NRA member to become a candidate forrnthe 76-member Board of Directors; herncan either gather 250 signatures on a petihonrnfrom eHgible NRA members, or herncan be recommended by the board’srnnominating committee. On the surfacernthis would seem to be a level playingrnfield, but for over a decade the board hasrncfiFectively been self-selected by publishingrnthe “report of the nominating committee”rnin the NRA’s house magazinern(in recent years directly opposite the ballot).rnSince most candidates for the NRArnboard have no public persona, the reportrnof the nominating committee has fimctionedrnas a de facto voter guide. As a result,rnnominating committee candidatesrndominate board elections, occasionallyrnpulling off a clean sweep. Not surprisingly,rnboard members who ruffle thernfeathers of the board’s power-brokers dornnot get re-nominated and thus stand littlernchance of being reelected. The possibilityrnof losing his seat on the board is somethingrnto be avoided at all costs for mostrnNRA directors, as “service” on the NRArnboard is by far the high point in the life ofrnthe average NRA director and thereforernnot something to be casually sacrificedrnout of fidelity to the Second Amendmentrnor some antiquated noHon of fiduciaryrnduty to the NRA’s three million members.rnLast summer, some 1,500 NRA membersrnsigned a petition to put a measurernon this year’s ballot that would requirerndirectors and officers to disclose their financialrndealings with the NRA (directorsrnare not paid), prohibit NRA officers fromrncampaigning for directors (who in turnrnelect these very officers), and prohibitrnthe NRA’s outside contractors fromrninfluencing NRA elections. Not surprisingly,rnthe board voted against this amendmentrn(by a two-thirds majority, no less).rnVice President Heston, named “outstandingrnconservative leader” by CPACrnin January, assured the board that “if theyrn[the members] pass it, I will defy it.” Notrna single director who voted in favor of thernfinancial disclosure amendment wasrnre-nominated by the nominating committee.rnThis fight has now moved to therncourts. As it turns out, the NRA bylawsrnclearly prohibit designating the methodrnof nomination (committee or petition)rnon the ballot or in the NRA magazines.rnWhile management relies on an Orwellianrninterpretation of this bylaw as arnshield to continue publishing it, alreadyrnnine petition candidates have filed suit tornforce the NRA to obey its own bylaws. Inrnaddition, a libel suit has been filedrnagainst an NRA officer.rnShould the ballot initiative fail, NRArnmembers will have one more shot atrnforcing accountability on the board —rnthe members’ meeting this June inrnPhiladelphia. Members will have arnchance to pass three separate amendmentsrnto the NRA certificate of incorporationrndealing with the disclosure issue asrnwell as term limits for directors. Finally,rna proposal has been made to reduce thernNRA’s board from 76 to 24. This last proposalrnmay represent the best chancernNRA members have to prevent the Associationrnfrom becoming just another Beltwayrnsell-out of a populist cause.rn— Ronin ColmanrnEPICYCLES:rn• “Steven Stealberg?”: This was thernquestion posed by Time last Novemberrnwhen it reported that Steven Spielbergrnhad been hit with a $10 million plagiarismrnsuit for reportedly stealing the idearnfor the movie Amistad from a littleknownrnhistorical novelist named BarbararnChase-Riboiid. It was then revealed thatrnChase-Riboud had plagiarized a historyrntext for her 1986 novel Valide. The establishmentrnpress highlighted the latterrnstory as an exoneration of Spielberg. NationalrnPublic Radio added that Chase-Riboud’srnstatus as a “relatively unknown”rnwriter of “unknown” novels —aren’trnmost of us “relatively unknown” comparedrnwith Spielberg?—lends her chargernlittle credence. That’s right, it’s morernlikely that Spielberg would steal a plotrnfrom a best-seller by John Updike. AndrnBill Clinton would never hit on an unknownrnintern at the White House.rn• The Man with the Golden Gun:rnThe economic crisis set off by GeorgernSoros’s meddling in Asian currency marketsrnlast year continues. In Malaysia, therngovernment announced that it would expelrnall foreign workers who had lost theirrnjobs —more than one million immigrantsrn—and it encouraged Malaysianrnfirms to replace any foreign workers withrnMalaysians. Thailand quickly followedrnsuit, announcing plans to expel up to 1.5rnmillion immigrants over the next threernyears. Don’t expect Uncle Sam to jumprnon the bandwagon; after all, only a xenophoberncould believe that American jobsrnshould be reserved for Americans.rn• We Hear You’re Queer, Get Out ofrnHere: When Norwegian Cruise Linesrnasked the Cayman Islands for permissionrnfor the Leeward, a 910-passenger cruisernship, to dock at Grand Cayman, therncountry’s minister of tourism, commerce,rnand transport denied the request.rnHis reason? The Leeward had beenrnchartered for a special “gays only”rncruise, and he was concerned that herrnpassengers wouldn’t exhibit “appropriaternbehavior” while on Grand Cayman.rnThe outcry was loud and predictable.rnBut the best response came from RichrnCampbell, president of Atiantis Events,rnwhich organized the cruise: “I find it astonishingrnthat in 1998 you could elicitrnsuch a strong response to 900 wellheeledrnmen who want to stop for sevenrnhours of diving and shopping.” Betterrnwatch out, Mr. Campbell: someonernmight accuse you of stereotyping.rnO B I T E R D I C T A : Our poetry thisrnmonth is provided by Robert Beum ofrnSaskatoon, Saskatchewan. Dr. Beum’srnpoems and essays have appeared in thernSewanee Review, National Review, thernChristian Century, Prairie Schooner, andrnthe Southwest Review. The cover thisrnmonth is a pastel drawing by ChroniclesrnArt Director Anna Mycek-Wodecki.rnShe has exhibited in Warsaw, Paris, NewrnYork, and Rockford.rn^^DABLErnJose Maria Gironella, The Cypresses Believe in Godrn(Random House). A powerful and panoramic novel of thernFalange and the Spanish Civil War that makes the era ofrnEuropean fascism comprehensible. Gironella wrote twornsequels: One Million Dead and Peace After War.rnJose Antonio Primo de Rivera, Selected Writings (Jonathan Cape). Thernleader and founder of the Spanish Falange, Primo de Rivera was the foremostrnintellectual inspiration of the Franco regime.rnMARCH 1998/9rnrnrn