we were to worry about the Russians, when all the time we werernbuilding “communism in one nation” here in America. NAFTArnstripped away even the fiction of a sovereign United States,rnand now that Mexican-Americans enjoy dual citizenship, wernmay as well have a dual (or triple) government. Perhaps wernshould brush up our French and move to Quebec, where halfrnthe people still want to have a nation of their own. Better to bernan alien abroad than an alien at home.rnThe great mistake made by conservatives was to equaternMarxism with a false economic theory. Marxism is only incidentallyrnanti-capitalist. Fundamentally, it is a particularly virulentrnstrain of leftism whose one and only object is the destructionrnof the Christian religion and the civilization it created. Ifrninternational corporations can do the job (as they are doing),rnthen it is only natural for communists like Mikhail Gorbachevrnto embrace the “free market.” As one of my Italian friends observed,rnall Western governments are fundamentally Marxistrnnow, especially the American government, which devotes arnlarge part of its resources to bulldozing the last remnants of civilization,rnnot only in North America but all over the world.rnThere is no point in whining about the situation, though:rnWe willingly inflicted this cultural alienation on ourselves andrnour children. The same people who want us to kill our babiesrnto solve the population crisis are also responsible for the flood ofrnThird World immigrants into the United States. It is immoralrneither to have children or to seal the border. We let our enemiesrnget away with this bad faith and bad logic (more left-brainrnstuff) because we have been taught to hate ourselves and willrnnot be content until the last straight European male has beenrnmade a sex slave in the sultan’s harem.rnMilanrnIt is small wonder if European conservatives hate the UnitedrnStates. My room at the Hotel Granduca di York is cramped, toornsmall to fit in a practical writing desk but big enough to hold anrnAmerican window on the world—a TV set. Next door is thernBiblioteca Ambrosiana, which holds a priceless collection ofrnmanuscripts, rare books, and paintings, but here in my room Irnhave everything an American could need: CNN, 24 hours arnday, as well as a variety of channels—Italian, French, Germanrn—all replaying episodes oi Hunter, Friends, or Mad AboutrnYou (that’s Dingue de Toi in Paris, if you are interested). For arnmore local flavor, I turn on one of Italian TV’s endless numberrnof variety shows. This one featured a Dennis Franz look-alikerndressed in a three-piece suit without a necktie, a typical look:rnEvery Italian TV show features fat ugly men surrounded byrnhalf-dressed beautifiil girls. Is there a message here?rnThe co-host is popular actor Gigi Proietti. As the two hostsrnlook on, a group of genetically disadvantaged and aestheticallyrnchallenged punks take the stage and, while performing theirrnrendition of Italo-rap art, proceed to strip to their bikini shorts,rnbumping and grinding with grim determination. The littlerngirls in the audience emit the obligatory squeals of delight. Laterrnin the show, a group of American mulatto girls—better lookingrnand in much better shape than the flabby white punks—rncome out in their underwear (some of it see-through) andrnperform a far more convincing bump-and-grind. Enough isrnenough, and I switch to CNN’s coverage of the presidentialrnbump-and-grind, which is even more disgusting. I flip back torncatch the end of the variety show: A dopey-looking farmer withrnhis cow is on tlie stage, and he is gradually surrounded by thernpunks in briefs and the girls in their underwear, as cast-members,rnguests, and audience members come on stage to join thernperformers in their mock-erotic monkeyshines. Only the cowrnpreserves her dignity.rnIt is not that the show lacks professional entertainment. GigirnProietti did an absolutely amazing impersonation of Dean Martinrnsinging, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie,rn/ that’s amore,” down to the last detail of Dino’s Sicilo-Americanrnpronunciation of “pasta fazul.” Proietti has come on thernshow to plug the new made-for-television film he directed. Gigirnstars as an architect, a sort of liberal democrat who (as thernCorriere della sera summarized the plot) “plans to open up arnnon-discriminatory welcome center, ‘multi-ethnic’ as he declares,rnbut gets upset when his daughter introduces her fiancernMony, a young man of color. The point of the film is understandingrn[la comprensione).” It is the sort of comprehension wernare all scheduled to attain, once we have watched enough television,rntaken the right courses, and read the right newspapers.rnSome years ago, “Rockford’s own” Aidan Qiunn starred in arnfilm version of Robinson Crusoe, in which the natives re-educaternCrusoe into the realization that European man is a scourgernupon the planet. The actor did not need the program, obviously,rnsince he had attended public schools.rnThere is more to Milan than the TV in my hotel. LionelrnRichie (a name I had not heard in some time) is coming to enrichrnthe city where Leonardo and Verdi worked. Mr. Richie’srnmusical genius has not quite caused La Scala to close its doors,rnbut the season’s blockbuster is not an opera by Bellini orrnDonizetti. This week, the news is all of the production of Wagner’srnGotterddmmerung. I look in vain for some evidence thatrnthe land that invented opera has disdain for the pretensions ofrnGothic composers, but no, the only contioversy is over Wagner’srnantisemitism, the problem of performing Wagner in Israel,rnetc., etc. But Wagner has to be forgiven his little vice: Afterrnall, he hated Judaism because it was a source of Christianity.rnEmanuele Severino, a culture journalist, chortles that Wagnerrnhad foreseen the twilight of afl gods—get it?—”non solo quellirndell’antica mitologia germanica.”rnSo Wagner takes La Scala by storm. Elsewhere in Italy, it isrnnot the Goths but Turks, Kurds, Albanians, and Tunisians whornare invading. The television news shows are filled with storiesrnof a pipeline from Bari to Como, bringing teenage Albanianrnprostitutes who ply their trade along the roadway, and of a murderrncase involving two gypsy brothers who are accused of killingrnan 11-year-old boy. The Romany community closes ranks andrndenoimces the government and the press for their racism.rnThe morning papers all display pictures of a shipwreckedrnfreighter filled with Kurds: “Drammi deWimmigrazione.” Italy’srnKurdish problem became a Turkish problem when the governmentrnof Turkey tried to extradite Occalan, the Marxist guerrillarnleader, as a Kurd terrorist. Occalan is, of course, a terrorist,rnbut the count of his victims falls far short of one percent of thernvictims of Turkey’s genocidal war upon the Kurds. This is merernlogic-chopping to the Turks, who defend to the death (yours,rnthat is) their right to massacre anyone tiiey damn well like.rnAs more and more Italians react with panic to the immigrationrncrisis, the “ex”-communist prime minister, MassimornD’Alema, calls for calm. Attending a meeting in Lecee, D’Alemarnlistens to Kurdish immigrants as they sing hymns to nationalistrnleaders who have been denounced as terrorists by the Italianrngovernment. Prime Minister D’Alema smiles andrnapplauds, later commenting that “Racism is horrible whereverrnMARCH 1999/11rnrnrn