CULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnT H E BREAKFAST TABLE is the latestrnbattleground in the war against thernfamily. School-based breakfast programsrnhave been tried at the local level forrnyears, and the idea goes back at least asrnfar as the Black Panthers in the 1960’s.rnThe big push now is for a national program.rnLast year, a federally subsidized breakfastrnprogram was tried in selected schoolrndistricts, and social service advocatesrnwant to extend the benefits to allrnschoolchildren nationwide. The objectivernsounds harmless—helping the indigentrnto feed their children, insuringrnthat children get nutritionally balancedrnmeals—but in providing meals therngovernment is taking away a vital familyrnfunction.rnThe gON’crnment already compelsrnfamilies to send their children to schools;rnfor most of us that means public schools,rnparticularly schools that are far enoughrnawa’ from the children’s neighborhoodrnto insure racial diversity. Now, governmentrn—federal, state, and local—willrnundertake to provide breakfasts as well.rnIf nutritional equality were the objective,rngovernment could give money tornparents to buy the meals and trust themrnto serve the food at home. Instead, itrnwill bypass parents and the home altogetherrnand feed children directly with arnstandardized ration of whatever food inrnwhatever quantities it considers in “ourrnbest interest.”rnThe result is schools that are reallyrnsurrogate homes. After a school breakfast,rnschool lunch, and a few hours inrnthe classroom studying AIDS, condomrnuse, and Third World literatures, manyrnchildren even attend a government daycarerncenter in their school’s gymnasiumrnor cafeteria. Of course, any studentsrnwho arc pregnant or feeling “depressed”rnor “abused” need never return home;rnthe school’s government counselor willrnbe happy to arrange for both short- andrnlong-term lodging away from the “abusivernenvironment,” or even to arrangernfor an abortion—all at public expensernand without the consent and knowledgernof the parents.rnThis is not fantasy, but America 1993.rnParents’ greatest responsibility today mayrnbe to dress their children before turningrnthem over to the state, but even this dutyrnmay well go the way of the others. Afterrnall, soldiers and prisoners wearrngovernment issue, and who else but soldiersrnand prisoners line up for theirrnmorning chow?rn—Theodore PappasrnHOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS are morernand more taken for granted as a givenrnof American life. In October, for example,rnCNN raised the question of whetherrnhomosexual activists were correct inrncondemning Hollywood’s refusal to advancerntheir agenda. Whether filmmakersrnought to advance a homosexualrnagenda is, apparently, not worth discussing.rnIn the world of magazines, thernsituation is, if anything, worse. The NewrnRepublic, which used to be the favoriternmagazine of many conservatives, is nowrna homosexual rights newsletter thatrnought to be printed in tabloid form.rnEach issue now features stories on “gayrnfiction” and “gay studies.” Mr. AndrewrnSullivan, in his gushing pieces at thern’jp^m^m^rnSERIES OF SmSrnPUZZLEHE^EPMrnJANUARY 1993/5rnrnrn