tation. Thus, unless Mr. Stockman hadnsomething more Machiavellian andndamaging in mind when he poured hisnheart out, we must assume that he hasnproved to be—at least at this momentnof his life, his computerized talents notwithstanding—annimmature dimwitnwho has done injury both to the mennwho trusted him and to the seriousnsociopolitical concepts he once claimednto espouse and admire. By failing to firenMr. Stockman immediately, Mr. Reagannmissed his opportunity to salvage anynesteem from friend and foe alike.nForeign PolicynThe Reagan administration’s insistencenthat Saudi Arabia be the cornerstonenof our Middle Eastern policynstrikes us more and more as the bestnjoke of the post-World War II era. Withna sense of timing that beats all pastnmasters of historical comedy, the teamsnof conceptualists and tacticians whichnadvise Mr. Reagan on foreign policynare promoting the hilarious idea that anfunctional political alliance with annoperetta country is possible. The ideanof deterring Soviet designs in that areanwith the help of heaps of money stashednaway in Swiss and Manhattan banksnwould make Gilbert & Sullivan salivate:nthe high burlesque inherent in the profoundnthought that an ideological warfarenand a military brotherhood-in-armsncan be achieved through American militaryncooperation with the Las Vegasnof Islam would be quite funny, were itnnot so pregnant with catastrophic implications.nHitler had no gold or dollarsnin the First National Bank, but hennearly conquered the world. The Saudinparvenus may own half of Fort Knox,nyet the Soviets, if they decided to, couldnobliterate them, with all their wivesnand camels, within 20 minutes.nThe liberal media—chiefly thosenwhich appear to have some murky stakenin encouraging love for the Saudis innAmerican hearts (Time-Life, Inc. leadsnthe way in this sentimental affair) aren48inChronicles of Culturentrying to promote an image of a pure,ntraditional, deeply religious, moral andnsane Arab society. Their line is that thenSaudi moralists reject American decadencenas the only obstacle to completenideological communion between thentwo nations. America—according tontheir e.xplanations—is drowning in thenslime of West 42nd Street-style porno, anSodom which every good Arab viewsnwith revulsion. In point of fact, whatnthe Saudis have in mind when they talknabout American decay and filth is notnPenthouse or Plato’s Retreat but thenConstitution, the Bill of Rights, pluralism,npolitical tolerance and our notionnof freedom. As Lawrence Durrellnshowed clearly in The Alexandria Quartet,nIslamic lenity for sexual kinkinessnand vice would leave Hustler’s publishingnexecutives in speechless awe. It’snnot our transgressions in things sensualnthat make a Sau|ii’princeling contemptuousnof Amerit’an degeneracy; it’s ournfreedom for everybody, our legal fairness,nour veneration for efficient work,nour sense of personal responsibility and”nour rejection of living at someone else’snexpense that he finds corrupt andnperverted.nThe press has widely circulated a picturenof President Reagan, taken duringnthe Cancun conference just as he openednhis arms, in a most affectionate gesturenof warm sincerity, to embrace PrincenFahd of Saudi Arabia. We think that, tonnncomplement the counsel he is receivingnfrom his wise men, Mr. Reagan would donwell to reread his copy of A Thousandnand One Nights. He might then remembernsomething about Arab ceremonialngreetings, wherein their opennarms emerge from flowing robes innwhich it is so easy to hide daggersn—their best and only friends.nModestynFormer Vice President Walter Mondale,nwriting about himself in the NewnYork Times, has this to say:n… I have been and remain a force innAmerican politics. And as a once andnfuture political leader .. .nOf course, what Mr. Mondale wantednto say is that he will remain in Americannpolitics. Whether as a force remainsnto be seen. And whether he’ll be a politicalnleader in the future, only the futurencan tell.nMr. Mondale is now a visiting professornat three universities in Minnensota. We are not familiar with the educationalnlevel of those sites of learning,nbut we hope that Mr. Mondale teachesnneither logic, nor English composition,nnor any course which deals with primarynhuman virtues.nNixon Returns to DukenContinuing a tradition of recent years,nDukeUniversity will allow pornographicnfilms to be shown on campus again thisnfall. If any faculty voices question thenrelationship between such movies andnDuke’s motto, “Eruditio et Religio,”nthere ^ill arise suggestions that the University’snanachronistic slogan be altered.nAlthough these professors find materialnto promote learning in “Fritz the Cat,”nthey find no redeeming social value innthe unexpurgated papers of the thirtyseventhnPresident of the United States.nUniversities open to discussions of “Fritzn