the last President who tried a directnconfrontation. In the present context,nattacking Dan Rather makes as muchnsense as writing an expose on the FivenFamihes: Your career ends up wearingna cement overcoat. Conservative journahstsndo attack the media bias in thenpress but do not generally engage innwholesale denunciations of FirstnAmendment privileges. They are, afternall, journalists.nDespite the lack of serious criticism,nOn “Still innSaigon—innMy Mind”npublic disenchantment will probablynincrease. In one sense, this is unfortunate.nIt is regrettable any time nationalninstitutions become alienated fromnMiddle America. On the other hand,nthe rage against the media is a reasonnfor hope: it means that average Americansnhave not yet surrendered to thenpress lords so eager to tell us how tonthink and feel and vote. It means wenvalue civil order and lawfulnessnenough to resent those who put thenPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESnRegarding “Still in Saigon—in MynMind” {Chronicles, December 1985)nanyone who is standing up to cheernRambo deserves to be taken for anothernride; perhaps to Central America.nStallone is a multimillionaire whonavoided the draft and thinks of AmericannForeign Policy in comic-booknterms; similar to the President, whonalso avoided any real military action.nRambo is garbage, an insult to the painnand suffering of real soldiers who reallynbled and really died. Only littie boysnstand up to cheer this mess of a movie.nIf we want anyone to fight anywherenfor America, then we must have thendecency to tell them the truth. Poornpeople and patriots fight for America;nthe rest of us will go to college or,nif old enough, send our children toncollege.nWe were right to be in Vietnam butnafraid to say so and to follow throughnwith the destruction necessary for anvictory. We all know the rest of thenstory: Jane Fonda won and moved onnto leg warmers and a flat stomach.n”Rambo” was in Europe teaching richngirls how to exercise—that was hisncontribution to the war effort. Boysnwent to Vietnam and became part ofnthe body count. Today’s tough-talkingnconservatives and movie heroes allnavoided actual combat experience. Ifnyou want to cheer, be my guest. Nextntime, I plan to stand behind a tree withna sword and yell CHARGE!nTom SullivannRochester, New YorknOn “Waiting fornthe End”nThe elite (as you say in your “Perspective,”nOctober 1985) may, as younproperly put it, “fall in with the firstnUtopian movement that presents itself,”nbecause of their hatred for thenUnited States. I think, however, thatnyou didn’t carry your argument out farnenough. Utopians spring forth all overnthe world, each proclaiming basicallynthe same things, as a result of a hatrednof humanity. Replace “United States”nand “Western civilization” in the ScottnNearing quote with “men” and “humanity”nand you get the formula fornutopianism. (This replacement alsongives the word “perforce” its properncontext.)nMan, say the Utopians, is a carnivore;nhe is divided into sexes, eachnwith its own particular characteristics;nhe prefers certain social and politicalnnnprivileges of their order above the law.nFour centuries ago when Henry VIIInseized the monasteries and Churchnlands, many Englishmen rejoiced atnthe seizure because of the abuses longnendured as a matter of “rights of clergy.”nIf CBS, the Washington Post, thenNew York Times, and all the othernprivileged media institutions are notnquicker to learn some humility, theynmay one day confront a ban on newsmennthat extends far beyond Grenada.narrangements to others; he has a violentnand self-defeating nature, whichnmust often be controlled from withoutnand within; he is both emotional andnrational; and he is ultimately fallible.nPick one or pick all, you won’t find ansocial reformer, Marxist or JohnnLennon, who doesn’t despise at leastnone of these characteristics.nThis puts Utopians, of whatevernstripe, in the same position as Nearing’snemissar in precapitalist Africa.nThey are “in humanity,” but becausenof their special insight into its awfulnreality, they are not “of humanity.”nThey are the ones charged with thenburden of guiding the wretched race tonenlightenment and fulfillment. Theynare the ones who are willing to sell outntheir own country for the sake of “anforeign ideology.” This makes them,nthen, traitors wherever they are found.nIt is a small step from the hatred of Xnto the affirmation of its opposite.nJohn W. MerlinenWashington, DCnThis Is How thenWelfare State Grows:nThe Case of Youth Suicidenin Persuasion at WorknAllan Carlson brings perspective to the factsnabout adolescent suicide and suggests thatnreligious faith and strong families providenthe most powerful defense against this tragicnself-destruction of our young.nTo order your copy, send your name, address,nand $2.00 (includes postage and handhng) to:nPersuasion at Work I 934 North Main Street /nRockford / Illinois / 61103.nAPRIL 1986/59n