tiian a month before Fitzgerald’s renunciation).rnSome of our friends are veryrnangry with Fitzgerald, but what did theyrnexpect of politicians? Although Moseley-rnBraun was regarded as doomed from thernbeginning, the amazing thing is thatrnFitzgerald’s cowardice and ineptitudernvery nearly snatched defeat out of thernjaws of victory.rnThird, there is The League of thernSouth, an organizahon of Southern writersrnand scholars that should be wellrnknown to our readers. The League hasrnreceived favorable treatment from thernLondon Times and the BBC, and it wasrnpraised by cohnnnist George Will —rnoh, but then, Moseley-Brown called Willrna racist, too. The League was the sum-totalrnof the evidence offered by Carol,rnJesse, and Hillar’.rnI didn’t expect fair treatment from arnleftist polihcian in a desperate bid to savernher sinking career, and I was naivernenough to hope that a self-described conservativernwould check a few facts beforerndenouncing me. But if Moscley-Braunrnimitated Johnny Cochran in playing thern”race card,” Peter Fitzgerald took BillrnClinton as his model, first denying hernknew me, then claiming he had forgotten,rnbut never thinking twice about damagingrnthe reputation of an innocent man.rnWhen he goes to Washington, to joinrnwhat Mark Twain called “the best Congressrnmoney can buy,” Fitzgerald will fitrnright in.rn— Thomas FlemingrnEPICYCLES:rn• Politics as Usual: Election Davrnbrought the expected result in the Illinoisrngubernatorial race, if not the onernfor which many conservatives had hopedrn(see “Letter From Chicago,” December).rnRepublican Secretary of StaternCeorge Ryan clawed his way to the toprnover Democratic Congressman C>lennrnPoshard, although the margin of victor)’,rnfour percentage points, was much smallerrnthan the polls had indicated. Ryanrnwas undoubtedly aided by the denial ofrnballot access to James Tobin, the LibertarianrnParty’s candidate for governor.rnTobin, a long-fime political foe of Ryan,rnappeared with Glenn Poshard in the finalrndays of the campaign, and he believesrnthat his presence on the ballotrncould have swung the election to the farrnmore conservative Poshard. But even afterrnballot access was denied to Tobin,rnRyan took no chances. The weekend beforernthe election, his campaign distributedrnflyers featuring a picture of Poshardrnstanding next to a man carrying a signrnthat read “Guns = Freedom. VoternPoshard.” Poshard claimed that the picture,rnsnapped at a campaign event duringrnthe summer, was a set-up by the Ryanrncampaign, a charge that Ryan—whilerngiven ample opportunity—did not deny.rnThe biggest news in the final days ofrnthe campaign, however, was the storyrnthat didn’t make it into the press. OnrnMonday, November 2, federal prosecutorsrnfiled sealed charges against two currentrnand three former employees of arnsuburban Chicago secretary of state facility.rnThe charges alleged that the employeesrnhad traded commercial driver’srnlicenses for bribes. Some of the moneyrn—as Ryan himself has acknowledgedrn—ended up in Ryan’s campaignrncofi^ers, and the Associated Press reportsrnthat prosecutors claim that the briberyrnscheme was driven by the “pressure managersrnfelt to raise money for Ryan.” Therncharges, however, remained under sealrnunfil two days after the election; accordingrnto the AP, “federal prosecutors feltrnit would generate publicit)’ in the finalrnmoments of the gubernatorial campaign.”rnIn other words, federal prosecutorsrndeliberately kept important informationrnfrom the voters because of thernpossibility that it could change the resultrnof the election. So much for the ideal ofrnthe “well-informed voter.”rn• A Strong Defense: The days of $600rnhammers and $2,500 toilet seats may berngone (or perhaps wc just don’t hearrnabout them anymore), but the bigrnspenders at the Pentagon continue to risernto the occasion, hi October, die AssociatedrnPress reported that the Pentagonrnwill spend as much as $50 million nextrnyear to provide Viagra to Americanrntroops and military retirees. The Pentagonrncalls the expense “unexpected,”rnbut a more appropriate word might bern”surprising,” for at least two reasons:rnP’irst, is it really a good idea to provide Viagrarnto men in our sexually mixed, scandal-rnridden armed forces? And second,rnwhy are men who need Viagra being recruitedrnin the first place?rnOBI TER DICTA: For the secondrnmonth in a row. Chronicles is debuting arnnew feature. Signs of the Times, a twopagernmonthly colunm found betweenrnthe Views and Opinions, will discuss “Allrnthe News Unfit to Print.” Signs will examinernmajor news stories from the foreignrnpress that received little or no coveragernin America. Weaving excerpts withrncommentar)’, the anonymous columnistrnwill address the question: Wliat is the ad-rnantage of America’s constitutional guaranteernof the “freedom of the press” ifrnthose who own the presses choose not tornprint important stories?rnWe’re pleased to announce thatrnChronicles’ readers can now pay for all ofrnour back issues, books, and Regnery Lecturesrnaudiotapes with a Visa or MasterCardrn(as well as with a check or moneyrnorder). Please see our new standardizedrnorder form on the inside front cover forrndetails. And remember to check thernorder form in each issue; the productsrnoffered will change every month.rn’I’he latest book by Chronicles’ correspondingrneditor Bill Kauffman is nowrnavailable. With Good Intentions? Reflectionsrnon the Myth of Prcjgress is America,rnreleased by Praeger Publishers, can bernfound at the finest chain bookstoresrneverywhere, covntesy of the InterstaternHighway System. Several chapters of thernbook previously appeared in the formerrnRockford Insfitute publication. The Familyrnin America.rnChronicles features two poets thisrnmonth. John Nixon, Jr., a BellamanrnAward winner from Fork Union,rnVirginia, was co-editor of the Lyric forrn16 years. His poetry has appeared in,rnamong others, the New Yorker, America,rnChristian Century, the New Yor^ Times,rnand the Georgia Review.rnOur second poet is Alan Sullivan. Arnnovelist from North Dakota who turnedrnto poetiy a few years ago, Mr. Sullivan’srnwork has appeared in many journals inrnthe United States and the United Kingdom,rnincluding Poetry, the Dark Horse,rnand the Spectator of London.rnOur art this month flows from the creativernhands of Igor Kopelnitsky, a Russianrnarfist living in Brooklyn. Since comingrnto the United States in 1990, Mr.rnKopelnitsky has provided artwork for thernNew York Times, the Daily News, and thernWashington Post, as well as Chronicles.rnFOR BACK ISSUES, CALLrn1-800-877-5459rnJANUARY 1999/9rnrnrn