“Many unwed mothers are living with the consequences ofrntheir own bad judgment and immoral character, but supposernthe extreme case of a decent woman who is victimized by arnman that no one could have dreamed would be an}-thing but arnmodel husband. Even in that case, a morally responsible womanrnwould refuse to socialize her problem. This is what familiesrnexist for, after all. As Robert Frost put it, ‘Home is where whenrnyou have to go there they have to take you in.'”rnBy this time, some of the more hard-boiled officials are growingrnimpatient. Interior Secretary Samuel Francis (the job hasrnbeen redefined) lights a fresh Pall Mall on the stub of a dyingrncigarette and exchanges glances with BATF Director Pratt.rnTheir plan to re-arm the citizenr’ through the “Assaidt RiflernVoucher Program” has restored peace in large sections of thernAmerican heartland, and—as INS Director Brimelow notes —rn”The Texas militias are doing a better job of policing the borderrnthan the INS ever did.” FBI Director Kauffman breaks in tornpoint out that the termination of all welfare benefits for aliensrnhas reversed the immigrahon flow from Mexico, adding thatrnold Latino families were never a problem. “Their families havernbeen here a lot longer than yours, Peter, and they have everyrnright to hold onto their language and culture—so long as thernrest of us are not made to pay for it.”rnAnd so it went, a typical Cabinet meeting in the restoredrnAmerican republic. Previous meetings had discussedrnways of restoring religious liberty’ and other constitutional freedomsrnto the states and to the people, a compromise bill on abortionrnthat sent the issue back to the states (where it always belonged),rnand a conference of governors and state legislators torndiscuss the “Alabama Model” of community rights, givingrnhome rule to cities and even to neighborhood groups thatrnchose to exercise that option.rnNot everyone was happy, of course, especially the so-calledrnconservatives. Now that foreign lobbying was a treasonable offense,rnmany conservative leaders had gone to Korea and Taiwanrnto work in tennis shoe factories and give lectures on therntheory of democratic capitalism. Devolution also imposed arnheavy burden of responsibilitv on an American people that hadrngrown used to servility, and President Buchanan was sometimesrntempted to impose penalties on states and cities that refusedrnto exercise their rights —but the temptation passed asrnsoon as he remembered he had given up the power to interfere.rnTurning abortion back to the states had certain unforeseenrnconsequences. As predicted, states like South Carolina andrnUtah passed very strict laws, while Massachusetts opted for a systemrnof free abortions on demand and handed out an annualrnaward to the doctor who had killed the most babies. Mostrnstates, however, were somewhere in the middle, outiawing allrnabortions that could not be justified on the grounds of incest,rnra]3e, or the motiier’s health. As abortion was increasingly stigmatizedrneven in moderate states, liberals began moving to Massachusetts,rnwhich became increasingly radical. Governor-for-rnLife John-John took the inevitable step of declaring the BayrnState an independent country and made the appropriately symbolicrngesture of naming Barney Frairk as his First Lady. Connecticutrnand Vermont breathed a sigh of relief and voted to expelrnall residents born in Massachusetts except on the off-chancernthat they could find a hundred natives who would testify to thernaliens’ good character.rnNow that commercial regulation was back in the hands ofrnstates and local communities, multinational companies foundrnit more difficult to destroy local businesses. A resurgence ofrnmom-and-pop groceries and restaurants led to the revitalizationrnof American cuisine. Suddenly, provincialism became all thernrage, and Harvard-educated traitors to the South or the Midwestrnmoved back home and took classes in order to recover thernlocal accent they had worked so hard to lose. Even local televi-rnAre You a Member of The Rockford Institute ?rnt : ‘^jwgn^rar*”rn^ Wouldn’t you like to know what Chronicles editors do whenrnthey’re not writing for Chronicles! For a tax-deductiblernmembership donation of $25, you will receive the Institute’srnquarterly publication, Main Street Memorandum, your source for all thernhard-hitting commentary and Rockford Institute news that can’t fit in thernpages of Chronicles. To join, send a check for $25 to:rnTRI Membershiprn928 North Main StreetrnRockford, IL 61103rn12/CHRONICLESrnrnrn