Category: Imported

Statesman, P.O. Box 2635, Denver, Colorado 80201)rnThe Libertarian Party’s national platform is the most intellectuallyrnrigorous of any third party’s, but in actual practice thisrnparty becomes unpredictable. It favors eliminating taxes, endingrncentral banking, stopping foreign aid and interventionism,rnbut also opening borders completely (thereby one-upping JulianrnSimon) and repealing state-level restrictions on pornography.rnThe national party has trumpeted NAFTA...

party of Governor Walter Hickel, Nixon’s former Secretary ofrnthe Interior, wfio was elected in 1990. But factionalism hasrnsplintered the group to produce the Alaska First Party, whichrnHickel may join. The name is the most appealing and repeatablernparty name to come along in years. Indeed, why not putrnAlaska first? Or Montana, Idaho, Nevada, or Texas?rnThe Peace...

That is why groups like the United States Taxpayers Partyrnrepresent praiseworthy pioneer efforts to give authentic conservativesrnsomeone to vote for besides whomever NortheasternrnRockefeller interests choose to serve up. Another alternativernmight be the Constitution Party being formed by movie producerrnAaron Russo (1590 Lindacrest Dr., Beverly Hills, Californiarn90210), which promises libertarianism without the baggage.rnThis is probably just...

velopments in American history. Senator Robert La Folletternwas nominated for President in Cleveland by the new ProgressivernParty on July 6, 1924. According to the New York Times ofrnJuly 12, 1924, which surveyed the ballot access restrictionsrnthat La Follette faced, in no state had the petition deadlinernpassed. In 30 of the 48 states, the petition deadline...

turnout has never been worse. Only 50 percent of the ehgiblernvoters cast a ballot in the presidential election in 1988. Turnoutrnin the 1992 presidential primaries was the worst ever for presidentialrnprimaries. The November 1992 election brought a reprieve,rnup to 55 percent, but primaries and elections sincernthen have slumped to new turnout lows. Furthermore, thernsame party,...

. . . in committee. Once such a bill reaches the floor and isrnpassed by both houses of a legislature and signed by the governor,rnno one would argue that, because it should not havernreached the floor of one of the legislative chambers, it was invalid.rnA legislative committee, like an initiative petition, is arnscreening procedure, and...

public schools, that is state-run schools, were “necessary for thernpreservation of democracy.” (Did George Washington attendrnpublic schools?) And so the attacks started. Farris wanted tornban books. Farris wanted to “destroy” public schools. (Farris,rnin fact, wanted to decentralize the state school system, movingrnpower from the state bureaucracy to locally elected schoolrnboards, which are now manned by...

normally moderate “leaders” such as Senator Dole are “fallingrnin step”? Senator Dole is now presumably pondering the faternof his own valued respectability, the hint having been dropped.rnSo far, the campaign against the Christian right insurgencyrnhas appeared only to strengthen the resolve of the rebels, andrneven the party establishment has felt compelled to voice somernprotest over...

decisions and knowledge. They alsorntend to be strong advocates of laissezfairerncapitalism, even more so thanrnmembers of the better-known ChicagornSchool. Deriving the principles of economicsrnfrom self-evident axioms, thernAustrians see the free market not merelyrnas the most efficient allocator of scarcernresources, but, more importantly, as partrnof the natural order of things.rnGiven the popularity of the pragmatic-rnempiricist Chicagoites...

trust is equated with wise governance,rnand ignorance is masked by the universalrncircus into which this kind of poHtics degenerates.rnLani Guinier places herself in thisrngrand tradition, and at the same time, byrnrepublishing an article that calls certainrnaspects of this legacy into question, confusesrnus as to her purposes. On June 4,rn1993, upon the withdrawal of her namernfor...

implement various mechanisms, nullificationrnand the concurrent majorityrnamong them, to protect the rights andrnliberties of the minority section. Althoughrnhe never abandoned his attachmentrnto the Union, he maintained thatrnhis rivals had perverted it by transformingrnthe government into an instrumentrnof patronage.rnCalhoun suffered to behold the nationrnabandoned to party hacks andrnspoilsmen. Only honorable, autonomous,rnand dispassionate gentlemen whornwere not prey...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnLouisvillernby Katherine DaltonrnMerging Local GovernmentrnYou may think of Louisville, Kentucky—rnif you think of it at all—as a sprawling,rnmidsize, metropolitan community ofrn800,000 m the Upper South. But likernmost other American cities, Louisville isrnlegall)’ not one community, but many.rnCountvwide there is a total of 95 governments:rnLouisville, the county, and 93rnsmall cities. There are also 22 fire...

the small cities were asked to dissolve tornimplement a future merger plan, thatrnplan would probably lose a lot of wellconnectedrnvotes.rnThe small cities offer their residentsrntwo things: identity and services. Citiesrnsuch as Jeffersontown and Middletownrn(both founded in 1797, just 17 years afterrnLouisville) are communities withrnstrong personalities and long histories.rnResidents are loath to give these up. Asrnfor...

cording to University of Louisville urbanrnpolicy professor Hank Savitch. He pointsrnout that suburban residents have arnpocketbook interest in the health ofrndowntown. His work has shown thatrnwhile there are wealthy suburbs surroundingrntroubled urban centers, in general,rn”suburbs do better when centralrncities do well. The areas that are inrndeepest trouble in America are areas thatrnhave seen their central...

VITAL SIGNSrnP O L I T I C SrnGlamour, Glitter,rnGlitz, and Gloryrnby Tomislav SunicrnThe Rise of Video PoliticsrnNobody can deny that the videospherernhas completely devouredrnthe graphosphere. The one-dimensionalrnsurreal world has hijacked the threedimensionalrnreal world. The CNN andrnABC networks in America, the FrenchrnTFl and TF2, have totally displacedrnbooks and journals. The swift, levitatingrnimage has come ahead...

Poland, Russia, Slovakia, and Croatia arernconcerned, they display the huge Slavicrnheart—^but also the huge epic mouth.rnWhen they roam along the East Riverrncorridors, they appear unable to shedrntheir homo sovieticus veneer that theyrninherited from the communist way ofrnlife. All of them strike the observer’s eyernas exotic species with an amazing talentrnfor singing liberal slogans without reallyrnknowing...

head looks and talks. As the respected tone one tells a dieting friend, “You’,rntrench sociologist Jean Baiidrillard receiifKrnuK^te, modern polities will be thernart of ” ideo-fodlmg.” lie who kiunvsrnhow to sell himself on the IN screen willrnbe the ultiinafe political winner, regardlessrnof how much of a half-wit he marnaetualK be.rnCad Schmift wrote a long time...

applicant, hoping she would begin.rn”Does that mean you’re a Republican?”rnasked a female professor. (1rnchecked the scene on mv mind’s VCR:rnshe, head cocked to the side, staringrnsmugly, awaiting my answer—1, leaningrnforward, inches from her face, suddenKrnscreaming, “NO, LADY, IT MEANSrnrMAFySClST!” Click! 1 hit the fastforwardrnbutton just in time.) “Yes itrndocs.” I said, laughing amiablv.rnScanning the room,...

homes and disturbed childhoods, andrnthey begin a three-month murder spreernthat claims some 50 lives. So far, this isrnscarcely new, as a similar story was told inrnthe 1973 classic Badlands and in thernmore recent Kalifornia, in which Lewisrnalso starred. Very early in the film, however,rnthe daring originality of Stone’s visionrnbecomes apparent in the recountingrnof Mallory’s abuse...

The Hundredth Meridianrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rnThe Home of the BravernVague and acrid as the ocherous smokerndrifting in scarves and shoals from firesrnburning across the West, the specter ofrnRange Reform pervaded the RockyrnMountain states last summer, the driestrnon record since 1932. In drought yearsrnranchers must move their cattle rapidlyrnoff one pasture and onto the next in...

place, Mickey’s Blue Heeler rolling hisrneye at me as he swam doggedly besidernthe horse. “Do }’ou see,” Mary asked,rn”where the sod is falling into the river?rnThey tell us the cows do that, but the riverrnundercuts the grass naturally. If thernBLM comes out here tomorrow andrnfinds any of our cows left, we’ll be inrntrouble. I’ll fly...

Everything you need to knowrnabout more ttianrn19,000 songs overrnftie past 100 yearsrnGiant 7 x 10 volume of 1,600 pages ^ Every style of popularrnmusk: love songs/movie musac/jazz/rock/show music/country/rnrhythm & bhies/gospel/patriotk songsrnHere at your fingertips: the “biography” of just about everyrnsong since the late 19th century! You get the history of the songrn. . . the...

DON’T LET M M GOrnUNOPPOSED!rnOr They’ll Control The Campus Debate. The universities still don’t get the picture.rnThey think students of the nineties still want tornhear the tiresome rhetoric of the sixties. And inrnmost schools that’s all students get when itrncomes to guest lecture programs.rnBut students bold enough to take action tornbalance their education can do...

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChikon Williamson, ]r.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnChristine HaynesrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O./. Brown, Katherine Dalton,rnSamuel Francis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, Jacob Neusner.rnJohn Shelton Reed, Momcilo SelicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnCOMPOSITION MANAGERrnAnita FedorarnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute,rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn934 North Main Street, Rockford,...

in governing ourselves, rather than opposingrn”them.” Of course, Hfe was notrnthe paradise described by communistrnpropaganda. But maybe the above helpsrnexplain why people newly liberated fromrntotalitarian systems are not likely to acceptrndemocratic principles like “the rightrnto have multiple choices” and so on.rnAlso, we shouldn’t think of pilfering asrnthe main reason for scarcity in the formerrnU.S.S.R. As...

the acceptance of God. Without God,rnpositive law—ever changing, always relativern—carries the day. They recognizernthat without God all things are possiblernand see not only the Soviet Union butrnthe contemporary West as telling examplesrnof what “all things” can be. Thernczarist system, for all its arbitrary power,rnwas limited to some extent by the moralrnstrictures of Christianity: the gulag...

sters and punks who are besieging ourrncities like packs of wild dogs from the ordinaryrnpeople who have been reduced tornservile laziness by the welfare state andrninfected with a sense of victimizationrnthat prevents them from doing anythingrnto help themselves.rn—Thomas FlemingrnPBS HUCKSTERS Biff and Muffyrnbleated “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”rnfrom my TV and radio a couple of weeksrnback. They’re...

an equal contest . . . they don’t want arncontest. And, by the way, what courtrnever said that the airwaves are pubhcrnproperty? Imagine if governmentrnclaimed ownership of everything it regulated?rnUnder those assumptions, whornowns your car or your home—or, for thatrnmatter, you?rnCalculated on a dollars-per-bleatrnbasis, it is no surprise that PBS stationsrnsurround Biff-and-Muffy begathons withrnYawny in...

can eclipse all else. For instance, facingrnminimal protest. Mayor Frank Jordan isrngoing through with his “Matrix” programrnto get certain street people, manyrnof whom can be downright menacing,rnoff the streets.rnMeal-ticket civil libertarians and radicalrnclergy have been thrown into a predictablerntizzy. But their rallies havernfailed to draw any significant numbers.rnOne overnight protest in front of CityrnHall attracted...

anything at all nice about Mr. Quaylern(there weren’t too many) also made surernthe reader knew that it was really Mr. K.rnwho was responsible for the niceness.rnEven then, Bill had his eyes set on somethingrnlarger than keeping track of thernvice presidential cerebrum.rnAlas came 1992, and that somethingrndid not materialize. Mr. Kristol, alongrnwith the rest of his...

downplaying the religious dimension asrnmuch as possible, excising the radicalismrnthat derives from that dimension andrndepicting the movement as simply anotherrnadjunct of the conservative (i.e.,rnneoconservative) apparat. Thus, whilernMr. Bennett, in the June 26 WashingtonrnPost, defended the Christian Right’srnright to take part in politics and the rolernof religion in informing political affairs,rnhe tried to make out that...

PERSPECTIVErnth AmrnThern”I told yrning allrn;ss but forrn;panrn1 polrn1 apprecLrn:ir re<:umrn3Ugh hfl’tirn: Genocirn’liked brn^ of stayirrni pay ou i^r^S^X>-C»=f5«’« J.-.-‘^iljr^X’Vf^SrnK s t irnPK.-incrnhr soldrn|(U;e.rnK’-‘ e arrn11″; 0 b(rnliltingrni ve hrn[i: ntern1 C” iiestrn[lime, 1rnp ‘ve crn£!id tornA Philanthropic JournaHstrnby Thomas FlemingrnIf representative government requires a free press, as thernfounders of this Republic believed, then it is...

Bache. Cobbett’s modest ambition to leave his country nornworse than he found it is the political equivalent of the Hippocraticrninjunction to do no harm.rnAdversarial journalism has had a long history in Britain andrnAmerica, and some of the best of it has been reactionary: thernessavs of Swift, Johnson, and Coleridge; and in America, thernnewspaper and magazine...

could only confuse them.rnTo defend an entire civilization is a task too imposing evenrnfor our self-conceit, and we have limited our primaryrnsphere of activity to “American culture,” which we do notrnconstrue according to any exceptionalist or Whitmanesque formula.rnOur American cultures only make sense as regional andrnprovincial variations on some very ancient themes, but sincernthis is...

we expect him to make a series of compromises in the servicernof our shared ideals, and if he is unwilHng to bend, he shouldrnfind some other line of work. But if the compromising beginsrnat our level, at the level of what our friend Mel Bradford usedrnto call the higher journalism, then the statesman is left...

all the major metropolitan papers, including the dual voices ofrnGod, the New York Times and Washington Post; of the Siameserntwins, Time and Newsweek; and of each member of the airwaverntrinity, ABC, CBS, and NBC. There was quite ferocious competitionrnto see who could say the least about Contras andrndrugs.rnWhy was the story not covered? It seemed...

1980’s a staunch American ally and could not be depicted as arnterrorist sponsor state, while the Afghanistan adventure enjoyedrnbipartisan support as the crucial campaign in destabilizingrnthe Evil Empire.rnThe virtue of international news is that editors and newsrnmanagers can claim with some plausibility that nobody citherrnknows or cares. There are still millions of Americans whornthink that...

which means that a newspaper or television news division is onerncomponent of a chain of business ventures that may also includernfast food and computers, sports teams and book publishing.rnThese connections cannot fail to constrain the investigativernambitions of editors or journalists, who fall underrnenormous pressures to exhibit corporate loyalty. Few administrationsrnor city governments would be so...

plane, a feat that seriously damaged U.S.-Soviet relations at arntime when they seemed to be on the mend. President Eisenhowerrntried at first to fob the incident off as the case of an unfortunaternweather-reconnaissance aircraft that had gone astray,rnbut he was compelled to admit the truth when it turned outrnthat the Russians had captured the U-2...

write these words as the United States is poised to send an invasionrnforce of Marines into Haiti, and I think of all the otherrnmilitary interventions of recent years that could have beenrnavoided—or at least better understood by Americans—if thernmedia had not been so eager to parrot the official line: Grenadarnand Panama, Iraq and Somalia. All...

nancier was the Soviet Union, was headlined: “ANC activistrnOliver Tambo dies. Stroke claims towering hero of 30-year fightrnfor freedom.” Or when, after 60 percent of House Democratsrnstiffed Bill Clinton on NAFTA—leaving him to be rescued bvrnthe 75 percent of House Republicans who voted for it—thernbanner front-page headline declared, without a trace of ironv,rn”Clinton’s NAFTA triumph.”rnyY...

haviorally based and receives far less public attention and fundingrnthan AIDS.rnPick also justified the incredibly promiscuous and risky sexualrnbehavior of the 1970’s that led directly to AIDS by quotingrna Chicago bar owner named Art Johnston, who “acknowledgedrnthat the eadv bar scene, redolent with sex, led inexorablyrnto the scourge of AIDS. But he sees the time...

his city, his state, and the nation.” Translation: if he is crooked,rnso what? He brings home the pork, so vote for him anyway.rnThe Tribune’s cheerleading was not restricted to the editorialrnpage, either. When Bill Clinton came to Chicago to helprnpull Rostenkowski out of the quicksand, reporters Hanke Gratteaurnand Mitchell Locin tagged along to get their...

A Serb friend, whose family is from Croatia and whose universityrndegree is in engineering, was quick to tell me that althoughrnSlovenia fired the first shots in the civil war, that in itselfrnwas not critical because there were no appreciablernminorities in Slovenia. Hence Slovenian independence camernwithout much bloodshed. Croatia was different, he said, becausernof the large...

“And you know,” he added, “during the entire Tito period, thernKosovo Albanians were systematically persecuting the Serbs—rnsetting haystacks on Bre, cutting down fruit trees, raping youngrngirls on their way from school—and desecrating their monuments,rnand yet there was not a word about it in our or thernworld’s press. Several years after Tito’s death we learned thatrnthe...

pying forces. In many such areas, they were not disturbed ifrnthey did not constitute a threat to the occupation army.” Anotherrnfriend was anxious to tell me that, of course, rapes wererncommitted by all sides, but, he said, “there is not a shred ofrnevidence that rape was ordered by anyone in authority, andrncertainly not as policy.”rnA...

bashing.” I was also able to show him translated excerpts fromrna 1993 book by the Frenchman Jacques Merlino, the title ofrnwhich (in English) reads The Truth From Yugoslavia h Not BeingrnReported Honestly. Among other things, Merlino reportsrnthat an official of a public relations firm in Washington toldrnhim that their greatest success was in having, in...

tigative reporter has tackled this matter. Ironieally, we haverngiven Russia millions to destroy the stocks of her old chemicalrnweapons.rnTruly trivial books on Russia have multiplied for years, writtenrnby journalists, professors, and ordinary visitors. The NewrnYork Times has reviewed some of those I have refused to reviewrnfor the local paper, while passing over books from countriesrnwhose...

rich nations, falsifies the discourse from the outset.rnAs Ambassador Richard F. Staar pointed out, Russians comprisern83 percent of all Russian Federation people but occupyrnless than half of federation territory. The other half belongs tornvarious national groups to whom Russian rule brought unqualifiedrnmisery. The British settlers civilized the lands theyrntook away from the American Indians, and...

no one else. When the spoils of the empire were dividedrnamong various Russian institutions on December 16, 1991, A.rnAlimzhanov, Speaker of the Council of People’s Deputies,rncalled this “the final act of lawlessness. . . insulting . . . to thernnon-Russian republics.” When the Soviet Academy of Sciencernwas renamed the Russian Academy of Science, its Russianrnpresident...