much as it sees diabetes.” Here’s a wonder:rninfectious diabetes! With no sensernof irony, the same issue of Plus Voice featuresrnan interview with Chnton AIDSrnczarina Kristine Gebbie, who has promotedrnhysteria all over America via therngovernment’s condom ad campaign,rnwhich is directed toward everyonernexcept those actually at risk for therndisease.rnFinally, the article says that the magazinernreflects “the appreciative sense ofrnlife these people seem to acquire afterrnthe bad news sinks in.” That genuinelyrnpoignant note is followed by a passagernthat deserves full quotation: “One womanrnwho has been a heroin addict, a prostitute,rnand homeless—and that’s just arnsample—says she wasn’t happy withrnherself or her life until she learned shernhad the disease. And William Franklinrndelivers an impish squib on the joys ofrnusing one’s infection as an excuse forrnavoiding mundane social chores: ‘Suddenlyrnyou see Aunt Sophie—and thatrnentire species of relatives/co-workers/oldrnacquaintances from high school—in arnnew refreshingly distant light. Very distant.rnLike from another galaxy. Thernword “no,” as in “No thanks. I won’t bernattending your brain-dead gatheringrnthis year,” now trips off the tongue likernnever before.'” This in-your-facernbravado would be funny except that itrnreveals more perhaps than its authorrnintended: it epitomizes the sad, antifamilyrnphilosophy that has made thernepidemic possible.rnThere is even more AIDS chic. Anotherrnmagazine profiled is DiseasedrnPariah News, a “more wicked publicationrnwith a slant toward infected gayrnmen.” The magazine cutely advisesrnreaders not to subscribe for more than arnyear, “for the future is mysterious.”rnJust when you think you can finally escapernthe Style section and its obsessionrnwith tragic homosexual self-obsession,rnyou glance at Doonesbury for nostalgia’srnsake. And there it is in the third panel:rnMegaphone Mark, former campus radical,rnsits at the microphone in his radiornjob: “I’m gay,” Mark announces.rnAghast, the reader turns in desperationrnto a feature on families. But thern”family” article includes this gem: “Homosexualrnhouseholds have become sorncommonplace that many experts nowrnlist them under the ‘nuclear family’ umbrella.”rnDissenting experts are rarely interviewedrnby the Post, of course, or by thernLos Angeles Times, where that articlernoriginated.rnAt this point, the reader can’t bernblamed for wondering, “Is there anyonernat the Washington Post Style desk (or anyrnbig daily’s ‘soft’ sections) who isn’trngay?” In After the Ball: How AmericarnWill Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gaysrnin the ’90s, a remarkably candid bookrnabout how homosexuals can obtain power,rnauthors Marshall Kirk and HunterrnMadsen explain why it helps to talkrnabout homosexuality in the media as oftenrnas possible: “At least at the outset, wernseek desensitization and nothing morern[italics in original]. You can forget aboutrntrying right up front to persuade folksrnthat homosexuality is a good thing. Butrnif you can get them to think it is just anotherrnthing—meriting no more than arnshrug of the shoulders—then your battlernfor legal and social rights is virtuallyrnwon.rnCarefully closing the HIV-positivernStyle section, the rattled reader turns tornthe Post’s weekly Health supplement,rnonly to find that the gay/AIDS/liberalrnlobby does not intend to allow an escapernto the hinterlands. The headlinernis “Country Music Breaks the Silencernon AIDS,” and the article by AbigailrnTrafford is about the latest vanityrnfrom progressive country music stars: arnfull-blown condom misinformationrncampaign aimed at rural America, whichrnhas ducked the AIDS epidemic simplyrnby being normal and keeping its pantsrnon. The pullout quote from a “rural”rnAIDS expert outside of Santa Fe (“whichrnhas the same per capita incidence ofrnAIDS as Los Angeles”) tells it all: “Ifrnanyone can reach the Bible Belt, countryrnmusic can.” Now that’d be a real heartbreakerrnof a song.rn—Robert H. KnightrnKARL HESS—one of the supplest andrnmost creative political thinkers of post-rnRepublic America—died on the samernday as Richard Nixon did. His memorialrnservice in Kearneysville, West Virginia,rnwas attended by zero living presidents,rnwhich was meet for a man whose consciencernimpelled him to quit the Powerrnhe had once served. Vimful, curious,rnraucous, Kad Hess belonged to the contumaciousrnAmerican radical tradition ofrnWilliam Leggett and Paul Goodman.rnHe was a journalist with Newsweek andrnthe American Mercury before becomingrnBarry Goldwater’s chief speechwriter inrnhis 1964 campaign.rnAs we bogged down in the BigrnMuddy, Hess reassessed his RepublicanrnParty, his hireling status, his personalparking-rnspace life. “Vietnam,” he said,rn”should remind all conservatives thatrnwhenever you put your faith in bigrngovernment, for any reason, sooner orrnlater you wind up as an apologist forrnmass murder.” Reckoning that the attractivernqualities of the I940’s right—itsrn”individualistic, isolationist, decentralist”rnimpulses—had been purged, Hessrnrushed headlong into the New Left. Hisrnbest essay, “An Open Letter to BarryrnGoldwater,” {Ramparts, August 1969),rnproposed the consanguinity of SenatorrnRobert Taft and the Black Panthers. Hernwrote, “Anti-communism twisted the directionrnof the right, which I feel, if leftrnundisturbed, would today be near thernNew Left on most major issues,” particularlyrnthe belief that political powerrn”property exists only in the people and inrntheir communities.”rnAs a good reckless heedless impetuousrnAmerican, Karl Hess joined the Wobbliesrnand SDS, grew a beard, donned arnworkshirt, and picked up an acetylenerntorch. Looking like a cheerful and gregariousrnFidel Castro, the GOP operativerntook up welding. After a stay in a floatingrnhouseboat commune on the AnaeostiarnRiver, Hess and his wife, Therese,rnmoved to West Virginia, where they livedrnin a house Karl built largely from scavengedrnmaterials. The visionary, therndreamer, the theorist of panideologiealrnanti-imperialism spent the last 20 of hisrn70 years as a concerned neighbor, a lovingrnhusband, and the most practical ofrnanarchists.rnIn a letter to me Karl wrote, “Thernolder I get the more I appreciate thernwork of being in love as being superiorrnto anything else.” As the wodd went tornhell, Karl Hess zestfully and doggedlyrnmarched in the other direction.rn—Bill KauffmanrnO B I T E R DICTA: We wish to note thernpublication of Willy Nilly: Bill ClintonrnSpeaks Out, edited by Edward Moserrnand published by John Sanders ofrnCaliban Books. An alphabetical orderingrnof Clinton’s flip-flops and contradictionsrn—on everything from abortionrnand “Nannygate” to Waco and Whitewaterrn—this humorous guide skewersrnthat political animal known as “SlickrnWilly.” The book sells for $8.95 and canrnbe ordered by callmg 1 -800-3 50-1101.rnJULY 1994/9rnrnrn