its constitutional dub,’ to regulate foreignrncommerce and be prohibited fromrnamending presidential requests tornchange American law to conform withrnexecutive agreements. Just as executivernagreements were conceived to circumventrnthe Senate’s role in treaty-making,rnfast track is designed to cripple Congress’srnability to guide trade policy.rnhi place of elected representatives, arnhost of private-sector advisory committeesrnhave been created. Former Clintonrntrade official Jeffrey Garten has admittedrnthat “the executive branch depends almostrnentirely on business for technicalrninformation regarding trade negotiations.”rnThe transnationals have impartedrnto the administration their “globalist”rnorientation, which fits well with Clinton’srnWoodrow Wilson liberalism.rnThe House of Representatives is thernnatural place for a countermovement.rnThe House is rooted in local communities,rnthe building blocks of the territorialrnnation-state. While the media concentratedrnon the influence of labor unionsrnand Dick Gephardt’s presidential ambitionsrnversus Vice President Al Gore, thernbid for fast track could not have been derailedrnby these forces alone. The RepublicanrnParty, the ultimate “party of bigrnbusiness,” holds a majority in the House,rnand its leaders remain solidly in supportrnof Clinton’s trade policy.rnM O V I N G ?rnTo assure uninterruptedrndelivery ofrnCHRONICLES,rnplease notifyrnus in advance. Send changernof address and thernmailing label fromrnyour latest issue to:rnCHRONICLESrnSUBSCRIPTION DEPT.rnP.O. BOX 800rnMOUNT MORRIS, IL 61054rnTo defeat fast track, a block of Republicanrnmembers had to form around arnmore traditional conservative perspective.rnAbout one-third of GOP Housernmembers can now be counted among itsrnranks. No vote was taken on fast track.rnDespite an all-out effort by the WhiternHouse, GOP leaders, and an army ofrnbusiness lobbyists, the bill was pulled forrnlack of support. On the earlier voternagainst extending NAFTA, 83 Republicansrnhad joined 151 Democrats to formrna majorit)’.rnA poll conducted for the Wall Streetrnjournal found that 76 percent of rankand-rnfile Republicans and 70 percent ofrnindependents opposed fast track. Unfortunately,rnthe Republican half of the nationalistrncoalition in Congress has not yetrngelled sufficiently to produce consistentrnmajorities in the face of a party leadershiprnstill heavily influenced by liberalrnphilosophy and transnational interestrngroups.rnThe data clearly show that the mountingrntrade deficits under Clinton havernharmed the American economy, slowingrngrowth and holding down incomes.rnWith the crash in Asian markets makingrnhash of the assumptions underlying thernPresident’s policies, the opportunityrnbrightens for the nationalist coalition tornsolidity and make Clinton the lame duckrnhe deserves to be. The open question isrnwhether a presidential candidate willrnemerge by 2000 to carry the nationalistrnperspective to the White House, orrnwhether the U.S. House will have to go itrnalone.rn—William R. HawkinsrnT H E R E B E L F L A G and Ole Miss gornhand-in-hand—or rather, they did, untilrnrecently. The University of Mississippi’srnfootball team is named the Rebels, andrnstudents and alumni have had a long traditionrnof waving the Confederate BattlernFlag at home football games. But therntides of time and political correctnessrnhave washed up on Ole Miss’s shores,rnand this past fall, head football coachrnTommy Tuberville, a longtime opponentrnof the flag, argued that Ole Missrnwould never win a national championshiprnunless the flag disappears fromrnthe stands. His argument, used successfullyrnby flag opponents at other DeeprnSouth schools, was that black athletesrnaren’t willing to play for a team identifiedrn(however tenuously) with the Confederacy.rnOle Miss’s student senate —partiallyrnsvayed by Coach Tuber’ille’s argumentrnbut mainly pursuing its own agenda —rnpassed a resolution to discourage thernwaving of the flag. But neither the coachrnnor the senate counted on the tenacity ofrnRebel fans. While some alumni respondedrnto Coach Tuberville’s scare tactics,rnOle Miss students continued tornshow their school (and Southern) pride.rnHaving failed to win their argument byrnpersuasion, the student senate turned tornforce, voting to ban all sticks in the footballrnstadium, ostensibly for reasons ofrnpublic safety.rnThe senate’s imperious action madernsome students’ Southern blood boil, andrnthey came up with ingenious methods tornskirt the ban on sticks. Some attachedrntheir flags to cardboard tubes fromrndrycleaners’ hangers, while others usedrnrolled-up copies of the Daily Mississippianrn(the liberal campus newspaper,rnwhich had supported the stick ban) asrnsubstitute sticks. The students were supportedrnby a coalition of Southern heritagernorganizations led by the League ofrnthe South, which printed up 1,000 BattlernFlag placards and distributed them tornfans attending the Ole Miss-University ofrnArkansas game. The League ran out ofrnplacards in 15 minutes.rnBuoyed by their success at thernArkansas game, the League organized arnrally in support of the Battle Flag and torndistribute 10,000 placards at Ole Miss’srnfinal home game. Despite threats of violencerna few days before the rally, thernLeague did not anticipate the intensit}’ ofrnthe opposition that they would face. Thernopposition did not come from Ole Miss’srnblack community—those attending thernrally said that they received not a singlerncomplaint or rude comment from anyrnblack student, alum, or faculty member.rnInstead, it was led by a small but vocalrncoalition of self-identified gay, lesbian,rnand feminist students, who were aided inrntheir cause by a single white supremacistrnwith a megaphone. The estrogen coalitionrnshoved League members who werernhanding out placards, ripped up some ofrnthe placards and threw them in the mud,rnand shouted obscenities. One Leaguernmember, Israel Contreras, was evenrncalled a “Nazi.”rnDespite the opposition, many OlernMiss students and fans thanked thernLeague for handing out the placards andrnbrochures explaining the history of thernbattle flag. ‘They understood that therncontroversy was not over white supremacy,rnbut over the preservation of tradi-rn6/CHRONICLESrnrnrn