.rnDeeper forces are at work in the glassrntowers that house the offices of professionalrnsports. There is a conscious desirernat the highest levels of these organizationsrnto take their sports global; to thinkrnnot just of the fans in section AA of thernupper deck but also those living in yurtsrnin the Gobi...
The American Interest
The American Interestrnby Srdja TrifkovicrnThe InternationalrnCriminal Court: Clinton’srnFrankenstein’s MonsterrnFor ears, the Clinton-Gore administrationrnhas been in the forefront of efforts torncreate international judicial bodies —rnsuch as the Yugoslav war-crimes “tribunal”rnat The Hague —that could bernused as auxiliarv’ tools of diplomatic decisionmakingrnin Washington. MadeleinernAlbright liked the fagade of legality- (hatrncould be invoked to jushf’ their policies.rnAll along,...
Education: Uncle Sam’s Classroom
VITAL SIGNSrnEDUCATIONrnUncle Sam’srnClassroomrnby B.K. EakmanrnYolanda and Raul Salazar of Miami,rnFlorida, naturalized citizens who escapedrnCastro’s Cuba, are finding out thernhard way that Uncle Sam’s classroomsrnare not about proficiency at anything, orrnliteracy, or basics. America’s schoolsrnaren’t extensions of the home, wherernfamilies are held sacred and parents arernvalued, histead, American education isrnabout “mental hygiene,” defined b’ psychologistsrnas “preventive...
Education: Uncle Sam’s Classroom
expert witnesses for the Salazars, broughtrnin to testify on a variety of relevant legalrnand professional issues, finally had to returnrnhome. What should have been arnclear-cut case of parental rights became arncircus orchestrated by educrats who arguablyrnhad a greater stake in the outcomernthan either Daniel or his parents. If thernSalazars managed to overturn the “emotionallyrnhandicapped” determinationrnand...
History: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Refights the Civil War
their children’s lessons.rnOn June 2, 2000, the judge handedrndown a precedent-setting decision in thernSalazar case. She determined that thernpsychiatric examination of Daniel was invalidrnsince it was not conducted bv arnmedical doctor, which is illegal underrnstate law. She agreed that the parents hadrnbeen misled as to the nature of the “specialrnclass” in which the youngster hadrnbeen...
Guns: Gore’s Double Standard on Firearms
job of the National Park Service . . . is torndiscuss the events of the battle and placernthem in a larger context.”rnBut Russell sees the same problem asrnMeinhard. “It’s a zero sum game,” hernsa”s. “If they add something about slaver’,rnsomething about the battle is consequentlyrnlost. Ifs that simple.”rn”If thc’ want to create a museum de-rn’otcd...
Economics: The Myth of Economic Equality
this means that a future President Gorernwould sign Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s billrnto eliminate the laws in 31 states that allowrnlaw-abiding citizens to obtain permitsrnto carry handguns for lawful protection,rnprovided they pass a backgroundrncheck.rnStates would lose decisionmakingrnpower under both proposals: Gore wantsrnto stop states from allowing ordinary citizensrnto carry guns, and to compel states tornallow non-resident,...
Economics: The Myth of Economic Equality
expansion of their central governmentrnand relinquished the rights of states,rncommunities, and individuals.rnSince this social transformation wasrnvoluntary (democratic government, atrnleast in theory, is controlled by the ballotrnbox), we must ask: Wliat would persuadernAmerican citizens to surrender theirrncherished freedoms, heritage, and institutions?rnThe answer lies in the geireralrnbody of myths upon which socialism wasrnfounded, particularly its economic myths.rnSocialism’s...
Foreign Affairs: A European Defense?
inspiration of social justice alone. Gonernwould be the loathsome forces of capitalistrngreed, tribal and family ties, simplisticrnreligious faith, and private prosperity’, allrnreplaced by the equality of the Utopianrnsocialist state.rnWhat is far more likely to happen isrnwhat has occurred repeatedly to civilizationsrnthroughout history; The excessiverntaxation of the productive classes for thernbenefit of the unproductive, as governmentrnconfiscates...
Foreign Affairs: A European Defense?
wean- of soK’ing Europe’s problems. ThernUnited States demonstrated in East Timorrnthat its wilhngness to intervene is notrninfinite. Australia had to take the lead inrnthe U.N. peacekeeping force to defendrnwhat were o’ervhelmingly Australian interests.rnCanberra is now discussing bolsteringrnits military for fear that it mightrnface similar situahons in the future.rnFor a w hile, Washington may continuernto look...
Foreign Affairs: A European Defense?
CHRONICLES’ BACK ISSUES, TAPES, AND BOOKSrnOn EducationrnHOMESCHOOLING FOR LIFE—September 1999—Mary Pride on two futures forrnAmerican education, Andrei Navrozov on his son tlie sociopath, and Scott P. Richert onrnhomeschooling in Rockford, Illinois. Plus Thomas Fleming on the revival of the classicalrncurriculum, J.O. Tate on Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign, Michael McMahon on staterneducation in England, and Janet...
In the Dark
In The Darkrnby George McCartneyrnSeason Your AdmirationrnIn Mission: Impossible 2 {M:12 to enthusiasts),rnthe boyishly becoming TomrnCruise strikes heroic poses, simulatesrnkung-fu kicks, and hangs charminglyrnfrom cliff faces. Unfortunately, thernmovie constructed around him is notrnnearly as becoming. It’s just another tediouslyrnoverproduced, contemptuouslyrnunderwritten farrago of stmits and explosions.rnKids will enjoy it, although I suspectrnthey’ll find its video-game versionrnmore...
In the Dark
prising scenes from horror and pornornfilms edited together with Monty Pvthonesquerncartoon drawings.rnEven worse than this clumsy modernizingrnis the film’s Hamlet. jAJmereyda announcesrnhis conception of the characterrnby decorating the prince’s apartmentrnwith posters of James Dean and ChernGuevara, the icons of disaffected, revolutionaryrnyouth. Hawke falls in with thisrnconceit all too well. He makes Hamlet arnglum, tormented adolescent...
In the Dark
f77ie^/o/i/i fTia/n/o/p/i G/(t6 Comes to ChicagornHow well do you know your Constitution?rnTake this quiz:rnThe l4th AmendmentrnThe 17th AmendmentrnThe 18th AmendmentrnThe 19th Amendmentrn• Good Idearn• Good Idearn• Good Idearn• Good IdearnLearn the answers on . .rnnrn• Bad Idearn• Bad Idearn• Bad Idearn• Bad IdearnOctober 6-/ 2000rnChronicles: A Magazine of American Culture Presents:rnThe 11th Annual Meeting ofrnTHE...
In the Dark
Subscribe tornPractical HomeschoolingirnGet the next 6 issues delivered to your door forrnjust ^19.95. That’s 1/B off the newsstand price!rnWhile you’re at it, pick up these hack issue sets.rnOnly MO-apiece plus shipping while they last!rnSet 1: PHS #3-6 & 8. Some of the manyrnarticle topics: 4-H, Blumenfeld on wtiolernlanguage, Jessica Hulcy on how tornmake inexpensive “period”...
Polemics & Exchanges
EniTORrnThomas FlemingrnEXECUTIVE EDITORrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, HOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTAN r EDITORrnJeffrey Thomas KuhnerrnART DIRECTORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESICNERrnMelanie AndersonrnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhilip Jenkins, J.O. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, Donald Livingston,rnWilliam Mills, William Murchison,rnAndrei Navrozov, Jacob NeusnerrnFOREIGN AFFAIRS EDITORrnSrdja TrifkovicrnLEGAL. AFFAIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnRELIGION EDITORrnHarold O.J. BrownrnEDITORIAL SECREIARYrnLeann DobbsrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford...
Polemics & Exchanges
old population? The civilization createdrnon this continent by British and Europeanrnpeoples cannot survive the disappearancernof the people themselves; it isrnpreposterous to expect that civilization tornbe transmitted as a functioning whole tornanother population to whom it is entirelyrnalien. Perhaps awareness of this commonsenserntruth makes me a “white nationalist,”rnbut I am quite bored with beingrncalled unpleasant names...
Cultural Revolutions
“Jim Crow lies six feet under” may berntrue on the surface, but the reality is thatrn”Wliites Only” in sections of the countryrnhas been replaced by “Diversity Only”rnthroughout the country. And what arnmonotonous entity “diversity” is: a superrnflux that, like Clinton’s cabinet and postmodernrnart, generates constant sameness.rnThe real effect of having governmentrnin the business of determining...
Cultural Revolutions
not confirm this view. He did not sell thernNational Missile Defense (NMD) inifiativernto President Vladimir Putin. The followingrnday, addressing the Russian parliamentrn— the first ranking Westernrnleader to do so—he misjudged his audiencernbadlv.rnAssuming his audience’s ignorance ofrnhis own legal problems, Mr. Clinton saidrnthat “a strong state should use its strengthrnto reinforce the rule of law, protect...
Cultural Revolutions
the basis of his knowledge.rnFollowing current case law, the Floridarncourt suppressed evidence of the gun,rnsince the gun had been illegally seized.rnThe Florida attorney general appealedrnthe case, which eventually reached thernU.S. Supreme Court. There, the attorneyrngeneral argued that there should be arn”firearms exception” to the FourthrnAmendment. Because guns are so dangerous,rnthe attorney general reasoned,rnsearches for them...