The following is a summary of the December, 2005, issue of the St. Croix Review:

Angus MacDonald writes in “Under God” that all cultures believe in God, that Americans do not lack a belief in God, but that our definitions of God are inadequate.

Allan Brownfeld, in “Lobbyists: An Increasingly Influential Non-elected Fourth Branch of Government” reveals the depths to which our national government has sunk: there are now 35,000 lobbyists in Washington, 272 of them are former legislators and command “sky-high” salaries; in “Remembering Stalin’s Purges and How Idealistic Western Adherents to the False Communist Dream Were Among His Victims” he reviews Francis Beckett’s book Stalin’s British Victims.

Herbert London, in “A Challenge the West Must Confront,” writes that inside Western countries Islamists have intimated our leaders, and are immune from criticism, giving Islamists an advantage in the war of ideas; in “Gratuitous Politics and Profanity in the Arts” he writes about the spreading tendency of entertainers to engage in political diatribe in the course of the show; in “Bill Bennett and the P.C. Police” he says that professional demagogues have smeared a good man; in “Pay Check Protection in California” he says the some people, 200 years after the American Revolution, are still fighting for independence.

Murray Weidenbaum writes about the attributes of Reagan that inspired loyalty and success in “Working for President Ronald Reagan.” 

In “How a Small Band of Protesters Unmasked the Nazi Regime’s Fear of Unrest,” Solveig Eggerz reveals details about Nazi persecution of Jews: Non-Jewish spouses of Jews showed tremendous courage and resilience, and saved their spouses from death. In one public protest the Nazi regime was forced to back down by Aryan wives: Jewish husbands had been rounded up, but were then released because of demonstrations. Solveig Eggerz shows that family ties and traditional culture were forces with which the Nazis were hesitant to confront.

Jigs Gardner, in “The Culture of Conservatives” asks conservatives to broaden our understanding of culture so that we may appreciate fiction. He says that the least interesting thing about a man are his political opinions, and that the most profound influences are those that are seldom remarked on in political articles.

In “Two More Mein Kampfs to Treat with Complacency” James Lees writes about two warnings we received in 1998. One threat (from Osama Bin Laden) has been realized with a vengeance with the attacks of 9/11. The other is from two Chinese colonels and has been ignored so far. They wrote a book entitled: Unrestricted Warfare.

In “Women at West Point” W. Edward Chynoweth points out a law passed by Congress in 1976 that mandated the integration of women into the service academies. He believes that a feminist Zeitgeist since then has diverted our military from its primary purpose of defeating an enemy, and instead forced the military into a useless battle against human nature.

Martin Harris shows how neighbors and zoning boards can arbitrarily disregard carefully constructed zoning regulations and procedures in  “Zoning Innovations in Vermont.”

In “Weasel Words and the Kelo Decision” John D’Aloia describes the efforts of Kansas legislators to craft an amendment that seemingly limits the government’s ability to take private property—yet the legislators have still left themselves the means to take property as they please.

Arnold Beichman reviews The Road to Modernity: The British, French, and America Enlightenments, by Gertrude Himelfarb, and Robert C. Whitten reviews The New Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War, by Andrew Bacevich.