Child Abuse at Wacornby David B. KopelrnLi or the sake of the children” has emerged as one of thernJ. most dangerous phrases in American pohtics. PresidentrnClinton has invoked children’s alleged dependence on the federalrngovernment not just for his putatively child-oriented programsrn(such as the misnamed Department of Education), butrnalso for issues that have only a tenuous...

Back From the BrinkrnThe Second War Against Gunownersrnby Ronin ColmanrnDuring President Clinton’s November 9, 1994, news conference,rnthe White House press core dropped its usualrnpose of “objective, tough reporting” and adopted more ofrna “what’s next, boss?” bleat. Not surprisingly, some of the veryrnfirst questions put to the leader of the new Irrelevant Party dealtrnwith the future...

Uncivil Libertiesrnby Greg Kayern-8S6«7*rnThe United States Commission on Civil Rights has degeneratedrninto an appendage of the Clinton reelection campaignrnthrough its attempt to stop, through intimidation, thernpetition drive in Florida to clamp down on illegal immigration;rnat stake are 25 electoral votes for the Democratic incumbent.rnThe commission was established under the Civil Rights Act ofrn1957 as an...

VIEWSrnScots Nationalism, Yesterday and Todayrnby Michael Hillrn”If you were to judge as I do, you would not readily place your neckrnunder a foreign yoke.”rn—^William WallacernAs we approach the millennium, Celtic nationalism threatensrnto rip apart the United Kingdom. After nearly 250rnvcars of English-imposed centralism, the Scots are reassertingrntheir cultural identity and using it as the foundation...

David Hume and American Libertyrnbyrn” T l-laSpVwrli^^HrnMCBK /^^W^BrnH^^B^'”^’^^^^!rn^^Hi-‘^ ”^^1rn^^^Br^ ‘rf-‘^V Bfc^rnWmW^’^rnDon Livingstonrn^ r i / /rn^•f V^rn^ frn• urnK^iSrn^^^^^mff ^rnvr-T’: r^^^AflB^ ‘^V’Vrn^^oA^^fc^vrnA^iraK’a^^’Vrn f ^ BrnivlrnDavid Hume’s History of England was one of the most successfulrnliterary productions of the 18th century. It becamerna classic in his lifetime and was published continuouslyrndown to 1894, passing through at...

Contingency and Chance in Scottishrnand American Historyrnby Jeremy BlackrnWhy did the Americans win and the Jacobites lose? Thernclassic answer is that the Americans represented thernfuture, a future of liberty, freedom, secularism, and individualism.rnThe Jacobites were the past, reactionary and religious, thernproducts of a hierarchical society motivated by outdated dynasticrnloyalty. This difference was supposedly reflected in...

VIEWSrnCobden’s Pyrrhic Victoryrnbv Alfred E. EckesrnBill Clinton and Richard Cobdcn, a 19th-century Englishrnanti-Corn Law crusader, have more in common than consonantsrnin their surnames. As economic internationalists, bothrntrumpeted commerce as the panacea for attaining world peacernand prosperity. In their own ways, both bear responsibility forrnthe new international economic order which rests on the twinrnfoundations of universal...

Our Blessed PlotrnThe Case for the Bricker Amendmentrnby Theodore PappasrnAs if we needed more proof of the threat to nationalrnsovereignty, there comes John Gardner’s latest “JamesrnBond novel,” SeaFire. Gone is Ian Fleming’s wonderful cast ofrncharacters. The drab but lovable Q has been replaced by arnwoman nicknamed Q’ute; the admiral M has been replaced byrna committee...

Our Global ParentsrnThe Convention on the Rights of the Childrnby Christopher CheckrnAmericans wlio hoped tliat the United Nations’ Conventionrnon the Rights of the Child would be stuffed in a drawerrnwith its predecessor, the Convention on the Elimination of AllrnForms of Discrimination Against Women, got a jolt in Februaryrnwhen Mrs. Clinton announced (at the funeral of...

VIEWSrnWhen West Meets Eastrnby Jonathan Chavesrnjfu L trnTgJ’^jij’flrnJ F •^ i~ i-j»-*’^!wiMlfe»««M«…__rn;4? frnj f l ^ ‘ ‘ r’ « ‘Vrn| | W ^ . ‘ • – ‘ • • u ^ J * ‘ * *rn^?S«*4>JrnajtfW^?*^w*- . j-t^rtrf*rn•^^Hpftji*^*^^ *rntfttiiiSs*-rni^.’^p-.rn^rn4tt>-rntrnWhen Virginia Governor George Allen recently attemptedrnto return the curriculum of his state’s public schoolrnsystem...

Not Out of Africarnby Mary LefkowitzrnIf radical Afrocentrists have their way, soon all schoolchildrenrnwill learn—as some are now learning—a version of ancientrnMediterranean history that gives credit for the Greek achievementrnto the ancient Egyptians. The Afrocentrists contend thatrnwhat most people have learned about the origins of Westernrncivilization is untrue. According to them, the ancient historyrnwe ha’e...

The Latest Jewish Ghettornby Jacob NeusnerrnHfc.rn• ^ J l l f c -rn,:t,Bf:— * TTKBrn*••”’• • ” • I ^ ^ M f f W ^rn•^^Orrn^^>P i^S^ __a.rn^^^tSpife– ‘^rn.•’*-iirti«i»sVt;lii«'” . Jrn•Jfe-:..rnLong before ethnicity became the focus of studying neglectedrngroups and cultures—the black, Judaic, Chicano, andrnfeminist counterpart to “We’re here, we’re queer, get used tornit”—leading intellectuals...

Multiculturalism in Theory and Practicernby Charles L. KingrnIcanic b- my lifelong interest in foreign languages and eulturcsrnhonestly. Mv grandfather, Andrew Jaekson King, Jr.,rnmigrated to a I lispanie-populated area of the Icrritory of NewrnMexieo in 1906. Acquiring a small ranch, he hired some (Spanish-rns]5caking) Basc|ue shepherds and raised sheep—for a while,rnthat is, until one morning he...

Black Englishrnby Nicholas Stixrn^^’ I ‘hose is the niggers that was f–kin’ with my sh-t.” “IrnA knew that nigger was one of the niggers I could relyrnon.” The first speaker was a twentysomething “homegirl” fromrnthe projects, the second a drunk in his late 30’s. Both were ridingrnon New York’s A train on different days and...

VIEWSrnThe Significance of the Region inrnAmerican Historyrnby Robert L. DormanrnDuring the carK- 1920’s, 30 vcars after he had written his famousrnessav on the signifieanee of the frontier in the nation’srnhistory, the great American historian Frederick JacksonrnTurner published two other works on the denrocratizing role ofrnwhat he termed the “section.” Sections, Turner wrote, “serve asrnrestraints upon...

Eminent Southrons and Cinematic Slanderrnby John Shelton Reedrn^ELrn( L’rnv ^rnv^^arni ^rn•ss^Ss^rn4 •—• ^ BrnPSrnmrnHgrarntL^uiii 5rn^ v^ §7^3rnSome folks have been kind enough to notice my absencernfrom these pages, and a few have been even kinder and expressedrnregret at it. The fact is that my wife Dale and I arernworking on a book. It will be...

VIEWSrnSweet Land of Libertyrnby Murray N. RothbardrnIam deeply honored to receive the Richard Weaver Aw ard, tornstand in the ranks of the distinguished men who hae receivedrnit, and to have an award in the name of a man who hasrnalways been one of my heroes. As a lifelong libertarian, I havernbeen mo’ed by the occasion...

Our Classical Rootsrnby E. Christian KopffrnOn January 6, 1816, Thomas Jefferson urotc a letter to hisrnstate legislator, Colonel Charles “aneev. As we might expect,rnJefferson’s letter eontains reflections of general interest onrnmany topics, ranging in this case from the dangers of a largernpublic debt and paper money to the advantages of beer o crrnwhiskev. Near the...

America’s Christian Heritagernby Harold O.J. BrownrnThe phrase “America’s Christian Heritage” might irritaternany hearers who do not want to be classed as members ofrnthe tribe that first received its name in Antioch (Acts 11:26).rnBut wait: we recognize that one does not have to be a memberrnof the family to be remembered in a will, nor be...

Free Immigration or Forced Integration?rnby Hans-Hermann HoppernThe classical argument in favor of free immigration runs asrnfollows. Other things being equal, businesses go to lowwagernareas, and labor moves to high-wage areas, thus effectingrna tendency toward the equalization of wage rates (for the samernkind of labor) as well as the optimal localization of capital. Anrninflux of migrants...

VIEWSrnThe Country Writerrnby Wendell BerryrnIam as grateful for this award as I am surprised b- it, and 1rneertainly did not see it coming. Obviously, it eannot be eas’rnto feel worthy of an award bearing the name of T.S. P’liot, andrnso probably I ought to sa that I am grateful, but unconvinced.rnThe etiquette attendant upon these...

Cleaning Our Stablesrnby Gore VidalrnIn the mindless babble that passes for political debate in thernUnited States, nothing means what it appears to mean, particularlyrnthose key words “liberal” and “conservative.” For politicalrnpurposes the latter seems to have demonized the former.rnBut has this really happened? Americans tend to be divided byrnrace, religion, and class. The idea of...

Once Upon a Time in Americarnby Bill KauffmanrnOne of the strangest rituals in the United States Senate isrnthe annual reading of President Washington’s FarewellrnAddress. The chore of recitation usually falls to a freshmanrnnonentity eager to curry favor by performing what is regarded asrna drudge task. The chamber is emptv, save for the classicalrnremnant: New York’s...

Frederick Turner and the Rebirth of Literaturernby Paul LakernThe breach that opened between the serious and popularrnarts during the earh’ ears of tliis century has so widenedrno’er subsequent decades that the current “postmodern” era isrncliaracterized by a kind of cultural schizophrenia. While visualrnimages bombard us through the media, the graphic arts havernincreasingly evaporated in performance...

For Love of the Musernby Stacey Korsrn”All that matters now is poetryrnIn which the feeling is the thought.rn—from “Paysages Legendaires’rnWhen writing about the poet Peter Russell, it is hard tornknow where to begin. First, there is the matter of hisrnprolificness, and the sheer vastness of his oeuvre: Russell, whorndeseribes poetry as being “dangerously near the...

VIEWSrnThe Fading of Feminismrnby George WatsonrnWriting her column the other day in a London newspaper,rna feminist confessed that the women’s movementrnthat started some 25 years ago had “spluttered to a halt.”rnMany a middle-aged feminist nowadays will tell you the samernthing. The young, they will say with an air of regret, meaningrntheir daughters and the friends...

Sexual Harassment and the Academyrnby Clay ReynoldsrnSCENE; Administrative conference room at a major university.rnFive grim-faced faculty members sit around a long tablernand stare at THE ACCUSED, who sits at one end, apart andrnalone. He is well dressed, young middle-aged, nice looking butrnnot particularly handsome. Each member of the COMMITTEErnhas in front of him or her...

The Secret History of the Feminist Movementrnby Peter Shawrn• • • • : f f e & ^ ? * -rn^ – – • ‘ •rn! ! ( • ‘rnf.r, IrnThe feminist movement, it has just been learned, was actuallyrnconcocted by men. Specifically, a small group of plannersrnmeeting in 1962 set in motion the developments...

Where Have the Women All Gone?rnby Mark RachornJ ><*fe~«i»”rnThe Queen is most anxious to enlist everyone to join inrnchecking this mad, wicked folly of women’s rights,”rnwrote Queen Victoria in 1870 to Sir Theodore Martin. “Womanrnwould become the most hateful, heartless and disgusting ofrnhuman beings, were she allowed to unsex herself.” Pausingrnonly to add “fanatical” and...

VIEWSrnThe Future of Kosovornby Alex N. DragnichrnThe fate of Kosovo, Serbia’s troubled province, has in recentrnyears received a good deal of attention in the worldrnpress, usually in connection with the actions of Serbia’s president,rnSlobodan Milosevic. A somewhat obscure communistrnuntil he became head of the Serbian Communist Party inrn1986, Milosevic went to Kosovo in April 1987...

Eyes on the Prize of Central Asiarnby Wallace KaufmanrnIn August, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstanrnannounced that the eapitol of the country would be movedrnseveral hundred miles north, from the green city of Almaty,rnwhere the presidential palace stands against a background ofrnsnow-capped mountains, to the bleak and windy steppes ofrnnorth-central Kazakhstan, to the present city of...

Pariahs and Favorites in East Central Europernby Ewa M. Thompsonrn”How horrible, fantastic, incredible, it is that we should be diggingrntrenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a faraway countryrnbetween people of whom we know nothing.”rn—Neville ChamberlainrnPersons with roots in Central and Eastern Europe knowrnthat to speak with minimal competence about that...

Uncle Sam and the Third Balkan Warrnby Dhimitrios GheorghiournWhenever you hear the New World Order crowd whiningrnabout the obligation of the “international community”rnto come to the rescue of a “multiethnic democracy”rnthreatened by “nationalism,” get ready for Uncle Sam to berndragged off on a fool’s errand. This term, “multiethnicrndemocracy,” the prime exemplar of which is supposedly...

If men were angels,” James Madison wrote, “no governmentnwould be neeessary.” Or, “if angels were to governnmen, no controls on government would be necessary.” Madisonnbelieved that men are about as good as they can ever be,nand since no angels are available to rule, we need checks andnbalances.nThomas Jefferson added the idea that “man cannot be...

Congress vs. the Second Amendmentnby Jerry Woodruffn”A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right ofnthe people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”n—The Second AmendmentnWB^—–jTjjffnr iJ^rnii:!ni^T* nifln\ V. r 1n[^n’nYn1n%si.n1 [L/Jnff mn,— .n=ij»- Ji^^’j^nImiin^flUsr^MnWimJ^n^zL^^^^^SMKB^S^^^^^nn.^^”7n/ # ^nLike a recidivist criminal free to strike at will, the UnitednStates Congress...

Federalism vs. Secessionnby Ronin Colmann”The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibitednby it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.”n—The Tenth AmendmentnFollowing the passage of the national gun ban wrapped innpork, Representatives Gingrich and Gephardt congratulatedneach other for their bipartisan cooperation and remarkednhow much...

Throughout our legal history we are familiar with incidentsnof jury-tampering, the act of buying off or frightening onenor more of the 12 men good and true called upon to decide ancase. I’his is done to predetermine a verdict, usually to assure an”not guilty.” We have heard of vicious gangsters, corrupt unionnbosses, and crooked politicians conspiring...

The Russo-German Symbiosis in the First andrnSecond World Warsrnby Ralph de ToledanornWith the collapse of the Soviet Union and the retreat ofrnLeninist forees within the empire, hosannas ha’e rungrnout in the Western world. “Hie Cold War is over, the ColdrnWar is over,” the leaders of the West have exclaimed, and demandsrnto turn swords into knitting...

The Eternal RegimentrnThe Continuing Saga of the 442ndrnby Ralph Walker-WillisrnWorld War II has been over for 50 years now. Most veteransrnof that war, myself included, have long put thernwar behind them, their sacrifices and achievements dimmed byrnfaltering memories and the passage of time. Few people remenrber,rnincluding some veterans, the names or numbers ofrnthe old outfits,...

VIEWSrnThe Inner DarknessrnSerial Murder and the Nature of Evilrnby Philip JenkinsrnEvery society has its mythology, its particular set of heroesrnand monsters. In North America over the last decade, thernfigure of the demon or monster has come to be represented byrnthe serial killer, an image that is now quite ubiquitous in popularrnculture. In a typical chain...

Black Murderrnby Steven GoldbergrnImagine the devastating effect, even on the mass of youngrnblack men who successfully resist the temptation to violence,rnof Gwen Guthrie’s song Ain’t Nothin’ Coin’ On But The Rent:rnBoy, nothing in life is free / That’s why I’m asking yournwhat can you do for me / I’ve got responsibility / So I’mrnlookin’ for...

A Solution to CrimernChronicles interviews Peter ShawrnFrankly, we were skeptical when first contacted by PeterrnShaw, Ph.D., a genial, tweedy, professorial type carrying arnsomewhat foxed and dog-eared manuscript boldly titled “MyrnSystem.” It outlined, he claimed, a comprehensive solution tornthe leading social problems of our era. Despite appearances,rnthe man was hard to dismiss, especially given his claim...

VIEWSrnEpiscopal Folliesrnby Philip JenkinsrnWe have heard many debates recently about the underminingrnof moral and cultural traditions in contemporaryrnAmerica, a trend sometimes epitomized by the phrasern”political correctness.” Conservatives often issue dark warningsrnabout the ills that befall a society that cuts itself off from itsrnroots, though few go so far as to predict total destruction,rnwhich is what...

Justice and Its HarvestersrnThe National Conference of Catholic Bishopsrnby Thomas MolnarrnNobody, except the New York Times and its woridwide allies,rnquestions the right and duty of Catholic bishops to raiserntheir public voice on moral issues, and on social issues intertwinedrnwith problems of a moral nature. Admittedly, pastoralrnletters, monita, even encyclicals sound rather hollow today,rnlike trumpets in...

The New ScapularrnAIDS and the Wrath of Godrnby John Patrick ZmirakrnWhen I was in Catholic high school, some 15 years ago,rneven as the last of the marble altars were being pulledrnout of America’s churches, the ornate wooden confessionals uprootedrnin favor of plywood-and-plexiglass “reconciliationrnrooms,” one devotional custom persisted from centuries before,rnin the undershirts and blouses of...

VIEWSrnJerry Brown Talksrnby Jim ChristiernOn ]uly 7 Chronicles sent freelance writer Jim Christie torninterview jerry Brown in Oakland, California.rnAsk any Democratic Party insider in California about JerryrnBrown, and he will usually say Brown is one of threernthings; an embarrassment, a flake, or a jerk. The institutionalrnmeanness, the state party’s party line, toward the formerrnCalifornia governor...

Political Trust-BustingrnThe Third-Party Optionrnby Jeffrey Tuckerrn/ »M VLrnHHN f^’WBrnJW ^ • • • ^rni^nmMh ff t K’-.’yj^mlKmwrn* % ^S«^rn1 llrn ^^ 1 i e /rnS^ M^I^^^HI x ^'”-.^..–”””^ ” 1rn^^wE^v^i m. ^ f r ^ Jrn/ mjffl^ ‘fllrn•HSflHHrn1 IP^^J V V Vrnr* frn^:;aa»,::..t«»j-^«lrnIn the “nihilistic politics of the 1990’s,” warns a newswriter forrnthe Wall Street...

The Impotent American Voterrnby Richard WingerrnOur great-great-grandfathers, if they were American voters,rnenjoyed greater opportunity to change policy with theirrnvotes than we do today. It is a paradox that as the number ofrnAmericans permitted to vote has increased over the past century,rnthe power of those votes has diminished. Many legislatorsrnand judges, in their hearts, do not...

Grassroots ExtremismrnThe Religious Rightrnby Wayne AllensworthrnJT’^^^^^KTLrn1 ”c-<^y^ ^ ^ ” * > i ;^rnW”—~ ^ . ^ rn/ ; V /^rnO^^i-^rn.^nawwKSKK^EiaH^-X-rn1 ‘!y’^^^?^i^)V^^Q9^HlrnJlg^^^j^rnS^^^KL^JH^ • M E»R– _^^^il^^B^9^^^SfrnLj xtremist” is a word that may conjure up images ofrnJ—J hooded Klansmen crowded around a burning cross orrnof Black Panther separatists or kooky 60’s “revolutionaries.” Orrnperhaps images of Hitler,...

VIEWSrnSpeaking Truth to Powerrnby Philip Jenkinsrn^^seaf^rnue s^^’ imrn1^^ and theVrnJt^rnWhy is there no adversarial press in the United States?rnWhy do the media seem so afraid of news stories thatrnthreaten to embarrass or destroy governments? These questionsrnmay seem curious in a society that prides itself on freedomrnof the press and where the media are often criticized...