20150518_postal_cover61404-postal.qxd 4/28/2015 6:11 PM Page 1 May 18, 2015 $4.99 WILLIAMSON: The Case for Free-Range Kids MCCARTHY on Domestic Terrorism FRENCH on Ponnuru & Salam: A Constitutionalist Agenda Sci-Fi THE Castro Regime’s JAMES KIRCHICK from Cuba Windfall www.nationalreview.com base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 4/28/2015 11:50 AM Page 1 TOC--NEW_QXP-1127940144.qxp 4/29/2015 3:30 PM Page 1 Contents MAY 18, 2015 | VOLUME LXVII, NO. 9 | www.nationalreview.com ON THE COVER Page 31 The Castros’ New Friend The relaxed travel policies, the Charles C. W. Cooke on the Bill of Rights pending opening of embassies, p. 18 the removal of Cuba from the State Department’s list of ter- rorism sponsors, the restora- BOOKS, ARTS tion of limited economic & MANNERS activity—all longtime goals of the Cuban regime—were 41 A NOT-SO-DISTANT MIRROR Andrew C. McCarthy reviews Days declared without any corre- of Rage: America’s Radical sponding demands that Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Havana change its conduct. James Kirchick Violence, by Bryan Burrough. COVER: ROMAN GENN 43 IT’S THE PARENTS Reihan Salam reviews Our Kids: ARTICLES The American Dream in Crisis, by Robert D. Putnam. 16 THE PARANOID STYLE IN AMERICAN PARENTING by Kevin D. Williamson In Maryland, Big Brother plays Big Mommy. 45 THE CASE OF CLINTON VS. CHEN REMEMBER THE BILL OF RIGHTS? by Charles C. W. Cooke 18 John R. Bolton reviews The Judging by today’s political climate, we don’t. Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man’s PUTIN’S HYBRID WAR AGAINST EUROPE by Edward Lucas Fight for Justice and Freedom 22 in China, by Chen Guangch eng. Will NATO ever rouse itself? DROWNING IN PROPAGANDA by John O’Sullivan 50 FILM: I, AVA 25 Ross Douthat reviews Ex Machina. How a migrants’ tragedy has been used and misused. 27 A QUESTION OF HONOR by Jay Nordlinger 51 HORNS OF PLENTY As the wolves circle, Iraqis who helped us are pleading for visas. Richard Brookhiser discusses the urban supermarket. 29 SCI-FI’S SAD PUPPIES by David French A literary revolt against political correctness. FEATURES SECTIONS THE CASTROS’ NEW FRIEND by James Kirchick 2 Letters to the Editor 31 The Week Obama’s change of policy helps Cuba’s oppressive regime, 4 Athwart . James Lileks not its democratic dissidents. 39 40 The Long View . Rob Long 37 A CONSTITUTIONALIST AGENDA by Ramesh Ponnuru & Reihan Salam 44 Poetry . William W. Runyeon Five priorities for the GOP. 52 Happy Warrior . Jonah Goldberg NATIONAL REVIEW (ISSN: 0028-0038) is published bi-weekly, except for the first issue in January, by N ATIONAL REVIEW, Inc., at 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. © National Review, Inc., 2015. Address all editorial mail, manuscripts, letters to the editor, etc., to Editorial Dept., N ATIONAL REVIEW, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Address all subscription mail orders, changes of address, undeliverable copies, etc., to NATIONALREVIEW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015; phone, 386-246-0118, Monday–Friday, 8:00A.M . to 10:30 P.M. Eastern time. Adjustment requests should be accompanied by a current mailing label or facsimile. Direct classified advertising inquiries to: Classifieds Dept., NATIONALREVIEW, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016 or call 212-679- 7330. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to N ATIONAL REVIEW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015. Printed in the U.S.A. RATES: $59.00 a year (24 issues). Add $21.50 for Canada and other foreign subscriptions, per year. (All payments in U.S. currency.) The editors cannot be responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork unless return postage or, better, a stamped, self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. letters_QXP-1127940387.qxp 4/29/2015 3:04 PM Page 2 Letters MAY 18 ISSUE; PRINTED APRIL 30 EDITOR Richard Lowry Senior Editors The Germ of Corruption Richard Brookhiser / Jonah Goldberg / Jay Nordlinger Ramesh Ponnuru / David Pryce-Jones Managing Editor Jason Lee Steorts Literary Editor Michael Potemra In his review of my book A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of Vice President, Editorial Operations Christopher McEvoy American Political Corruption (April 20), Matthew Spalding states that I offer a Washington Editor Eliana Johnson Executive Editor Reihan Salam “neo-anti-federalist account” of corruption, and that the Bank of the United States Roving Correspondent Kevin D. Williamson National Correspondent John J. Miller heralded an era of “living constitutionalism,” facilitating a “slippery slope” of Art Director Luba Kolomytseva Deputy Managing Editors “rampant corruption.” This inaccurate characterization elides key points of my Nicholas Frankovich / Fred Schwarz theory and ignores most of my research. Production Editor Katie Hosmer Assistant to the Editor Carol Anne Kemp The Anti-Federalists thought the new government was too powerful and Research Associate Alessandra Haynes Contributing Editors removed from the people, whereas I am concerned with the process by which Shannen Coffin / Ross Douthat / Roman Genn government authority increases. This self-consciously Madisonian approach is Jim Geraghty / Florence King / Lawrence Kudlow Mark R. Levin / Yuval Levin / Rob Long hardly the stuff of Brutus or Federal Farmer. At one point I even recommend Mario Loyola / Jim Manzi / Andrew C. McCarthy Kate O’Beirne / Andre w Stuttaford / Robert VerBruggen Hamilton’s quasi-monarchical plan, given the powers the government eventu- NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE ally acquired. Editor-at-Large Kathryn Jean Lopez Managing Editors Katherine Connell / Edward John Craig Moreover, my treatment of the Bank explicitly avoids constitutional Opinion Editor Patrick Brennan National-Affairs Columnist John Fund hermeneutics. My modest point is that because the Framers did not anticipate Staff Writers Charles C. W. Cooke / David French the Bank, they did not build institutions to ensure it would behave well. Even Political Reporters Joel Gehrke / Brendan Bordelon Reporters so, I aver that the Bank was hardly corrupt in the grand scheme, and I cele- Andrew Johnson / Katherine Timpf Associate Editors brate Hamilton’s “sound and sure management.” It is a relatively benign Nick Tell / Molly Powell / Nat Brown Editorial Associate metaphor for my theory: an early indication of a process that would eventu- Christine Sisto ally cause problems. Technical Services Russell Jenkins Web Developer Wendy Weihs Per Spalding, I see the Framers as the “fathers of big government.” I would Web Producer Scott McKim never make such a claim. My analysis of the early Republic has less to do with EDITORS- AT- L A RG E Linda Bridges / John O’Sullivan the (small) size of government or the (modest) level of corruption; rather, it out- NATIONAL REVIEW INSTITUTE lines the early development of a methodology that, “perfected” over time, would BUCKLEYFELLOWSINPOLITICALJOURNALISM Ryan Lovelace / Ian Tuttle eventually yield corruption. Contributors Hadley Arkes / Baloo / James Bowman The early Republic takes up only about a tenth of my book, which focuses pri- Eliot A. Cohen / Dinesh D’Souza marily on the progressive era and beyond. This is when government truly broke Chester E. Finn Jr. / Neal B. Freeman James Gardner / David Gelernter free of its restraints. Spalding glosses over the bulk of this research and misun- George Gilder / Jeffrey Hart Kevin A. Hassett / Charles R. Kesler derstands the role that the early Republic plays in my analysis. David Klinghoffer / Anthony Lejeune D. Keith Mano / Michael Novak Alan Reynolds / Tracy Lee Simmons Terry Teachout / Vin Weber Jay Cost Chief Financial Officer James X. Kilbridge Accounting Manager Galina Veygman ATTHEW PALDING RESPONDS Accountant Lyudmila Bolotinskaya M S : Jay Cost’s fine book is best when it describes the Business Services corruptions of the Gilded Age and the rise and proliferation of modern liberalism Alex Batey / Alan Chiu Circulation Manager Jason Ng and interest-group politics. But a key question for both history and future policy WORLD WIDE WEB www.nationalreview.com MAIN NUMBER 212-679-7330 is, How did we get here? Cost is right that the progressive movement was “a SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES 386-246-0118 WASHINGTON OFFICE 202-543-9226 reimagining of American republicanism,” and what comes after the New Deal is ADVERTISING SALES 212-679-7330 Executive Publisher Scott F. Budd “an inflection point” in the story. But throughout he presents Hamilton’s bank Advertising Director Jim Fowler and its early embrace of expansive government as “a microcosm of the argument Advertising Manager Kevin Longstreet Assistant to the Publisher Emily Gray in this book,” which leaves the general narrative on a downward slope from the Director of Philanthropy and Campaigns Scott Lange very beginning. This suggests that an extended but limited republic may not be Associate Publisher Paul Olivett Director of Development Heyward Smith possible after all, just as the Anti-Federalists predicted. The alternative is a fun- Director of Revenue Erik Netcher Vice President, Comm unications Amy K. Mitchell damental break in thought and practice between the Founders’ constitutionalism PUBLISHER and the progressive project. This analysis also helps us see the possibility of a Jack Fowler Madisonian solution to our current dilemmas rather than accept an inherent cor- CHAIRMAN John Hillen ruption in republican government that is here to stay. CHAIRMANEMERITUS Thomas L. Rhodes FOUNDER William F. Buckley Jr. Letters may be sub mitted by e-mail to [email protected]. 2 | www.nationalreview.com MAY 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 4/28/2015 10:29 AM Page 1 WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY WILL MY GRANDCHILDREN INHERI T? y family and I have benefited from living in a nation M created to protect each person’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.