quote . . . means that if an individual isrnopposed to legal immigration because ofrnphysical or cultural differences betweenrnthemselves and immigrants—thenrntough! An individual’s physical and culturalrndifferences are irrelevant to determiningrnAmerica’s immigration policies.”rnUnfortunately, he’s right once again.rnCultural differences are taboo in the immigrationrndebate. In Washington, wherernonly money talks, immigration is a strictlyrneconomic issue. What difference doesrnit make if an immigrant sacrifices chickensrnto gain invulnerability to bullets, orrnhas his wives burned on his funeral pyre,rnor sells his 13-year-old daughter to his 40-rnyear-old drinking buddy and calls it arnwedding?rnAs a congressman, Dornan has taken arnstrong stand against illegal immigration,rnbut so has Bill Clinton. However, asrnMurray Rothbard once remarked, thernthreat posed by illegal immigration is minor.rnIllegal immigrants, after all, are herernillegally, and they can be deported. Legalrnimmigrants, on the other hand, canrnstay and change the culture, and as thernvarious waves of immigrants have arrivedrnon America’s shores—from England andrnWestern Europe, from Northern Europe,rnfrom Central and Southern Europe, andrnfor the last 30 years, from the ThirdrnWorld—they have done just that. Replacingrnreal debate on this issue withrnempty rhetoric about the “Melting Pot,”rn”assimilation,” and the “American Experiment”rnwill only heighten the rate ofrnsocial and cultural change, rather thanrnameliorate it.rnLoretta Sanchez, nee Brixey, is a newcomerrnnot only to her Hispanic heritagernbut to politics. In her only other run forrnpublic office—for a seat on the AnaheimrnCity Council—she used her marriedrnname. She’s also fairly new to the DemocraticrnParty, having jumped ship fromrnthe Republican Party in 1992. Ironically,rnaccording to the Almanac of AmericanrnPolitics 1996, “In 1993, Dornan said hernwould run for only one more House termrn(he says he hopes a Latino or Asian Republicanrnwill succeed him).” Didn’t hisrnmother ever tell him to be careful whatrnhe wished for?rnScott P. RichertrnEPICYCLES:rn• Le plus ga change. Bob Dole getsrnwiped out, but Ralph Reed is still head ofrnthe Christian Coalition and talkingrnabout “next time.” Mr. Gingrich is againrnSpeaker of the House, and Washingtonrn”conservatives” are once again turningrnover rocks to find a successor to theirrnfallen idol Jack Kemp. Whom will theyrnpick for head GOP cheerleader? BillrnBennett? Lamar Alexander? HaroldrnStassen? With Republicans like these,rnwe might just as well repeal the 22ndrnAmendment and make Bill ClintonrnPresident for Life.rn• The White House was virtually desertedrnby Christmas, as the members ofrnClinton’s Cabinet scurried out of Washingtonrnlike confidence men trying to stayrnone step ahead of the sheriff. As we go tornpress, Janet Reno seems to have lockedrnherself in her room and is refusing tornturn over the map to where the bodiesrnare buried. This is a sticky situation. Asrnpopular as Reno is in Washington—anyonernwho kills women and children apparentlyrncan’t be all bad—the President isrnreported to be unhappy with his AttorneyrnGeneral’s free-and-easy approach tornappointing special prosecutors. In thernbest-case scenario, the Clintons will startrnleaking rumors about DUI charges, andrnthe Attorney General will retaliate byrnleaking some of what she knows aboutrnher bosses.rn• In Italy the Lega Nord is movingrnrapidly to turn its theoretical state ofrnPadania into reality. Umberto Bossi isrncalling for a March referendum, and thernProdi government, when it is not fawningrnall over Fidel Castro, is makingrnBossi’s work easier by raising taxes. InrnNovember, the Lega held a monster rallyrnin Milano, a city that has always been enemyrnterritory for them. But the Legarnwanted to mount a challenge to its rivalsrnin the AUeanza Nazionale, which held arndemonstration on September 15, with asrnmany as 150,000 anti-Lega protesters.rnThe counterdemonstration attractedrnperhaps as many as a million leghisti,rncausing the hostile Corriere della Sera tornobserve that Bossi had won his bet.rn• There has been much rejoicing inrnLittle Rock the last few months, in thernhouse that Sam Walton built. Vermont,rnthe last state in the union to resist Wal-rnMart, has fallen to the lure of low pricesrnand lower-paying jobs. Smelling blood,rnother “big-box” retailers—Home Depot,rnToys-R-Us—have rushed in to claimrntheir share of the carcass of the onceindependentrnstate. Outside Budington,rntwo sprawling megamalls are risingrnwhere cattle once grazed. And the globalrneconomy marches on.rnOBITER DICTA:rnChronicles is illustrated this month by H.rnWard Sterett, an artist who works in a varietyrnof media. A resident of Roscoe, Illinois,rnMr. Sterett has traveled widely andrnparticipated in snow sculpting competitionsrnin Sweden and Switzeriand.rnCharles Edward Eaton, who lives inrnChapel Hill, North Carolina, has contributedrntwo new poems to this issue.rnMr. Eaton is the author of 15 collectionsrnof poetry, four volumes of short stories,rnand a novel, A Lady of Pleasure. He is thernrecipient of the North Carolina Awardrnfor Literature, among other prizes. Thernother poet this month is Geoff M. Pope,rnwho teaches English and creative writingrnat Dominion College in Seattle. He isrneditor of The Salt & The Light: A Journalrnof Christian Writers.rnThe Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg,rnTennessee, has announced the start ofrnthe annual Eaux Faulkner competition.rnThe winner will receive a trip for two tornOxford, Mississippi, where he will readrnhis entry on the steps of Faulkner’srnhome. Entries must be typed and doublernspaced, must not exceed 500 words,rnand must be postmarked no later thanrnFebruary 1, 1997. Send submissions tornJack Daniel’s Faux Faulkner Contest, c/ornThe Faulkner Newsletter, P.O. Box 248,rnOxford, MS 38655.rnChronicles is sold at the following bookstoresrnin Illinois: City News, 4018 N. CicerornAve., Chicago; Pages For All Ages,rn1749 W. Kirby Ave., Champaign; ThernJunction Bookroom, 822 W. LincolnrnHwy., DeKalb; Mayuba Bookstore, 1100rnLake St., Oak Park; Borders, 49 S.rnWaukegan Rd., Deerfield; Borders, 1540rnGolf Rd., Schaumburg; Borders, OakrnBrook Court, Oakbrook; The Newsstand,rn309 W. State St., Geneva; TowerrnRecords, 383 W. Army Trail Rd., Bloomingdale;rnBarnes & Noble Superstore,rn3110 W. White Oaks Dr., Springfield;rnBarnes & Noble Superstore, 5405 Touby,rnSkokie; Barnes & Noble Superstore,rnEastland Commons, Bloomington.rnFEBRUARY 1997/7rnrnrn