Unisex MultiplexrnWlien Felix Met Oscarrnby J.O.TaternHow could I possibly know as much as I do about popularrnentertainmeut? I mean, I almost neer go to the moviesrnanymore. The big multiplexes annoy me with the stink of theirrnsprays, their even more vexing segmentation of the audience,rnand their usurious popcorn prices. At home, I have no Hnic forrntelevision,...

G.I. JanernI Love a Gal in a Uniformrnby Christopher CheckrnDESFIREX, tlie Desert Firing Exereise, is a semi-annualrneelebration of eordite, steel, white phosphorous, andrnsand held at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center inrnTuents” Nine Palms, California. During the weeks before, thernhowitzers and trueks are prepared for the field; They are rushedrndirough a maintcnanee pipeline that...

Beyond ConservatismrnThe Resistance Takes Shapernby Samuel FrancisrnPaleoconsen’atism” is an awkward word, but then what itrnpurports to describe is an awkward thing. The word inrnthe EngHsh language that it most resembles is “paleontolog}” —rnthe scientific study of fossils—and a fossil is precisely what mostrnof the enemies of paleoconser’atism accuse it of being. Coinedrnin 1986 or ’87,...

VIEWSrnNew Faiths for OldrnHow Matthew Shepard Replaced Jesus Christrnby Philip JenkinsrnReligion is a ver}’ sturd)’ creature. P’or two centuries, variousrnatheist regimes have tried to eHniinate rehgious pracHce inrntlieir societies and, without cxccpHon, have ended up restoringrnthe forms of the old worship, but with newer and far lamer excuses.rnThe French revolutionaries who tried to free their...

VIEWSrnThe Making of an Individualistrnby Bill Kauffmanrn1 liantrnle merely queer is no achievement, but to be brilitlyrnindividualistic is a fine art which Genevarnbrought to perfection,” wrote Warren Hunting Smith, who diedrnlast November at the age of 93.rnMr. Smith lived something of a double life. He was an editorrnof the Yale Edition of the Horace Walpole...

The Strange Career of IndividualismrnChoice Is It!rnby Donald W. LivingstonrnWhat is individualism? John Stuart Mill answered thisrnquestion with a theory of rights. Mill looked for a “simple”rntheoretical principle that could distinguish the liberty ofrnthe individual from that of the state. Not only is there no suchrnprinciple, but we miss the full character of individualism if...

VIEWSrnStar Trek or Star Wars?rnTwo Futures for American Educationrnby Mary PridernWhen I was growing up, the nuclear-war nighhnare andrnother end-of-the-world scenarios weighed heavily onrnfilmmakers’ minds. From radioactive giant lizards trashingrnTokyo to the ironic Planet of the Apes, from On the Beach to Dr.rnStrangelove, the movies made it clear that our social order wasrnon the edge...

My Son, the SociopathrnThe Education of a No-Manrnby Andrei NavrozovrnAfew years ago, before my son was born, I spent a weekendrnin the Hamptons at the conntry house of a moderately hiprnAmerican investment banker. There were about 20 of us to dinnerrnthat evening, with all the usual cosmopolitan strains amplyrnrepresented. Boring and predictable as the whole...

VIEWSrnDeformations of JusticernThe Presumption of Innocence, Double Jeopardy, and Other Fairy Talesrnby Philip JenkinsrnIf a U.S. administration formally attempted to establish an authoritarianrnpolice state, its efforts would almost certainly encounterrnbitter and even violent resistance; recent experience,rnhowever, has shown that remarkably authoritarian and unconstitutionalrnmethods can be established without provoking seriousrnprotest, provided thev are introduced piecemeal and...

The Living Constitution andrnthe Death of SovereigntyrnAmerican Constitutional Law Goes Internationalrnby Stephen B. PresserrnAs this is written, the United States and its NATO alHes arernbombing the Serbian forces of Slobodan Milosevic. Thisrnis the first offensive action for NATO, and the first time that jelliedrnarmed forces have been unleashed against a sovereign nationrnwith which the United...

”Sociar’ Justice Is Not JusticernThe Mirage of John Rawlsrnby Antony FlewrnIn The Mirage of Social justice, the second volume of his trilogyrnon Law, Legislation, and Liberty, Friedrich von Hayekrnconfessed that, “as a result of long endeavors to trace the destructiverneffect which the invocation of ‘social jushce’ has hadrnon our moral sensitivit)’,” he had “come to...

VIEWSrnDeath Before Dishonorrnby Roger D. McGrathrnThe 46-year-old veteran frontiersman lay in bed, desperatelyrnill. He was suffering from the effects of a gunshotrnwound that he had received in a fight. But duty called. Thernstate legislature asked him if he would lead an army of volunteersrnto engage the rampaging Red Stick Creeks. Thoughrnscarcely able to sit up...

Print the LegendrnRetaking the Alamornby William MurchisonrnAt the Alamo, Davy Crockett either: A. Died while swingingrnold Betsy; B. Came radically disconnected when herntorched the powder magazine; C. Surrendered to the Mexicans,rnwho tortured, then killed him, along with six other Anglornsurvivors of the siege.rnDoes it matter immensely which of these versions of Crockett’srndeath commends itself to...

Welcome to Dodge CityrnThe Gun on the Frontierrnby Dave KopelrnOn the American frontier of previous centuries, the possessionrnof a firearm was often a key to survival. In this regard,rnthe frontier of 20th-century America, although difiFerentrngeographically, is very much like earlier frontiers.rnAs different waves of Europeans arrived in North America,rneach took a distinct approach to trading...

VIEWSrnFamily Formation in Americarnby Virginia Deane AbernethyrnParents, some say, are people who use the rhythm methodrnof family planning. One might better say that parents arernoptimists, people who think that the present is good and the futurernprobably better. People who look forward with confidencernoften have an extra child; those who think that their situationrnmay worsen are...

Family Policy Is Not WelfarernLessons From the French Experiencernby Jean-Didier LecaillonrnFamily policy is strangely absent from debates in Europern(the word “famiK” plays no part in the treat}’ of EuropeanrnUnion signed at Maastricht). In France, however, it has becomernthe object of numerous controversies. P’rom these debates,rnseveral lessons can be drawn which would enable policymakersrnto avoid repeating...

Mommy’s Little MonsterrnDoes the Family Breed Serial Killers?rnby Philip JenkinsrnMonsters are an ancient phenomenon in human history:rnThere have always been individuals whose charactersrnare marked by brutal, sadistic cruelty, who lack any redeemingrninstincts of compassion or mercy. Call them what we will —rnfiends or psychopaths, ghouls or serial killers—this type is by nornmeans new to the...

VIEWSrnSisyphus and States’ Rightsrnby Stephen B. PresserrnCan a ten-year-old girl successfully sue a local school boardrnfor failing to prevent the sexual harassment of the youngrnlady by an elementary-school classmate? Should an Alabamarnstate court judge be able to display his hand-carved copy of thernTen Commandments in his courtroom? Can the people of arnstate decide that no...

Decentralists or D.C. Centralists?rnOverthrowing the Tyranny of LiberaHsmrnby Donald W. LivingstonrnAs we approach the end of this century, and indeed of a millennium,rnthere is more than the usual tendency to reflectrnon things human and divine. One thing we should ponder isrnthat the 20th century, often praised as the most enlightened,rnprogressive, and humane period in history,...

Cajuns UncagedrnLouisiana Declares Itself a Sovereign Staternby Michael Dan JonesrnWhile many modern historians, hberal pohHcians, andrnmedia eHtes would like to think that the very concept ofrn”state sovereignt}'” died when Robert E. Lee offered his swordrnto Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9,rn1865, the people of one state recently gave state sovereignt)’ arnringing endorsement...

VIEWSrnTom and Sally and Joe and FawnrnThe New Jefferson Mythrnby Egon Richard TauschrnThe liming of Nature magazine’s “expose” of Thomas Jefferson’srnalleged affair with his slave Sally Hemings receivedrna great deal of press attention, coming as it did just beforernelections which were expected to determine a modernrnphilandering president’s fate. At the same time, Joe Ellis, thernauthor...

VIEWSrnInsurgent Islam and American Collaborationrnby James George Jatrasrn^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ t e « p ^rnli§^^^mm^^^^^^^^^^^'”rn^^^”^^^^^^m^/Z/^^^^^^^^wiiMrnW^-“”^^^^//^^^^^^-^/-^^^^rny^^^0^^^00^m&^rnThe cultural schism between the Western and Easternrnhalves of European Christian civilization —marked principallyrnb}’ their respective religious traditions, Roman Catholicrnand Protestant in die West and Orthodox in the East, may orrnmay not prove fatal. One issue...

A Quiet, Little Jihad?rnby Harold O. J. BrownrnIn late summer last year, two United States embassies in EastrnAfrica were the target of murderous bomb attacks by Islamicrnterrorist groups. After ordering two retaliatory missile attacks onrninstallations presumed to be connected with militant Islamicrnextremism, President Clinton hastened to assure the Americanrnpeople that he has nothing against Islam,...

Multiculturalism and IslamrnLiberal Fiction and Historical Truthrnby Srdja TrifkovicrnSome say there is an inevitable clash between Westernrncivilization and Western values, and Islamic civilizationsrnand values. I believe this view is terribly wrong. Falsernprophets may use and abuse any religion to justify whatever politicalrnobjectives they have—even cold-blooded murder. Somernmay have the world believe that almighty God himself,...

Equality, Left and Rightrnby Paul GottfriedrnAmong the significant changes on the American intellectualrnright in the last 50 years is the growing emphasis onrnequality. From the speeches of Jack Kemp and the collectedrnworks of Professor Harry V. Jaffa to the arguments advanced forrnProposition 209 in California, it seems that equalit)’ is not onlyrna principle worthy of...

Nations Within Nationsrnby Samuel FrancisrnBy the end of 1998, it was no longer possible for any informedrnand honest person to claim that the massive immigrationrnexperienced by the United States since the 1970’srnwas not significantly altering the culture, economy, and politicsrnof the nation. Last summer, the Washington Post, long a zealousrnopponent of immigration restriction, published a...

VIEWSrnThe Great SchismrnGrounds for Division,rnGrounds for Unityrnby Fr. Hugh Barbour, O. Praem.rnIn August 1994,1 was happy to be one of the many Latin clericsrnwho over the years, in divisa or in borghese, have made arnpilgrimage to the Holy Mountain of Athos, the Garden of thernMother of God. On the Feast of tiie Lord’s Transfiguration, 1rnwas...

That They May Be OnernA Protestant View of Church Unityrnby Harold O. J. BrownrnOn the evening before His cmcifixion, Jesus prayed what isrnknown as the Great High Priestly Prayer. It is recordedrnfor us in John 17. In that short chapter, addressing the Fatherrnin the presence of His disciples, He prayed four times “that theyrnmay be...

Preaching to a Strange NationrnWestern Evangelism and Russiarnby Wayne Allensworthrn”Receive me, then, O Lord and lover of Mankind, even as the harlot, as the robber,rnas the publican, as the prodigal…”rn—The Prayer of St. Basil the GreatrnThe Law on Religion passed this year by the Russian StaternDuma restricts the activities of “non-traditional” religionsrn(Russian Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam,...

VIEWSrnDwight Macdonaldrnby John LukacsrnARebel in Defense of Tradition is the title of MichaelrnWreszin’s 1994 biography of Dwight Macdonald (1906-rn1982). It is a very good title, by which I mean something morernthan a “handle”; it is a precise phrase, a summary properly affixedrnto the memory of an extraordinary man. The emphasis ofrnWreszin’s biography is on Maedonald’s...

The Lion of IdahornWilliam E. Borah and the Progressivesrnby Justin RaimondornThe latest fad among leftist historians, according to the NewrnYork Times, is the study of the conservative movement.rn”By marrying social and political history,” the Times announced,rn”this new wave of scholarship is revising the history ofrnAmericans on the right”—a prospect that is at once depressingrnand potentially...

VIEWSrnThe Managerial Mobrnby Samuel Francisrn”M; ichael, we’re bigger than U.S. Steel,” boasts ganglandrnmastermind Hyman Roth to his (quite temporary)rnpartner, Michael Corleone, in Francis Ford Coppola’srnThe Godfather, Part U. Hyman, however, was not the first to sayrnit, and those familiar with the life history and achievements ofrnthe gentleman on whom Roth’s character is obviously based,rnthe late...

Tough Tamalesrnby J.O.TaternMaybe I should hop a jet to Vegas for a weekend at therndice tables or hang out in Beverly Hills for a while.rnMaybe I should bang a couple of hookers or sniff some cocainern—you know, something recreational to change my mood.rnI went in the library again and it didn’t do me any good.rnCall...

Running With the MobrnNo Swans in the Sewerrnby Jerry SeperrnThe New York Mob ain’t dead, but it’s far from the robustrntimes it enjoyed when the five New York crime famifies—rnBonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese —rnsingle-handedly controlled the city’s powerful labor unions andrnran roughshod over the burgeoning construction, trucking,rngarbage-hauling, and garment industries. Federal, state, and...

The ”Russian” Mafia in Americarnby Wayne AllensworthrnIn October 1996, during testimony before a congressionalrncommittee, FBI Director Louis Freeh spent a good part ofrnhis time discussing international organized crime. Freeh,rnpointing to the FBI’s arrest of one Vyacheslav Ivankov—the reputedrn”godfather” of the Russian mafia who is now serving arnten-year sentence in a federal pen in New York—emphasizedrnthe...

VIEWSrnThe Takeover of Our SchoolsrnA Call to Actionrnby Joyce B. HawsrnJt has become obvious that the majority of elected officials andrncandidates for pubUc office are not qualified for their positions,rnand often stand in the way of attempts to institute the programsrnand diversity that are the hallmarks of modem society. Nonetheless,rnAmerican voters, either because they are...

Funding Public SchoolsrnThe Michigan Modelrnby Greg KazarnWALL STrn-“immmm /,rn//^y//////^rnThe most telling moment in ‘The Agenda, Bob Woodward’srnbook on the Clinton presidency, occurs when the President-rnelect first realizes that Wall Street’s bond markets wieldrnmore power than he does as Commander in Chief of the lonernremaining superpower. “You mean to tell me,” Bill Clintonrnscreamed at his aides,...

Market-Driven Solutions to Public Educationrnby Lisa Graham KeeganrnI f we elect new school board members or run for the boardrnA ourselves, we can expect improved schools.” This is ourrnnational misunderstanding.rnNothing in the traditional public school system inherentlyrnpromotes excellence. Even the free election of school boardrnmembers—a token nod to democracy—fails to overcome thisrnsystem’s fatal flaws. As...

Flies in the OintmentrnThe Problem With School Vouchersrnby Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.rnSupporters of school vouchers are jumping for joy over arnWisconsin Supreme Court verdict, handed down thisrnsummer, that permits tax dollars to be used at religious schools.rnThey hope the decision will be the basis of a vast expansion ofrnvouchers (four other states are debating this...

The Dark, Dark Wood of Suicidernby Bill MurchisonrnAmong the many haunting and piteous images from thernInfemo of Dante is this one. The travelers, in Canto XIII,rnenter a pathless wood. Dante, on Virgil’s coaching, snaps a twigrnfrom a thorn tree. The tree yelps in pain, and no wonder. Therntree is the transmuted personage of a formerly...

Why Does Suicide Have a Bad Reputation?rnby Ernest van den HaagrnWhether and when we enter this world is decided not by,rnbut for us. Nor is it up to us to decide when to leave it.rnMost of us would like to stay longer than we are allowed —butrnour lifespan is ordained by forces beyond our control....

American Nationalism and Western CivilizationrnThe Limits of Buchananismrnby John O’SuUivanrnAny exploration of American nationalism must begin withrnthe National Question: “Is there such a thing as the Americanrnpeople? And if so, what is it?” Most people do not ask suchrnquestions. A Frenchman does not wonder if he is French, norrnthe Pole if he is Polish, nor—notoriously—the...

PERSPECTIVErnPut Out More Flagsrnby Thomas FlemingrnDo I contradict myself?rnVery well then I contradict myself.rn(I am large, I contain multitudes.)rnIllyria AmericanarnWalt Whitman was a bad poet, but he might have made an excellentrnAmerican statesman, something like an effeminaternMadeleine Albright, who can switch from one basic principlernto the next with a duplicity that even the dewy-eyed fair)’...

Rainbow Fascism at Home and Abroadrnby James George JatrasrnSome years ago, when I was a consular officer in the oncenotoriousrnborder city of Tijuana, I spent a few days in MexicornCity on my way back from a temporary assignment in Matamoros,rnanother border town just across the Rio Grande fromrnBrownsville, Texas. At a social function, I was...

Wagging the DogrnGulfWar II, World War IIIrnby Justin RaimondornIn the popular film Wag the Dog, an American Presidentrncaught molesting a young girl seeks to divert attention awayrnfrom the sex scandal; a mock “invasion” of Albania is staged,rnHollywood-style, complete with faked film footage and bogusrncarnage, L’affaire Lewinsky debuted the same week, and federalrnofficials—threatening military action against...

Rasputins at Home and Abroadrnby Denis PetrovrnBefore his trip to Rome in February, Boris Yeltsin promisedrneveryone who would listen that he would personally inviternthe Pope to visit Russia. Yeltsin frequently rattled on in front ofrnreporters, like a football player still sprinting after he is out ofrnbounds. For example, he claimed that the youngster Clintonrnwas pushing...

Foreign Policy and the Popular Willrnby Erik von Kuehnelt-LeddihnrnIs the foreign policy of the United States her Achilles’ heelrnand the cause of endless dissatisfaction? Without doubt, ifrnwe remember the words of Clausewitz: wars are nothing butrnthe continuation of diplomacy by other means. Yet wars arernvery costly because they involve not only money but, above all,rnhuman...

Reading and Weepingrnby George Garrettrn”If Stephen King, John Grisham, and Michael Crichton got together,rnthey’d become one of the top three publishers overnight”rn— Morgan Entrekin, quoted in The New YorkerrnTony Outhwaite’s article prett)’ much sas it all, a whole lotrnof it anyway, about the present state of American publishing.rnAnd he’s not only right on the money,...

God and Mammon in Christian Publishingrnby Gene Edward Veithrn, 1.^rn^rn”‘ ^rn”VrnS.rnfc.rn” ^ ^^^rn^ Nrn- VrnTKT^rn^ ^rn•rn1^rn’ 1 ^rn^Jl^p^rn^ ^ ^ ^rnl^^ufiHBlrnyjL,~” i?^j^p^>*»—.rnA^^HH^rn^ i ^ ^rnR^^^HrnHii^^^Brn^•BHj^^^^^^/rnfji^”ia–^^MIrn1 JP!rnj^HP’^-s^rn% ^ ^ ^ ^ » ^rn*rnt ^ ^ Nrn^L^ i 1rn• •rnJrnfrn>rnk «rnThat one can find Christian bookstores in nearly everyrnshopping mall is doubtless a good sign. While our...

The Unscholarly World of ScKolarly Publishingrnby Gregory McNameern•” A – ^llkrnUniversity presses are in trouble these days. Beset by a declinern(intellectual and numerical) in the specialized academicrnreadership to which they have always catered, encounteringrnrising production and overhead costs, and supportedrnwith fewer and fewer dollars from their parent administrations,rnmany of them now face the prospect of...