ter flaw that ultimately would lead tornWatergate, In May 1959, Chambers,rndiscussing Nixon, wrote to Toledano:rnThe world is rather sensibly orderedrn. . . among lions and micern. . . . B u t . . . I question the wisdomrnof. .. the Lion who seems not torngrasp the workings of that orderrn. . . . Or...

Aided by over 30 research associates,rnsociologist Kathryn Edin and anthropologistrnLaura Lein inter’iewed 214 singlernwelfare mothers and 165 poor, workingrnsingle mothers in Chicago, Boston, SanrnAntonio, and Charleston. The authorsrnseek to undermine welfare reform by offeringrna rationale for congressional andrn”nonprofit” forces looking to cushion thernshocks welfare mothers will feel uponrnentering the world of work.rnMost of the mothers...

FJwa: GREAT TOPICS—GREAT ISSUESrnif.rnPRIVATE JUSTICE—JANUARY 1998—ThomasrnFleming on private justice, Michael Hill on Celtic revenge,rnBarry Baldwin on blood feuds, and Jeremy Blackrnon how the state monopolizes violence. Plus DavidrnKopel on burglary and the armed homestead, Stephen P.rnHalbrook on Switzerland and its armed citizenry, andrnGeoffrey Wagner on whipping in the West Indies.rnNATION UNDER GOD—December 1997—ThomasrnFleming praises intolerance,...

Principalities & Powersrnby Samuel FrancisrnAn Infantile Disorderrn”Why, we could lick them in a month!”rnboasts Stuart Tarleton soon after thernConfederates fire on Fort Sumter inrnMargaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.rn”Gentlemen aKva’s fight better than rabble.rnAmonth—why, one battle.” At thatrnpoint, young Mr. Tarleton is interruptedrnby Rhett Butler, a rather darker characterrnin Mitchell’s novel than the swashbucklingrnplayboy created...

then there was less than a universal consensusrnin the South for separation. Today,rnthat case simply does not apply. Thernmodern South has probably profitedrnfrom federal largesse more than mostrnother regions, and the argument forrnstates’ rights, which Southerners invokedrnfrom Jefferson to George Wallace, is silencedrnby the demands of Southernrnpoliticians for more farm subsidies, morerndefense contracts, more military...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnGermanyrnby Michael WalkerrnFat and ImpotentrnIn modern Germany, where even discussionrnof political ideology is a matterrnwhich has to be treated with extreme circumspection,rnpolitical debate centers onrnthe safer area of financial management,rnand in recent years the main purpose ofrnfinancial management in Germany hasrnbeen to ensure a smooth path toward fullrnEuropean unification. Since the currencyrnreform of 1948...

to the level of Spain or Greece. Ominouslyrnfor Germans, the mark has latelyrnbeen slipping against the pound and dollar.rnThe strong Deutschmark has enabledrnGermans to enjoy package toursrnall around the world and to impress underprivilegedrnaborigines with theirrnbulging beer-bellies and gold bangles.rnThe luxury holiday has become a way ofrnlife for them. Not being able to affordrnpackage holidays...

just as soon do without. The New Liberals’rnleader at the time, Rodrigo LararnBonilla, expelled the two after the Bogotarndaily El Espectador revealed theirrnconnections to the Medellin cartel. Escobarrnwas nevertheless reelected, in partrndue to his “soccer field in every barrio”rnprogram in Medellin. The next year,rnRodrigo Lara was named Minister of Justicernand announced a program to combatrncampaign...

tie unsafe and uncomfortable labor conditions.rnThe cartels could incorporaternand work as a multinational with Mexicornand Italy. And the national airline Aviancarncould send cocaine worldwide with itsrnnew rapid airmail service. Best of all,rnpresidential candidates would no longerrnneed to hide campaign contributions, asrnis done in the United States.rnNo, Colombians live too close to thernreality of drugs to...

36th District Court judge, to oversee arndisciplinary hearing.rnBased on the alleged racist remarks,rnFerrara was charged with judicial misconduct.rnHearings began in September.rnOne of her 14-year-old sons testified thatrnFerrara had said “nigger” on several occasions.rnHe also claimed that she hadrnasked him if there was a way to destroyrnthe infamous tapes. Ferrara denied herrnson’s accusations, claiming Tarjeft hadrncoached...

VITAL SIGNSrnHISTORYrnThe CensoredrnHistory ofrnInternmentrnby Joseph E. FallonrnIn March 1997, Japanese-Peruviansrnwho had been interned in the UnitedrnStates during World War II called uponrnPresident Clinton to issue an executivernorder awarding them financial compensationrnsimilar to that awarded in 1988rnto Japanese-American former interneesrnand relocatees under PublicrnLaw 100-383. Simultaneously, thesernJapanese-Peruvians lobbied members ofrnCongress to enact legislation whichrnwould award them this...

two most liberal members at that time),rnupheld the conshtutionality of ExecutivernOrder 9066. The Court ruled that thernexclusion of residents of Japanese ancestryrnfrom the West Coast was deemedrnnecessary because “there were disloyalrnmembers of that population whose numberrnand strength could not be preciselyrnand quickly ascertained.” There was alsorna justifiable fear that Japan would invadernthe West Coast. The...

Board of Education.) In return, Weldrngave gay activists carte blanche in hisrnadministration, appointing several homosexualsrnto state posts. Among themrnwas LaFontaine—who several years agornwas spotted in the periphery of an ACTrnUP protest in Boston in which homosexualrnmilitants pelted newly ordainedrnCatholic priests (and their relatives) withrncondoms as they left a church inductionrnceremony. Now LaFontaine’s activismrnis funded by...

locked on ratification of the Child LaborrnAmendment to the federal Constitution,rnthe lieutenant governor cast the decidingrnballot for the amendment. State senatorsrnand house members sued, arguing thatrnthe legislature had not actually ratifiedrnthe amendment. In Raines v. Byrd, thernCourt limited Coleman to the propositionrnthat “legislators whose votes wouldrnnot have been sufficient to defeat (or enact)rna specific legislative...

have written and proposed it to the otherrn12. And so it is today, as a single state legislature,rnsay Idaho, could propose a newrnConstitution to the other 49 state legislatures.rnThis state need not ask the feds forrnpermission to do this.rnThe point of all this is not actually tornform a new government in Washingtonrnbut to initiate a...

more intensive head starts, the ideologuesrnof sociahsm have locked us intornconsidering only the one (failed and failing)rnapproach to the alleviation of ourrnproblems.rnThe science that is so abused shouldrnbe explicitly stated. It is abundantlyrnclear, both for wheat plants and forrnhumans, that inherited genetic factorsrnand environmental experiences are bothrnimportant in determining outcomes,rnwhether wheat crop yields or human...

tenced to death. Or perhaps you shouldrngo to Israel, a Western-style democracyrnthat puts strict limits on the freedom ofrnChristian proselytizers. Try preachingrnJesus in Nazareth and you will be deportedrn—if you are lucky. Persist, andrnyou may get a chance to make somernPalestinian friends behind bars.rnRussia’s legislation is of course flawed,rnif only because religion should not bernregulated...

The Hundredth Meridianrnby Chilton Williamson, JrrnWhistling DixiernHistorians have been arguing since thern1950’s whether the West ought to be understoodrnas a frontier, a region, or thernseamless westward extension of Easternrnand Midwestern America. Beginning inrnthe 1980’s the debate intensified, owingrnto the work of the so-called New WesternrnHistorians who like to think that theyrnstarted it all. Led bv...

make it out to be, but different enough tornmake a difference, especially in the longrnrun. The founders, developers, andrnboosters of the West’s great cities wererncertainly provincial, like the cities themselves,rnbut they built with the great cosmopolitanrncities of the East in mind,rncopying or aspiring to the Eastern urbanrnmodel while importing Eastern values,rncultural forms, and political institutions.rnMore...

Modern Scholarly Editions of ClassicrnWorks for Today’s ReadersrnHISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND TERNINATIONrnOF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONrnIn TVo VolumesrnBy Mercy Otis WarrenrnEdited and annotated by Lester H. CohenrnMercy Otis Warren was arguably the most formidable, intellectually engaged womanrnin eighteenth-century America. Steeped in the classical, republican tradition, she wasrnan ardent proponent of the American Revolution. She...

Today’s best investmentrnisn ‘tprinted on paper.rn• – – ‘ . – ^rnIf you are concerned about protecting your savings and retirement, investingrnin your children’s future, or simply diversifying your portfolio, you needrnthe 1997 Gold Investor’s Guide.rnOrder our FREE 1998 Gold Investment Guide and see how yourrninvestments can be protected and grow in the world’s oldest...

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnScott P. RichertrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.]. Brown, KatherinernDalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnJ.O. Tate, Michael Washburn,rnClyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, William Milk,rnJacob Neusner, Momcilo SelicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford InstituternPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnPRODUCTION SECRETARYrnAnita CandyrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn928 North Main Street,...

liarity of the American situation is thatrnthe distinctive logic of American religiosityrnjustifies this fragmentation of beliefrnand behavior. Hitchcock claims evangelicalrnChristianity as a second —andrncountervailing—force to secularism inrnAmerica’s founding. But he overlooksrnthe way in which these two strains —rnEnlightenment secularism and evangelicalrn(i.e., Puritan) Christianity—reinforcerneach other in American history.rnHitchcock says that as a philosopher Irnappear to believe...

CULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnLARRY NAMAN had had enough ofrnarrogant and unresponsive politicians,rnand so he shot one. This past summer,rnthe (media-described) drifter took aimrnand shot at the head of Maricopa CountyrnSupervisor Mary Rose Wilcox—a runof-rnthe-mill politician in Phoenix, knownrnprimarily for how loud and how oftenrnshe can shout “police brutality.” Butrnthanks to an alert security official, thernbullet missed its...

backdrop for presidential visits to thernSouth.” For instance, “Brazil’s ChiefrnJustice Selso de Mello turned down anrninvitation to dinner with Mr. Clinton inrnprotest to an American embassy documentrnwhich dismissed the country’s judicialrnsystem as inefficient. The Americanrnambassador, Melvyn Levitsky, has spentrna week trying to undo misunderstandingsrnand apologizing for a reference to endemicrncorruption in Brazilian culture.”rnThe goodwill salvaged...

Corner.rn• The Roots of Roots: Philip Nobilerncontinues his debunking of the fictionalizedrnand plagiarized Pulitzer Prize-winningrnRoots “by” Alex Haley. As reportedrnin the October 6 issue of PublishersrnWeekly, Nobile claims that Haley was actuallyrn”semi-literate,” that “virtually everythingrn[in the book] was taken fromrnsomewhere else,” that even “the epiloguerncontains lies about its preparation,”rnand that “if [Doubleday] didn’trnknow [about the...

GREAT TOPICS—GREAT ISSUESrn•’/)/(/(.JrnNATION UNDER GOD—December 1997—ThomasrnFleming praises intolerance, D. George Leech outlines arnChristian foreign policy, William A. Donohue discussesrnthe last respectable bias-anti-Catholicism, Llewellyn H.rnRockwell, Jr. shows why the Christian right needs Econ.rn101, and Harold O.J. Brown questions the ethics ofrnclergy.rnMANIFEST DISASTER—June 1997—ThomasrnFleming on the new imperialism, Samuel Francis onrnglobalism and its consequences, Joseph Sobran on...

PERSPECTIVErnPlaying God, or Being Men?rnby Thomas FlemingrnIn the American TV nightmare, the police are the protagonists.rnOr the antagonists. It depends on the program and thernpoint of view. We love the idea of the tough cop—Clint Eastwood,rnDennis Farina, Dennis Franz —who breaks the rulesrnand busts a few heads in a good cause. But change channels,rnand when...

record.” Mike—or Tom—was not too bright, so I explainedrnthat he still had to do his own time. Eyeing me with contempt,rnhe said: “I don’t mind doing time: you meet a lot of great guysrnon the inside.”rnIn refiising to punish crime, we create, at the very least, incentivesrnfor criminal behavior. By not executing murderers,rnarmed robbers, kidnappers,...

come addicted to a fatal drug that destroys all inhibitions. Embracingrnanarchy and savagery, they are joined by representativesrnof every class. As the mobs sweep through the land, evenrncivilized people seize the opportunity of taking revenge againstrntheir neighbors for slights and injuries suffered years before.rnCivilization is in ruins, the land depopulated, when sevenrnhorsemen set off on...

done to the corporate body of the clan was so egregious that itsrnmembers never ceased to “have war in their hearts.”rnGovernments before the modern era did not see it as thernbusiness of the state to intervene in matters of justice that werernlocal in nature. In fact, there was a widespread belief that thernstate’s right to...

how a Celtic clan’s perception of justice vis-a-vis another clanrnchanged in time of war. In peacetime, the commonly heldrnprinciples of the blood feud prevented the burning of a rivalrnclan’s houses, especially with the inhabitants still inside. However,rnin time of open warfare, house-burning was a frequentrnmeans of settling scores. Alasdair MacColla, the champion ofrnthe Clan Donald...

ister was eventually denounced and destroyed as a traitor, andrnin which vinestakes had sharpened points to impale the enemyrnparachutists supposedly always about to invade!)rnOne definition of justice in the communist-produced AlbanianrnDictionary reads, “The sword of the People, by which arntraitor is sliced.” Berisha was soon well down this same path,rndumping the cofounder of his original...

animals. After Hoxha’s death in 1985, a mobile cadre devotedrnto maintaining his “teachings” (many bulky volumes, in effectrnthe communist Kanun) was called “Standard Bearers ofrnEnver.”rnX must attend Ys funeral and wake, at which he will be neitherrninsulted nor harmed by the male relatives, one of whom isrnnow his own designated killer. A 30-day Besa is...

Arms, Violence, and the StaternA Historical Perspectivernby Jeremy BlackrnGovernments today seek to monopolize violence and torncontrol the ability of people to defend themselves, theirrnfamilies, and their communities. In doing so, governmentsrnpresent themselves not only as representatives and protectorsrnof their people, but also as the necessary end of the historicalrnprocess. These views can be contested, not...

ing termed the “white rajahs” of Sarawak. Under the nephew,rnSir Charles Anthony Johnson, the territory expanded, and inrn1888 Sarawak was converted into a British protectorate. Thernlast rajah did not cede Sarawak to the British crown until 1946;rnhis position had been destabilized by the effects of Japanese occupationrnduring World War II.rnThis sense of helplessness, itselfrnfueled by...

were strong and the ownership of personal weapons widespread.rnNevertheless, ever since the North’s victory in the CivilrnWar, the central government has increasingly viewed politicalrnopponents and nonconformists as lawless rogues whornneeded to be controlled, if not suppressed. This developmentrnwas especially evident in the severe suppression of personal libertiesrnduring World War I, in the “Red Scare” and...

most distinguished the crusading democratrnfrom his predecessors was the obsessivenessrnof his missionary New Testamentrnvision. Unhke earher Americanrnleaders, Wilson burned with democraticrnidealism. He attributed this quality tornothers fighting the “German militaristsrnand autocrats” and was afterwardsrnshocked to discover their cynical attitudesrnabout power.rnAccording to McDougall, Americanrnintervention on the side of the Allies mayrnhave been justified to avoid “the...

Like all the best writers, he allowsrnyou to lose yourself so fully in hisrnwork that the words on the paperrnbegin to assume real life, the peoplernbreathing and moving and actingrnon their own. It’s as if thesernnovels were simply found somewhere,rnalready formed, and notrnwritten page by page, month afterrnmonth, year after year.rnBrown wrote those lines after...

Principalities & Powersrnby Samuel FrancisrnThe New Shape ofrnAmerican Politicsrn(The following remarks were delivered in arnpanel discussion, “The New Shape ofrnPolitics,” at the International ConservativernCongress in Washington, D.C., onrnSeptember 27, 1997)rnFirst of all, I want to thank John O’Sullivanrnfor asking me to take part in this panel,rnand secondly I want to issue a fairrnwarning to my...

Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee onrnimmigration is Senator Spencer Abraham,rnwho refuses to countenance any effortrnto reduce immigration; and the greatrnfear within the Beltway right is that byrneven mentioning immigration, the Repubhcansrnwill alienate the Hispanicrnvote —a concern that tends to confirmrnMiddle American perceptions that politicalrnelites are allied with an underclassrnagainst the middle class. Hence, therntrend of thought within...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Grenadarnby Geoffrey WagnerrnRevenge of the CatrnI recently noticed an article in thernTrinidad Guardian about two malernteenagers who had been charged withrnsavagely “chopping” an old man (thoughrnnot to death). Each youth received arnsentence of 42 years in prison plus 20rnstrokes of the birch. It was the latter partrnof the sentence, the instrument designatedrnby the...

and stoicism exists. In fact, one of HughrnWalpole’s most popular fictions beginsrnwith a caning. It is called Fortitude.rnGeoffrey Wagner’s most recent book is arntranslation of Gerard de Nerval’s Aureliarn(Exact Change Press, Boston).rnLetter FromrnRockfordrnby Frank SchierrnHow the Little Guys WonrnEditors’ note: Our hometown of Rockford,rnIllinois, is celebrated by pollsters as one ofrnthe most demographically average cities...

which did business with smaller companiesrnin the proposed taxing districtrninformed them that opposition to thernproposed solution would hurt their bottomrnline.rnThis was no idle threat. Under the Illinoisrnmosquito abatement statute, thernspecial taxing district would automaticallyrnbe created unless 51 percent of the affectedrnproperty owners signed a petitionrnopposing the district. In other words,rnthere was no “Australian ballot.” A...

The little guys and gals had hadrnenough. Three hundred and forty-sevenrnproperty owners signed the petition —arnfull 63 percent; the statute required onlyrn51 percent. Still, Mayor Box would notrnconcede. The city, which had declaredrnthe number of properhes in the taxingrndistrict to be 550, hired a local title companyrn(paradoxically named Chicago Title)rnto research the owners-of-record.rnConcerned Property Owners,...

VITAL SIGNSrnCRIMErnBurglary and thernArmed Homesteadrnby David KopelrnGuns in the right hands make allrngood people safer —includingrnpeople who don’t own guns. The higherrnthe number of responsible people whornhave guns ready to be used for selfdefense,rnthe safer the public is. Therntremendous degree to which widespreadrngun ownership makes American homesrnsafer from home invaders is one of therngreat unreported...

to get shot.”rnOpponents of gun ownership forrnhome defense insist that—despite whatrnburglars say again and again—the fear ofrnarmed victims has Httle to do with burglaryrnpatterns. Instead, burglars arernclaimed to be nonconfrontational by nature,rnwanting to avoid seeing any victim,rnarmed or not. But this assertion fails tornexplains why burglars in Great Britain orrnCanada are so much less shy...

plains, “To me, the only reason for gunsrnin civilian hands is for sporting purposes.”rnThis view is antithetical to legislationrnenacted in Colorado and otherrnstates which makes explicit the common-rnlaw right to use deadly force againstrnviolent home invaders. Thus, the antigunrnlobbies push for laws like Canada’s,rnwhich effectively abolishes home defense.rnIn Canada, “safe storage” laws requirernthat guns be...

as lies of enemy propaganda. Ourrncountry will resist aggression withrnall means in its power and to thernbitter end.rnSwitzerland, in other words, possessedrnthe most democratic system of nationalrndefense in Europe. The Nazis were wellrnaware that invasion meant fighting on everyrninch of ground (much of it vertical),rnin every city and village, in every pasturernand mountainside, right down...

tia… . It is the pride of the countryrnthat every citizen is allowed tornkeep his army rifle and ammunitionrnin his house. So orderly andrnethically advanced is the populationrnof this model country thatrnthere is rarely a case where this officiallyrnsanctioned and encouragedrncustom leads to violence. Withrnher main inaccessible mountains,rnher passionately liberty-loving populationrnfamed for marksmanship,rnSwitzerland is a...