dencc, I assume that the reason for thisrnlag is cultural. Protcstauts who wallow inrnsocial guilt and hac lost the Puritanrnvirtues are headed for self-destruction.rnBut they ha’e certainly not been cognitirncly shortchanged. Nor have the otherrnscions of a rich European ci’ilization,rnw hich has been indispen.sablc for the intellectualrnand artistic enrichment of Jewsrnand other groups.rnA final point: To my knowledge, therernwas no social stigma attached to ancientrnJew ish ro’alt’ born of intermarriage, althoughrnMacDonald may have otherrnsources of information.rnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnTHE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONrncampaign was well under way when therntwo major parh” candidates began crisscrossingrnthe United States, stumping forrnvotes at the annual meetings of Mexican-rnAmerican organizations. Here in Rockfordrn(as in other cities with significantrnHispanic populations), tiie local Gannettrnpaper devoted an entire Sunday eommcntar’rnsection to interviews with therncandidates, stressing the close tics betweenrnthe United States and Mexico.rnNot siuprisinglv, the main oppositionrncandidate charged the handpicked successorrnto die current president with corruption,rnwhile the heir apparent bothrntrumpeted the successes of the ruling parh’rnand tried to distance himself from itsrnscandals. The two strongest third-part-rncandidates argued that there wasn’t arndime’s worth of difference between therntwo major parties. And when electionrndav came, thousands of Mexican-Americansrnflocked to the polls to help determinernwho would be the next president—rnof Mexico.rnThree vears ago, when the Mexicanrngox’ernment decided to allow Mexicansrnwho had become American citizens tornretain Mexican citizenship (and thusrnvote in both American and Mexicanrnelections), there was a minor outcry inrnthe L’nited States. How could we expectrnMexican-Americans to assimilate if thernMexican government told them tiiat the-rndidn’t ha e to? But now, in the midst ofrnour own presidential election, bothrnDemocrats and Republicans remainrnsilent on the issue, afraid of alienating arngrowing oting block.rnOr perhaps they don’t c’en care. BothrnAl Gore and George W. Bush havernpraised the new Mexican president, VincenternFox, a former Coca-Cola executixernwho wants to “modernize” Mexico, completingrnthe work begun b’ NAFTA.rnWitiiin two weeks of w,’inning the election.rnFox was talking about abolishingrnthe border between Mexico and thernUnited States, allowing the free flow ofrnall workers between the two countries.rnBush, in particular, ma’ find Fox’s programrnappealing. After all, he has long attackedrnthe Clinton administration for refusingrnto implement a provision ofrnNAFTA that would let Mexican tiucksrncross the border without an inspection —rna sure wa- to increase the flow of illegalrnimmigrants and drugs into the UnitedrnStates. Combine a Bush administrationrnin the Estados LJnidos w ith a Fox administrationrnin Mexico, and our southernrnborder mav become ecn more porousrnthan our border w^ith Canada.rnThe issue of dual citizenship, though,rnis more important than an’ proision ofrnNAFTA, because it strikes at the vervrnheart of American soxereigntw Assimilationrnis an organic process which takesrnconsiderabK longer than we like to tiiink,rnand governmental efforts to ha.sten assimilationrnb’ comincing new citizens to renouncerntheir cidtural inheritance are oftenrndestructive. But tiierc is a differencernbetween retaining vour culture and remainingrnloval to another state, and immigrantsrnof an earlier era understood thatrndistinction. The intent behind Mexico’srngranting of dual citizenship to Mexican-rnAmericans is noriring less than tiie creationrnof a fifth column inside the llnitedrnStates.rnI have et to see a reliable estimate ofrnhow man- Anrerican citizens voted inrntire Mexican presidential elections, butrnjudging b the video footage of the pollsrnthat the Mexican goernment set up justrnacross the border, the number is significant.rnThose who care about Americanrnsoercignh should demand that our presidentialrncandidates confront this issue,rnand thev should vote onK’ for those w hornare willing to support legislation thatrnwould .strip citizenship from an Americanrnwho cliooses to otc in another countr’rns election. An candidate who wouldrnrefuse to sign such legislation implicitiyrnsupports the ongoing destruction ofrnAmerican soereignt and citizenship.rn-Scott P. RichertrnHILLARY RODHAM CLINTONSrnbid for the U.S. Senate has captured thernattention of the national media. Man)rnpundits are calling the campaign betweenrnthe First Lady and Long Island RepublicanrnCongressman Rick Lazio “thernmost closelv watched U.S. Senate race inrnhistory.” For once, the national pressrncorps may be onto something—but forrnthe v’rong reasons.rnDemocrats are convinced that thernelection of Hillary Clinton will extendrnthe reign of Clintonism well into the 21strncentury. Thev hope that this feministrnicon will promote causes dear to thernleft—children’s “rights,” national healthrncare, abortion, environmentalism, andrnthe homosexual agenda —and then,rnmore importantiv’, use her Senate seat asrna launching pad to an een grander objective:rnbecoming the first female presidentrnin American history.rnFor manv conserafies, this is an unfoldingrnnightmare. After enduring PresidentrnClinton for nearly eight years, thernprospect of Sen. Hillarv’ Clinton (or e’enrnworse. President Flillarv Clinton) is morernthan nran- of them can bear. I’nderstandably,rnthe’ are championing RickrnI^azio with the slogan, “anyone butrnHillary.”rnYet nothing is more emblematic of thernmoral degeneration of the Clinton yearsrnthan the media’s obsession with the Cliirton-rnLazio campaign. Mrs. Clinton is notrnbeing followed b}’ swarms of journalistsrnbecause she is an impressive politicianrnwith a distinguished record; on tire contrary,rnshe has never held elective officernand has no legislative accomplishmentsrn—a fact which alone should disqualifvrnher from holding a Senate seat.rnThe Clintons have played out their soapoperarndrama in front of the entire nation,rnand now the aggrieved wife wants to becomerna celebrih’ in her ovv n right.rnEven as leftist Democrats go, the Firstrnl.adv, who has played a major role inrnmanv- of the scandals and disasters of thernClinton administration, is an inadequatern6/CHRONICLESrnrnrn