EDITORrnThomas FlemingrniMANAGING EDITORrnI’heodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnEDITORIAL ASSISTANTrnChristine HaynesrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnJohnW.Aldndge,UaroldO.].rnBrown, Katherine Dalton, SamuelrnFrancis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, JohnrnShelton ReedrnEDITORIAL SECREIARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPLIBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnCOMPOSITION MANAGERrnAnita FedorarnCIRCLILATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn934 North Main Street. Rockford, IL 61101rnEditorial Phone: (815) 964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (815) 964-5811.rnSuhscription Department; P. O. Box 800,rnMount Morns, 11.61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnFor information on advertising in C/ironic/es,rnplease call Rochelle Erank at (815) 964-5811.rnU. S. A. Newsstand Distribution by Eastern NewsrnDistributors, Inc., 1 BO Cleveland Road,rnSanduskv,OII 44870.rnCopvright © 1995 by The Rockford Institute.rnAll rights rcscr’cd.rnChnmides (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishedrnmonthlv for $24 per vear by I he RockfordrnInstitute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford,rnIL 61103-7061. Second-class postage paidrnat Rockford, IL and additional mailing offices.rnPOSTMASTER: Send address changes tornChronicles, P. O. Box 800, Mount Morris,rnIL 61054.rnThe ‘iews expressed in Chronicles arc thernauthors’ alone and do not ncccssarik’ reflectrnthe ‘icws of ‘I’he Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Lhisolieitcd rnanusenpts cannot bernreturned unless accompanied by a sclf-addresscdrnstamped envelope.rnChroniclesrnVol. 17. No. 2 Fd.)ruary 1995rnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn ‘Inaugural Addresses’rnGary North in his “Pat Buchanan’s FirstrnInaugural Address” (November 1992)rncites a line employed by Franklin Rooseveltrnin his first inaugural address: “Thernonly thing we have to fear is fear itself.”rnThis line was actually written by Montaigne,rnwho died in 1592. Bacon,rnWellington, and Thoreau also noted thisrnpoignant line in their writings.rnMr. North also cited a line used byrnJack Kennedy in his first inaugural: “Askrnnot what your country can do for you.rnAsk instead what you can do for yourrncountrv.” This line was first used byrnOliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in an addressrnto the John Sedwick Post #4,rnGrand Army of the Republic, on Mavrn30, 1884.rnThese plagiarisms by Frank and Jack’srnwriters are quoted daily throughout thernUnited States as examples of thesernpoliticians’ eloquence. But the contemptrnof these pols toward the peasantsrnmaking up their constituencies is morernin evidence than their eloquence. Gonsideringrnthe boiler plate of most politicalrnspeeches, we might be better off if thernpols stole a little more than money.rn—Harvey ShahanrnPrescott, AZrnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnT H E CARTER, ER, CLINTONrnhoneymoon is over, so far as Fm concerned.rnEven before his inauguration,rnBill Clinton had exhausted our patiencernwith his reckless comments on throwingrnthe doors open to AIDS-carryingrnHaitians and admitting sodomites intornthe military. The sociopaths of thernAmerican press were in ecstasy, now thatrnthey had the chance to talk about buggery,rnday in and day out.rnBefore and after the election, I metrna number of otherwise ordinary peoplernwho voted for Clinton. By ordinary, Irnmean straight white males (and theirrnwomenfolk) with no obvious deformitiesrnto qualify them for government subsidy.rnSome were speculators in real estaternor the market and justified theirrnvote on practical grounds: it will be easierrnfor them to make money with double-rndigit inflation. Others said vaguernthings like “It’s time for a change,” orrnBush reneged on his pledge not to raiserntaxes. The same people would havernhuzzahcd when Rehoboam told thernJews: “My father hath chastised you withrnwhips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”rnIf a man had the resources ofrnTerry Southern’s Magic Christian, herncould do worse than to devote the nextrnfour years to rubbing the noses of Clinton’srnSWM supporters in the dirt theirrnPresident will be wallowing in. It willrnalmost be worth the misery just to listenrnto them grumble about high taxes, inflation,rnhomosexual schoolteachers, thernThird World invasion, and an orgy ofrnquotas and preferential hiring that willrnnot quite satisfy Jesse Jackson.rnIn the GOP version of recent history,rnthe election of Bill Clinton is a tragicrnperipeteia. After all, their Presidentsrnwon the Cold War, put America backrnto war, crushed the Bully of Baghdad,rnand what is their reward? Fo be turnedrnout of office as soon as the peoplernthought it was safe to elect a Democrat.rnIt’s Clcmeneeau and Churchill all overrnagain.rnAn old order is giving way, but it isrnnot exclusively or even primarily Republican.rnBush was the last Presidentrnto have served in World War II andrnprobably the last President who can evenrnremember it, while Bill Clinton is thernfirst President to be known publicly asrnan adulterer and a shirker, the proverbialrnliberal who would not take his country’srnside in war. Clinton is an Alcibiadesrnwithout genius, a Catiline withoutrnguts.rnOur decline in national character isrnnot exactly unprecedented. If the earlyrnyears of a republic arc marked by virtuousrncitizen-soldiers—Aristides the Just,rn4/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn