Mr. Rockwell Replies:rnA charming and spirited letter, but Mr.rnRacho has fallen victim to a number ofrnanticapitalist bromides. The moviesrnwere not destroyed by low-brow marketrntastes, but by go’ernment intervention.rnFrom the mid-1930’s through the latern40’s, the Federal Trade Commission,rnand the Supreme Court, bludgeoned thernwonderful old free-market studio systemrnthat gave rise to the equally wonderfulrnHays Office, hi its place, the antitrust policernmandated independent ownershiprnof theaters and production, thus separatingrnthe responsibilit)’—moral and financialrn—that would naturally link moviemakersrnand moie theaters.rnThere were bad and immoral moviesrnmade then, and there are bad and immoralrnmovies made now. The marketrnwon’t put a stop to all evil, but it doesrnforce those with evil intentions to gornabout their misdeeds indirectly, namely,rnbv convincing people voluntarily to cooperaternwith their plans. If Stalin, Hitler,rnRoosevelt, and Mao had been capitalistrnmoguls with murderous dreams, insteadrnof heads of state, thev might have publishedrngrotesque novels or made badrnfilms. But their ability to wreck havoc onrnsociet}’ would hae been limited by thosernthey could have pulled into their profitablernorbit, not b)’ the numbers of troopsrnthev could draft into their armies.rnTherein lies the difference between governmentrnpower (in which the ability torndo evil is nearlv unlimited) and marketrnpower (in which it is severely limited).rnAs to the rest of Mr. Radio’s claims,rnit’s rent control, not markets, that destroyedrnhousing in Manhattan and SanrnFrancisco; I’m against abortion (andrnwhere would that industry be withoutrngovernment subsidies and restrictions onrnadoption?); I’m all for the right of CEO’srnto fire workers (far too few people getrnfired these days); I’m all for the Internetrndespite pervert.com (just as I’m all forrnbooks despite Foucault); and credit marketsrnare a blessing (but abolish bankruptcyrnlaws and bring back debtors’ prisons).rnAs for the claim that “the free marketrnhasn’t saed us from anvthing,” I wouldrnmention hunger, disease, and barbarism,rnall of which would quick!}’ prevail in itsrnabsence. Worse, we wouldn’t havernChronicles.rnOn HomosexualityrnIn an otherwise cogent and incisive articlern(“The Last Respectable Bias,” December),rnWilliam A. Donohue somehowrnmanages to dance all around, butrnnever quite name, the one faction in ourrnsociety that would go a long way towardrnanswering his rhetorical question, “Wliyrnthe cheap shots against Catholicism?”rnThat faction, of course, is the militantrnand liighlv organized homosexual rightsrnmovement.rnDoes Mr. Donohue think that his examplernof the gay night club in Chicagorncalled the “Convent,” where the bartendersrndress as priests, the waitresses asrnCatholic schoolgirls, and drinks namedrn”Hol Water” are serxed in a “HellrnRoom,” is just another case of gardenvariet}’rnbigotr)’? Or that the gay-led vilificationrncampaign against New York Cit)”srnJohn Cardinal O’Connor and the blatantlyrnopen desecration of Catholicrnchurches there is not also part of a longtermrnstrategy unique to gays? Other recentrnexamples in this vein are legion.rnUsing their favorite mantra, “Stop thernHate!” as cover, gay activists and theirrnp.c. sympathizers across the countr’ pursuerna genuinely hate-driven vendettarnagainst Catholics and Protestant evangelicals.rnAgain, the reason is obvious: whilernour major institutions —public schools,rnbig media, Hollywood, and big governmentrn—have been supinely susceptiblernto blandishments and threats, only thosernof a stiong, biblically based faith have remainedrnimmune to all the feigned moralrnoutrage and propaganda trumpeting thernline that homosexuality is a perfectlyrnnormal and wholesome “alternativernlifestyle” deserving of equal standingrnw ith heterosexualit)’. Realizing that thisrnis the one segment of society that can’t berncoerced into cooperating, gay activistsrnare bending every effort to cheapen andrnmarginalize traditional religion to thernfullest extent possible.rnThough not a Roman Catholic, I havernlong been an admirer of Mr. Donohue’srndual talents of great investigative journalismrnand lucid expositor}’ writing. Whilernnot accusing Mr. Donohue of “gainingrnin maturit}'” (liberalspeak for caving), Irndo think that writing a lengthy articlernabout anti-Catholic bigotry with nary arnreference to homosexual activism is likernwriting about the perpetrators of thernholocaust without mentioning AdolfrnEichmann.rn-O.M.OsthindJr.rnState College, PArnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnT H E BIPARTISAN “nationalist” coalitionrnwhich has been emerging in responsernto the cosmopolitan policies ofrndie Clinton administration scored severalrnnotable victories in the week beforernCongress adjourned for 1997. ThernHouse defeated an attempt to extendrnNAFTA to the countries of the Caribbeanrnand Central America. This measurernwas clearly linked to the corporate huntrnfor cheap Third World labor, since thisrnregion can’t promise large markets forrnAmerican-made exports. Firms whichrnhad relocated their factories to CentralrnAmerica wanted a “level playing field”rnwith tliose who relocated to Mexico underrnNAFTA. Opponents cited last year’srn$16 billion trade deficit with Mexico tornmake the case against opening Americanrnmarkets to more imports. NAFTA needsrnto be corrected, not compounded.rnA legislative package put together byrnRepresentative Chris Cox (R-CA) tookrnaim at Clinton’s trade-based China policy.rnAll nine bills passed with over 300rnvotes each. Most of the bills dealt withrnhuman rights or national security issues,rnbut others limited trade with firms usingrnslave labor or connected with the Chinesernmilitary. Another bill cut off concessionaryrnloans to China by the American-rnfunded World Bank and AsianrnDevelopment Bank. Transnational businessrnopposed all the bills. Beijing hasrnconv inced business that only by workingrnfor appeasement can its investments inrnChina be protected.rnThe struggle between national andrnprivate interests peaked in the battle overrnClinton’s request for a new grant of “fastrntrack” trade negotiating authority. Underrnfast track. Congress would surrenderrnFEBRUARY 1998/5rnrnrn