see the pictures on TV) and is either ignorantrnof, or numb to, the hardships hisrn”compassion” may be imposing on hisrnown people. Allegedly the President of arnrepublic, he is making a grand gesturernakin to an emperor opening the templerngranaries for the luckless lower castes.rnHe apparently has no idea what the traditionalrn”conservative” view of the state’srnproper role is.rnThe President appeared very self-satisfiedrnwith his gesture. Pie often does theserndays, with his promises of school vouchersrnto “help” the “disadvantaged” (andrnpossibly extend federal control to privaternschools), his plans for lending a federalrnhand to “faith-based” organizations (I nohcedrna personalized license plate recentlyrnthat read “ALAKBAR” on a vehicle carryingrna fellow “person of faith” on hisrnmerry way), and his promises to showrngeuerosit}’ to our poor Ijatin Americanrnneighbors (but not West Virginians).rnPresident Bush, it appears, is as much arnchild of the 60’s as his corrupt and bloatedrnpredecessor, practicing telescopicrnphilanthropy from the comfort and safet)’rnof the White House, ever ready to spendrnmoney that is not his own, to send otherrnpeople’s children to fight and die in alienrnlands, and to initiate grand schemes inrnwhich he will play no personal role.rnThere is nothing “compassionate” norrn”conservative” about Mr. Bush’s fuzzyrnideolog)’.rnWayne Allensworth, who recentlyrnmoved from PurceUville, Virginia, tornKeller, Texas, is not a “compassionaternconservative.”rnLetter From Chilernhy Tom JenneyrnLiving in a Glass HousernIn January of last year, Chilean actressrnL^anielle Tobar made international newsrnby moving into a glass house in downtownrnSantiago. During the short coursernof “Project Naufilus,” the inhmatc detailsrnof her daily life were open to the (largelyrnprurient) curiosit)’of onlookers. After onlyrnsix days, Tobar abandoned the house,rnclaiming securit}’ concerns.rnAt that time, I was backpacking inrnsouthern Chile. I did not find the newsrnsurprising. In a world culture that hasrnproduced MlY’s Real World and realtimernvoyeur websites, the glass house isrnthe next logical step. I wasn’t even surprisedrnthat it happened in Chile. Therncountry has a large “artsy” clement, especiallyrnamong the “wired” generation.rnCombine “artsy” and “wired,” and thernglass house is a natural result.rnWliat really struck me about the wholernaffiiir was the aptness of the glass house asrna metaphor for Chile’s relationship withrnthe outside world. Since the brief reignrnof Salvador Allende’s Marxist-LeninistrnUnidad Popular (UP) government (1970-rn73), the internal affairs of this small countr)’rnhave often been the subject of intenserninternational scrutiny. 1 he windowrnpanes on the house are highly convex,rncausing certain inhabitants —like Allendcrnand former military dictator AugustornPinochet—to be magnified in the eyesrnof observers. This magnification is accompaniedrnby a great deal of distorfion.rnPhis was my fifth visit to Chile in fivernyears. Politically, it was by far the mostrnintereshng of the visits. The trip coincidedrnwith several major events: first, thernelection and inauguration of Rieardo Lagos,rnthe first Socialist Party presidentrnsince Allende was deposed; second, thernreturn to the countr}- of Pinochet after 17rnmonths’ detention in London; third, thernbeginning of the prosecution of Pinochetrnfor acts of violence committed during hisrn17-year rule; and fourth, the arrival inrnChile of U.S. justice Departiuent officialsrninvestigating Pinochet’s involvementrnin the 1976 Washington, D.C., carbombingrnof former UP minister OrlandornLetelier.rnLike actress lobar, who found it impossiblernto ignore the stares and hoots ofrnher viewers, the Chilean nation is keenlyrnaware of outside pressure. In his inauguralrnaddress, Lagos spoke of the foreignrnvisitors at the event (including JanetrnReno), saying that they would “tell thernworld that Chileans were able to rediscoverrntruth, justice, and respect for humanrnrights.” This kind of “we have tornshow the world” statement is now a commonrnrefrain in press editorials, but effortsrnat prosecuting Pinochet and other militaryrnofficers only began to gain realrnground after October 16, 1998, when thernformer dictator was kidnapped by Britishrnauthorities at the behest of Spanish judgernBaltasar Carzon. In August 1999,rnChilean Judge Juan Guzman began indietingrnmilitary officers for human-rightsrnabuses. In the hvo vcars since, tiie casernhas continued to twist and turn its wayrnthrough the Chilean legal system, althoughrnmost observers believe that thern85-year-old “English patient” will not livernto see an actual trial.rnChile’s glass house has a way of magnifyingrnhypocrisy: Just compare howrnPinochet (2,000 to 3,000 killed, some inrncombat) and Fidel Castro (15,000 torn17,000 political prisoners killed) havernfared in the European and Americanrnmedia. More importantly, the glassrnhouse also tends to magnify historical di.stortions.rnOne enduring myth is thatrnChilean constitutional democracy wasrndestroyed during the fall of Allende andrnthe UP on September 11, 1973. In truth,rnChilean democracy was long dead by therntime Pinochet took over. Eor an alternativerndate of demise, try November 10,rn1971, when Castro arrived in Chile forrnwhat hirned out to be a three-week tour.rnDuring his visit, Castro gave Allende anrninscribed AK-47 rifle. This was a veryrntelling gesture: Throughout Allende’srnregime (and with his tacit consent),rnplanes and boats smuggled Cuban armsrninto the comitry and into the hands ofrnleffist guerrillas. The scenes of Allendernin his last hours, wandering aroiuid thernMoneda palace with a bottle of Chivas inrnone hand and Eidel’s AK in the other, arernaptly symbolic. His attempts to preserverndemocracy were tiie political equivalentrnof a drunken stumble; at the same time,rnhe always kept one finger in the triggerrnguard of violent revolution. The deathrncertificate of Chilean democracy was issuedrnon August 22, 1973. On that day,rnthe Chamber of Deputies, voting 81 torn47, approved an accord denouncing thern”grave rupture in tiie constitutional andrnlegal order of the Republic” and statingrnthat Chile’s armed forces had a constitutionalrndut}’ to “put an immediate end” tornthe situation.rnAnother myth perpetuated by thernmainstream media is the idea that thernUP’s failure was due to an economicrn”dcstabilization” orchestrated by the U.S.rngovernment—specifically, by the CIA.rnThe CIA did play a well-documentedrnrole in keeping opposition media alive inrnfile face of government harassment, butrnthe left is always waiting for some magicrndocument to be declassified that willrnprove that the U.S. government causedrnChile’s economic implosion. This isrnlamp-rubbing. No matter what is uneartiied,rnthe CIA was not responsible forrnnationalizing private industries, destroyingrntiie price system, or creating 500-pcr-rnSEPTEMBER 2001/35rnrnrn