PERSPECTIVErn^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Mrn^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Mrn^H^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ g ‘ 1 i ^ ^ z z ‘ ~ ” : i ^ ^ ‘ ^ f f i ^ S O f lrn^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ • ^ ^ ‘i • 1 I r n i^»rn^ ^ ^ ^ ^ • ^ ^ i ^ B i B a t a P i ^ d ^ H i f ^ s ^ ^ ^ t i H Ern^^^^^^^BaSfc Jwra^^Ba^^^B^^^^H^^^Ba^^rni ^ ^ ^ ^ q ^ ^ Hrn1 Mi’iiiifl^^^HHltti ihrni«2SS3rn”HHIHiHrn^ • Hrn• •rni^W ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^rn^^^^^^^^^^Hrn^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H r^^^vK ffW^^^ mr'”^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^rnIt s i^sAsB^^; j ^ ^rnMH^mpHHHI^^^^Hrn^^K^^^^^^^HrnIJlw^^E^^^r!:-.’^”^ j^^^^BSBcSIIL^i^dern^ 9 B V ‘ | ^ ^ ^ P SpfertlMiC^^SHrn^H^^^^^^^Srn^^^BT’ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ S ^ Ernw3i^^^; ^nnrn^^•i^^^^^a^^a^^^’i^Ern^^HpilPi^^S^rn^^^^^BaiiiMklll’ ”’^€SH»^ ^^^^^^^^IBL. illft^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^SSaJij^^rn^v .^^^^^^^Brn^s^srnkJrn^JrnSSUE^^^^BE^ ..;;:r’:^:!;ii^^^^Hrn^^99^^SiiF4P^ML ‘ J ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Hrn• • B ^ S B s s s y B b a ‘ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ lrn=9i4HliG9^5jiMll^y9^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hrnifel_^ •l_^^:’;;^^^^^^^Jrn• • ^ •! ?• . – – : : : J j ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Hrn^^^^j^^^^^^HrniMKj^ niiiiiM^^^^^^^^^^Irn^H^^L. U P ! N’: it? ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1rnI^HiiStaL^ l^^^^^lrnApril 19,1995rnA View to a Killrnby Thomas FlemingrnIdo not know about the rest of you, but I can say where I wasrnin the days leading up to April 19, I had been in Scotland inrnthe preceding week, and on April 17,1 was in a hotel in Dumbarton,rnnot 20 miles from the Glasgow airport. Exhausted fromrna day of driving in the rain, I threw myself down on the bed andrnturned on the television to get a last glimpse of internationalrnnews not scripted entirely by the U.S. State Department,rnWhat I found, instead, was one of the lesser James Bondrnmovies, A View to a Kill, in which 007 foils a plot to detonate anrnexplosion along a major fault line, thus causing a catastrophicrnearthquake,rnI do not know whether or not, even in theory, such a thing isrnpossible, but the bomb that blew a hole in the federal officernbuilding in Oklahoma City on April 19 has opened social andrnpolitical fissures that seem wider every day. On one side standrnall the liberal, respectable people pointing their fingers at thernhate-mongers who have dared to criticize the government—rnand standing with them, it must be said, are most of the frightenedrnhate-mongers themselves—and on the other side a chorusrnof angry Middle Americans responding to the cries ofrn”Oklahoma” with an antiphonal chant of “Waco” and “RubyrnRidge.”rnListening to the radio in the weeks after the event, I becamernconvinced that these two different sets of Americans inhabitrnparallel universes. On the right lunatic fringe, the talk was all ofrnthe mysterious government helicopter that was supposedlyrnseen just before the blast. Caller after caller to Bob Grant impliedrnthat the Oklahoma City bombing is the Reichstag fire ofrnthe New Wodd Order, and the level of detailed (surprisinglyrnaccurate) information on the criminal activities of the CIA,rnFBI, and BATF gave the callers an air of calm reasonablenessrnthat is encountered only in intelligent paranoids.rnMuch of the information comes undoubtedly from sciencernfiction and urban folklore, but the paranoid view of the Americanrngovernment is widely held by people who know what isrnhappening; how children are snatched from their parents byrnfeminist prosecutors like Janet Reno, who terrorize the childrenrnor the mother into testifying to abuses that never took place;rnhov.’ drug enforcement agents invade houses, tear them apart,rnlooking for an excuse to confiscate the property they havernalready inventoried; how innocent and legal gunowners arernharassed and persecuted by agents of the BATP” who shoot firstrnand ask questions later; how hard-metal fanatics get put on trialrnfor treason, because they prefer to use gold in their transactions.rnWhy worry about the U,N. training Gurkhas inrnMontana, when our own government is handing out a 00rnlicense-to-kill to any bureaucrat with an itchy finger?rnOn the left border of the lunatic fringe were the Presidentrnand his friends, leaping at the chance to condemn anyone whornhad ever spoken the word “Whitewater,” anyone who had everrnimagined there might be something funny about the death ofrnVincent Foster (and so many other accident-prone FOB’s), ArnJohn Doe warrant was issued, both by the President and by hisrnloyal columnists, against anyone who thinks that we might haverntoo many taxes and too few guns. On one level, of course, thernPresident’s calls for a crackdown may represent nothing morernsinister than cynical opportunism, a chance to tar his Republicanrnopponents with terrorism, a last desperate attempt tornsalvage his failed administration.rnIf that is what Mr, Clinton thinks, he is mistaken. Oklahomarn10/CHRONICLESrnrnrn