what Billy Bob Thornton is really up to isrnfound in Dr. Wilson’s piece; the eventsrnupon which Sling Blade is based tookrnplace in Northern California. The reasonrnthe movie is set and filmed in Bentonrn(Saline County) Arkansas is notrnbecause audiences can’t believe in non-rnSouthern accented retarded murderers,rnbut because Hollywood is ever vigilant inrnits zealous quest to demonize Christianityrnand that evil of evils, the White SouthernrnMan.rnNative Arkansan Thornton knew exactlyrnwhat he was doing by changing thernvenue of this tale to his home state. KarlrnChilders represents Idiot Savant Numberrn2, following in the footsteps of ForrestrnGump. And oh, what he had to endure!rnHis loving mother, he tells us, readrnhim Bible lessons. And how does shernlive her Christian faith? She permitsrnhim to live in a dirt hole in the tool shed,rnsays nothing about her completely demonicrnhusband’s infanticide of their secondrnchild, and commits adultery as herrnfinal living act. But of course this monstrousrnbehavior can’t happen in NorthernrnCalifornia, only somewhere inrnDixie.rnThe film does what it intends to dornwell, as the audience, even an audiencernin the Deep South, grits its teeth andrnroots for Karl to do the deed. But hasrnanyone stopped to consider why Doylerndeserves to have his brains chopped uprnwith a lawnmower blade? Yes, he is arnloud-mouth, reprobate, drimk, self-centeredrnthug (but not so much of one thatrnhe is incapable of running his own constructionrncompany) who desperatelyrnneeds some tough Christian love to seernthe evil of his ways. But, as Hollywoodrnreminds us, Christianit}’ never did anythingrnbut repress us. And so when Karl,rnthe only man tough enough, uninhibitedrnenough, and “brave” enough, slingsrnhis blade into Doyle’s head. SouthernrnMan is finally, rightfully, put to death asrnwell. It seemed to me that most of thernaudience left the theater convinced thatrnDoyle deserved to die.rnI would argue that Clyde Wilson andrnother Southerners have been duped onrnthis one.rn—James HunterrnAtlanta, GArnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnTO SUBSCRIBE…rn1-800-877-5459rnBILL C L I N T O N ‘ S triumphant returnrnfrom Africa is a bad omen for the nextrntwo years. Temporarily liberated fromrnthe shackles of Paula Jones’s allegations,rnthe President will now be free to rim therncountry exactly as the First Lady sees fit.rnDuring the President’s tour of ifrica,rnwe got a glimpse of what lies in store forrnus: a symbolic visit to a slave-trading emporium,rnsymbolic embraces and handholdingrnwith retired terrorists like NelsonrnMandela, a not-so-symbolic promise ofrnhundreds of millions of American taxpayers’rndollars to improve education inrnAfrica.rnMost Americans figured out that thernPresident’s denunciations of slavery hadrnnothing to do with history or moralityrnand everything to do with domestic polities.rnAfter betraying his blue-collar supportersrnon the trade issue, after Paula,rnMonica, and Kathleen unmasked hisrnreal interest in “women’s issues,” virtuallyrnthe only secure block Clinton canrncount on are black voters. Since he cannotrndo anything tangible for them —rnmore affirmative action, more welfare,rnmore set-asides are temporarily out of thernquestion —he expects to buy them offrnwith tears and lamentations that will costrnus no votes and him no taxes.rnWhile some Americans professed tornbe shocked by Clinton’s pubhc display ofrnaffection for Mr. Mandela, it was blackrnSouth Africans who should have beenrnshocked. Communist terrorist that hernwas (or is), Mandela has proved to be anrneffective national leader. The interest ofrnour own beloved leader has never risenrnabove broads and boodle, and somernSouth Africans carried signs warningrntheir fellow-citizens to lock up theirrndaughters.rnThe master stroke of Clinton’s Africanrnadventure was the promise of $182 millionrnin aid for education. Education isrnthe liberal answer to everything. Educationrnundermines religious superstition,rnliberates women and children, and inspiresrnclass envy. Even conservativesrnnow think that education is the key tornsolving all problems: teach a kid a littlernarithmetic, have him memorize the GettysburgrnAddress, give him the habit of arnregular schedule, and by the age of 16rnhe’ll be ready to clock in at the Ford factoryrnin Kinshasa and spend his $200-amonthrnpaycheck on Levis and Cokes.rnWe don’t even have to come up withrnthe money ourselves. The bankers —rnthose kindly international philanthropistsrn—will be happy to lend thernmoney. All they want are loan guaranteesrnfrom the IMF and, ultimately, fromrnthe American taxpayer, and the masterrnpolitician who has successfully sold hisrnadministration — inch by inch of WhiternHouse bedrooms and minute by minuternof presidential access time —has managedrnsimultaneously to curry favor withrninternational banks and poor black voters.rnThat is the nature of politics, ofrncourse, and if support for education inrnAfrica could help those suffering nations,rneven some Republicans would be willingrnto bite the bullet. But will it? W-Tiatrnforeign aid has done to African nationsrnis a subject better left undiscussed. Unfortunately,rnGraham Hancock, in Lordsrnof Poverty, has detailed disaster uponrndisaster of Western aid: it is the samernold story of all government welfarernprograms—a history of boondoggles, ripoffs,rnand screw-ups. Above all, it is a storyrnof countries like Somalia and Tanzania,rnwhose economy and culture wererndevastated by the “help” given by thernWorld Bank and the “development assistance”rnprovided by European and NorthrnAmerican businesses.rnIf colonization weren’t bad enough,rnthe great colonial powers cut their lossesrnand pulled out, leaving Third Worldrncountries to fend for themselves in arncompetitive world. Then to compoundrnthe crime, the Western powers strongarmedrnthese newly created nations intornmodernization schemes whose only realrnobject is to provide international businessrnwith new markets and cheap labor.rnClinton’s next brilliant move is torncomplete the destruction of Africa byrnsaddling its people with the Americanrnpublic education that ever’ sane personrnover here would like to demolish. Twentyrnyears from now, some naive neoconservativernpolicy analyst will get his 15rnminutes of fame pointing out the “unintendedrnconsequences” of the policies ofrnthis great man (a second Harry Truman).rnBut we already have the advantage ofrnhindsight, and we know that foreign aidrnto the Third World is a nasty scam. IfrnBill Clinton is not actually plotting thernfurther ruin of the continent, he has norn6/CHRONICLESrnrnrn