The 1980’s witnessed one of the greatest miracles in the history of American politics and the climactic triumph of one of the most effective political leaders ever to emerge in America. That leader was a woman, and however well-known she is today, she has never achieved the honor and celebrity of her many inferiors. The...
10/CHRONICLESnVIEWSnSEXUAL POLITICS by George GildernThe 1980’s witnessed one of the greatest miracles in thenhistory of American pohtics and the chmactic triumphnof one of the most effective poHtical leaders ever to emergenin America. That leader was a woman, and howevernwell-known she is today, she has never achieved the honornand celebrity of her many inferiors. The national...
cause. As an Interior Department memo put it; “This is notnto be considered a partisan issue,” but part of an antidiscriminationneffort “which Federal employers are nownobliged to support.” During the climactic year of 1978,nPresident Carter himself traveled with his wife to Illinois,nSchlafly’s home state, in the week before the schedulednvote, to implore the state legislature...
12 / CHRONICLESntively recognize that preservation of the sexual constitutionnmay be even more important to the social order thannpreservation of the legal conshtution. They recognize thatnno laws can prevail against the dissolution of the socialnconnections and personal motivations that sustain a civilizednpolity. They acknowledge, with Carl Jung, that whilenthe society can resist epidemics of physical...
by subsidizing them with expanded welfare, day-care,nunisex job training, and other feminized government programsnthat richly earn the disdain they receive in streetnsociety. But many conservative men are little better.nLacking the guts to rebuff the upper-class feminist ladies,nthey go along with most of the feminist agenda, which shllnprevails in Washington bureaucracies under the ReagannAdministration. They fail...
14/CHRONICLESndestructive regimes in history, from Mussolini to Mao,nfrom the Japanese warlords to communist cadres.nIn any primitive tribe, rule by male fighters is the mostnnatural form of government. Not only do they commandnforce, but they also exert a moral appeal. The idea that mennwho risk their lives to preserve and protect the state earn thenright to...
middle-class, altogether alien to the established schools andnchurches that for decades have purported to uphold traditionnwhile in fact selling out and flaking out before everynnew fashion of decadence and socialism. The idea thatnAmerica might find renewal from a melange of movementsnof evangelical women, wetbacks, Dartmouth Review militants.nSouth Asian engineers, Bible thumpers, boat people,nMoonies, Mormons, Cuban...
tem of benevolent hypocrisy—mostnoften referred to as good manners—nwhat did we have left? We found crude-,nness, boorishness and, in too many instances,nviolence and savagery. ThatnMs. Alther thoroughly approves of thisnshift is best illustrated in the contrastnbetween the militant Donny and hisnlong-suffering Aunt Jemima-ish grandmother,nwho, like all the characters, arencrude stereotypes.nFortunately we, that is Americannsociety, seem...
which reconstructions the evidence allowsnand which it rules out.nIXere we (scientists) apparently partncompany with such writers as MarilynnFrench, even though her approach isnempirical and inductive (so she tells us).nThis book is a study of the gendernprinciples as I see them existing innShakespeare’s work. I did not bringnmy theory to the work; rather, thenwork of Shakespeare,...
“All politics is on one level sexual politics.” —George Gilder Extremists break out of the margins and take power when they fool opponents into advancing their agenda. By politicizing the family and sexuality, the left duped conservatives, and all of us, into becoming their accomplices. Since last fall’s electoral coup, the United States has been...
“Our children need to learn more history and civics!” is a regular rallying cry for those who want to see America returned to its moral and common sense roots. That a greater emphasis on history and civics is needed is evident from The Nation’s Report Card, which finds only 24 percent of American high school seniors...
Identity politics is now the term du jour and its meaning is clear enough on a superficial level—choosing people according to their physical characteristics and sexual preferences. The left wants more people of color, women, and gays in influential positions, while the right insists that these traits are secondary to competence in a given job....
Can a culture celebrate those who want to destroy it and still stand? We are about to find out in this fateful November. Until recently, I thought the word “demonic” no more than a figure of speech. It carried a chill dislodged from religious myth and absorbed into literary aesthetics. As an accessory to prose, I...
Rafael Palmeiro has ED. How do I know? He told me. He told you, too. Heck, he told the whole country about 15 years ago. He went on national television (while intermittently swinging a big bat—Freudian subtlety is lost on the Madison Avenue types) to say that he was having a bit of trouble with...
As I write, the lame-duck Congress is revving up for one last chance to do really lasting damage to the country, in the form of the cloyingly titled DREAM Act, which would grant an open-ended amnesty to illegal aliens who were brought here as children by their parents. As Roy Beck of NumbersUSA warns, this...
After wearing out the patience of television viewers over an entire year of premature campaigning, the two political parties will soon be informing us of their choices. Will the presidential election of 2008 really come down to a contest between two leftist anti-Christian senators representing New York? Or will Al Gore, even more bloated with...
Paul Lewis, a professor of English at Boston College, is one of America’s most eminent scholars of humor. With this book, he has written another very thoroughly researched study of contemporary American humor, ranging from the “positive humor” and “laughter club” movements that use humor to promote health and efficiency, peace and uplift, to the...
“If a woman of her own accord drops that which is in her, they shall crucify her and not bury her.” —The Assyrian Code, c. 2000 B.C. Ancient history is worth keeping in mind when confronting the claims of the pro- and anti-abortion and euthanasia camps, since both tend to couch their arguments in terms...
David Reimer, the 38-year-old man who was raised as a girl (“Brenda”) following a botched circumcision in infancy, committed suicide on May 4, 2004. As the left rushes to validate sodomy by judicial fiat and “homosexual marriage,” perhaps now is an appropriate time to revisit his case. It reveals more about the public-policy effect of...
Sergey Yushenkov’s murder on April 17 may have been the result of machinations aimed at destroying Russian President Vladimir Putin politically and personally, as well as undermining U.S.-Russia relations, seemingly on track again after the rift over Iraq. Gunned down outside his Moscow apartment, Yushenkov, the leader of the Liberal Russia political party, joins a...
“Visual politics” seems an apt description of our current regime. Since most Americans acquire their news by television, those making news or seeking to communicate it must do so visually. Since television has not really formulated its own vocabulary, however, its visuals owe a debt to the movies. It is a commonplace to speak of...
The Day of Atonement by its very advent at sunset on the eve of the tenth of the lunar month of Tishré atones for sin and involves repentance—regret for sin, resolution not to repeat it—prayer, and fasting. Not the rites of the day, the prayers of the day, and not the act of refraining from...
Hillary Clinton has given new impetus to the paranoid style in American politics with her astounding claim that her peckerwood husband’s latest sexual-political scandal was the work of “a vast right-wing conspiracy” constituting “part of an effort, very frankly, to undo the results of two elections.” When President Nixon, at the height of the Watergate...
The FBI’s “Hate Crime Statistics”—preliminary figures for 1995 were released in November—are highly suspect because of the agency’s flawed methodology. The problem is that, in recording and identifying the perpetrators of hate crimes, there are no strictly defined categories for thugs of “European-American,” “Hispanic,” or “Middle Eastern” descent. The term “Hispanic” has already been officially...
“The results of political changes are hardly ever those which their friends hope for or their foes fear.” —T.H. Huxley In political circles, it has become fashionable to talk about “culture wars.” The discussions usually touch on the issues of abortion, euthanasia, sexual orientation, school prayer, gun control, and welfare, among others. These are issues...
SCENE; Administrative conference room at a major university. Five grim-faced faculty members sit around a long table and stare at THE ACCUSED, who sits at one end, apart and alone. He is well dressed, young middle-aged, nice looking but not particularly handsome. Each member of the COMMITTEE has in front of him or her a...
The president of a prominent liberal arts college recently conveyed to its philosophy department (and to other constituencies) that regulations may soon be in place which would influence, if not altogether control, the conferring of bachelor’s degrees. Mandated by the federal government, these “guidelines” would have a strongly utilitarian bias. However supportive this might be...
When an acquitted William Kennedy Smith emerged from the Florida courtroom last December declaring his faith in the system, a viewer could only query, “Why?” There stood a young man who was indicted for rape and forced to spend over one million dollars defending himself on the basis of the word of one person, the...
Election Day nears, and two faceless candidates leer ahead of us like dopestarved punks who know there’s nowhere else for us to go. They need a fix, and in the process we’ll lose our money and our dignity. If that’s all we lose, I guess we’re lucky. These strange men (and the occasional odd woman)...
The epidemic of AIDS highlights a crisis in policy on which the social sciences may shed some light. In the process, it may also move the study of policymaking to some substantial higher ground. Whenever we pose a question in terms of understanding rather than resolving, we run the risk of hearing social research denounced...
In the 1980’s the doctrine of sexual equality is increasingly being misapplied. The current discussion of women’s sports provides a graphic illustration. The central premise of the sexual egalitarian is simple: It is unjust to reward or support a woman less than a man, when the woman performs on the same level. Many would agree...
OPINIONSrnCulture Politicsrnby Marshall L. DeRosarn’The results of political changes are hardly ever those which their friends hope forrnor their foes fear.”rn—T.H. HuxleyrnThe Southern Tradition:rnThe Achievement and Limitationsrnof an American Conservatismrnby Eugene D. GenovesernCambridge: Harvard University Press;rn138 pp., $22.50rnThe Southern Front: Historyrnand Pohtics in the Cultural Warrnby Eugene D. GenovesernColumbia: University of Missouri Press;rn320 pp., $29.95rnIn...
Texas-styled right. Thomas Pauken’srnThe Thirty Years War is the politicalrnmemoir of a Texas-reared Catholie lad,rnlured to Georgetown University in 1961,rnwho trains in the political trenches of thernYoung Republican organization duringrnthe Goldwater years. Over the next threerndecades, Pauken becomes a pilgrim,rntaking part in or touching virtualh’ all ofrnthe significant political events of hisrntime. I Ic serves...
VITAL SIGNSrnPOLITICSrnSex, Drugs, andrna Republican Partyrnby Marc MoranornAn all-night homosexual “circuit”rnparty called Cherry Jubilee’s “MainrnEvent” took place in Washington, D.C.,rnon April 13, 1996. The dance party featuredrnpublic nudity, illicit sexual activity,rnand illegal drug use. Among the sponsorsrnof the gay festivities were a GOPrncongressman and a host of corporations.rnA federal building, the Andrew W. MellonrnAuditorium, played...
time helper to take the physical work ofrnfulfilling orders off his shoulders. Then,rntoo, when Arkham’s inventory ran out ofrnspace in his basement and attic, he borrowedrnfrom the bank to build a climatecontrolledrnwarehouse.rnIn addition to extracting a physical tollrnon his health, the demands of runningrnArkham House affected Derleth’s writingrncareer during the last 20 years of hisrnlife....
degenerated, along with the level of therneulture at large. Compared to Horowitz,rnGitlow—the fanatic avenger and consummaternopportunist—is a veritablerngiant. While Horowitz was always arnperipheral figure on the left, with no statusrnas an activist beyond the Berkeleyrnscene, Gitlow was one of the foundingrnleaders of the American CommunistrnParty, whose defection was front-pagernnews all across the world.rnIt was a...
selves away time and again, whetlier it’srnTracy praying to God to help her win thernelection because she is the only one whorndeserves to, or McAllister assuring us he’srnat peace with himself as he pummelsrnvending machines or hurls a Pepsi at arnpassing car. Despite their reasonable discourse,rnthese are people firmly in the griprnof their destructively instinctual...
ETHNIC POLITICSrnAny effort by the black community to combat spiritual and socialrndecay must depend upon its ability to impose considerablernsocial discipline and to rein in antisocial elements. . . . [T]hernstruggle to restore a stable family life may well prove sine quarnnon, and, if so, the necessary measures may not comport wellrnwith the endless demands...
for as long as half a decade. The school does not mind waiting.rnIt has bags of mone’ to spend on defense and all the time inrnthe wodd.rnAnother Dallas attorney points out that most schools wouldrnfar rather risk a “wrongful dismissal” suit than “take a federalrnhit.” The former could cost the school hundreds of thousands,rnbut the...
The Politics of Education and thernMetaphysics of Emptinessrnby Stephen A. EricksonrnThe president of a prominent liberal arts college recentlyrnconveyed to its philosophy department (and to other constituencies)rnthat regulations may soon be in place which wouldrninfluence, if not altogether control, the conferring of bachelor’srndegrees. Mandated by the federal government, these “guidelines”rnwould have a strongly utilitarian bias....
The Politics ofnRapenby Betsy ClarkenWhen an acquitted William KennedynSmith emerged from thenFlorida courtroom last December declaringnhis faith in the system, a viewerncould only query, “Why?” There stoodna young man who was indicted for rapenand forced to spend over one millionndollars defending himself on the basis ofnthe word of one person, the word beingnuncorroborated by either...
of the Women’s Studies department atnMount Holyoke, for example, has instructednher students that rape is “anynunwanted sexual contact.” A Novembern1991 Teen magazine author obfuscates,nbut tries to leave the impressionnthat rape is considerably less invasiventhan it is. As she writes in an ardclentitled “Acquaintance Rape,” “if someonenyou know does something sexuallynto you against your will, then...
201 CHRONICLESnTHE POLITICS OF AIDS RESEARCHnby Irving Louis HorowitznThe epidemic of AIDS highlights a crisis in policy onnwhich the social sciences may shed some light. In thenprocess, it may also move the study of policymaking to somensubstantial higher ground. Whenever we pose a question innterms of understanding rather than resolving, we run thenrisk of hearing...
inevitable consequence of this is the formation of a presidentialncommission. And as we can see, this has alreadyntaken place, with the attendant bickering over the compositionnof the commission consuming most of the time andnenergy of the trouble-shooting body. At a more proximatenlevel, a somewhat typical plea to “do something” wasnregistered in an issue of The...
22 I CHRONICLESnadditional funds for medical research.nThis is only a brief overview of the extremes of policynresponses to AIDS, which does not remotely exhaust ournapproaches. The options between these two poles arennumerous and are largely put forth by serious people. Butnour concerns here should be less the issue of AIDS than thenproblems which constantly, consecutively,...
with the AIDS virus, while 43 percent said that they shouldnnot. And on the question of responsibility, the public view isnthat 45 percent agreed that most people with AIDS havenonly themselves to blame, while only 13 percent disagreed.nAnd on the crucial statement “I sometimes think that AIDSnis a punishment for the decline in moral standards,”...
public morality in the emergence of AIDS as a nationalnproblem.nMoral discourse in the United States tends to be framednin terms of interest, purpose, and preference — that is,nstructurally. But phenomena like the AIDS epidemic arenlikely to refocus our understanding of public morality in atnleast two respects: One, they will shift the center of gravitynfrom moral...
POLITICS OF WEAKNESS by Steven GoldbergnIn the 1980’s the doctrine of sexual equaHty is increasinglynbeing misapplied. The current discussion of women’snsports provides a graphic illustration. The central premise ofnthe sexual egalitarian is simple: It is unjust to reward ornsupport a woman less than a man, when the womannperforms on the same level.nMany would agree that...
Nancy Lieberman is one of the world’s best femalenplayers but insufficiently talented to make a malenprofessional team. She has no female professional leaguento play in because few spectators are willing to pay tonsee women in a sport that is played so much better bynmen.n22 / CHRONICLESnthey rank among the very best basketball players in thenworld,...
The right’s failure in 2020’s election may herald the start of a new conservative ascension. But it cannot happen under the current Republican Party leadership. The problem is greater than the Republican-in-Name-Only politicians ignoring the legitimate charges of election-rigging and jumping Trump’s ship. For years, the established conservative political class has looked away from...