journalism in which precision is neverndivorced from knowledge. This traditionnran into an existential trap with the arrivalnof Joseph Goebbels on the German publishingnscene: as we remember, severalnyears of welding the sense of precisionnto the most vicious mythomania ensued—andnthe rest is history.nPeriodicals like Criticon contributenimmensely to erasing these sorrowfulnLiberal CulturenPublishersnE.P. Button Co., a New York publishingnhouse in business since 1852,nhas a long list of pro-communist andnradical books on its record. Of late, thenfirm has decided to shed its rigid, doctrinaire,ninhuman, overpoliticized imagenand assume a more relaxed posture, innkeeping with the Liberal Culture’s triumphsnduring the last decade. A representativenitem: The End Product: ThenLast Taboo — ?!. treatise aboutnexcrement—is described by the publishersnas “the perfect book for thenbathroom.” It carries an introduction bynAbby Rockefeller, David Rockefeller’sndaughter, a celebrated authority on thensubject. The Washington Post mio-tvas,:n”End Product’s dust jacket shows annenamel cornucopia, a toilet overflowingnwith fresh vegetables and fruits. Thenjacket makes this point: excrement andnnourishment are really the same thing.”n# * *nWilliam Morrow Co., a younger andnmore enterprising company, also Dr.nWilliam Kunstler’s (see Moral Leaders)npublisher, has brought out Sex WithoutnShame by a Dr. Alayne Yates, a pediatriciannand psychiatrist from Los Angeles.nDr. Yates strongly, even insistingly,nrecommends masturbation for childrennfrom the first year of their existence,nsexual initiation of toddlers, encouragingnsexual activities in pre-school kids,nparental and sibling incest as sources ofnjoy and felicity. But liberal publishersn26;nChronicles of Culturenmemories from humanity’s awareness.nWriting about the press in Bundesrepublik,nCriticon’s commentator observes:n”The freedom of the press [is] a fearfullynpreserved privilege of the left-liberalnsocial caste. Nobody has more painfullynexperienced his privilege than the conservatives.”nAs with all sores, it is comforting tonknow that one’s afflictions are’ universal.nDnare not the only ones who seem to adorenDr. Yates, so do liberal journalists. Annationally syndicated one has interviewednher, and reports that she knows “a 4year-oldnboy who had intercourse with an6-year-old girl and neither seemed damagednby it,” dutifully conveying this brilliantnresearch to the millions of readers.nHow Dr. Yates knows what a womannwill feel at the age of 30 by observingnher at the age of six remains a matter ofnher own scientific standards. Even hardernto understand is what she means by thenword “damage.” But the portrait of Dr.nYates, adorning her interview in the libculturalnnewspapers, discloses a sort ofnglimmer in her eyes which her colleagues,nother psychiatrists, might find disturbing.nGurusnMr. Gore Vidal, famous author andnbon-vivant, when asked about childmolesting,nasserts in an interview:n”What happens with free accord can benhardly called corrupt. As for what is anminor, my God, adolescents are goingninto puberty at 9,10,11 . . . I see nothingnwrong with willing relationshipsnbetween men and boys . . .”nHe gets unexpected support fromnthe Sunday family magazine Parade innwhich, true to its old counseling traditions,nwe read of late:n”If you take your child [who exhibitsnhomosexual tendencies] to a psychiatristnor psychologist, choose one who is gaynor specializes in counseling gays . . .”nMoral LeadersnNeiv Times, a libcultural organ,nreports, with approbatory relish, on annidyllic scene from the life of Dr. WilliamnKunstler, the professional conscience ofnAmerica and the focal point of procommunistnemotions:n”He was sitting at home in his GaynStreet brownstone, feeding his 14month-oldndaughter, Sarah. He had beennimprovising a dinnertime story. ‘Thennthe little girl did fellatio upon the lion,’nhe said, spooning more baby food intonSarah’s mouth.”nPolemics & ExchangesnThe Fallibility of Meaning Wellnby John HastingsnThe embarrassment of Ms.nVanessa Redgrave’s appearance at thisnyear’s Academy Awards was but onenmore instance of the muddle-headednpseudo-politico-ideological blubber tonMr. Hastings, of New York City, is anlife-long student of the liberal doublestandardnmystique.nnnwhich we have been subjected for toonmany years. The tolerance Americansnhave for this kind of thing would seemnto suggest that the half-baked is excusablenif it’s “well-meaning.” Which is to say:nignorance is not merely acceptable butnperhaps even to be praised if its heartnhas an ardent beat.nThe fact that this form of public selfhumiliationnis far from new does nothingn