The Great Divide

I do not make a habit of responding to the comments posted in response to my blog musings. Mainly this is due to the fact that the comments I agree with need no response, and the one's I disagree with would have been written in crayon before the advent of computers. Recently though, several have caught my eye in subtle ways. They concern my opinion that the Left is soft on terrorism. I believe I have explained my position to refer to the Social Progressives amongst us, and not rank and file Americans who identify themselves as democrats, or even liberals. With the elections only 3 weeks away I am concerned that a loss of both houses of Congress by the republicans will spell doom for the country though. I do not think that the repeal of tax cuts, impeachment proceedings, which have been promised by several upwardly aspirant congressmen, or the expansion of even more social programs will spell the end of civilization as we know it. Those things go in cycles, and the pendulum will eventually swing back. No, what concerns me is the notion that the ruling elite of the democratic party, and their attendant Birkenstock wearing fringe element, believe that terrorism is a law enforcement issue or worse that it can be negotiated away and that the invasion along our south-western border is somehow good for our country.

If the democrats win both houses of Congress the terrorists hell bent on killing us will be afforded even more rights. The rights the Social Progressives want to grant terrorists were meant for American citizens, and no one else. We are different. We are citizens of a country that was well-founded and does good things. Of course we make mistakes, but in the end we are a noble, decent, good people. A sizeable minority of the democratic party believes that none of those things are true, and that the only way to rectify the ills the U.S. has visited upon the world is to surrender our way of life to the Social Progressive agenda. We must surrender to those things in the interest of diversity and compassion the SPs say. Nothing else will suffice. The SPs hate the country because they feel we do not deserve the high standard of living we enjoy. Witness Lynne Stewart Esq. She was sentenced to 2 1/2 years yesterday for helping the mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, communicate with his followers in an Egyptian-based terrorist organization. After her sentencing she greeted 150 supporters outside the federal courthouse, in Lower Manhattan no less, and said, "This is a great victory against an over-reaching government." That she may have American blood on her hands matters not to Ms Stewart. Far too many people, including Ms Stewart, her supporters and the sentencing judge, apparently do not understand that we are in a battle for our very existence; or maybe they do and are simply hoping for the end to come quickly. Stewart deserved at least 10 years, if not the 30 sought by the prosecution. We can expect more actions such as this, and the attendant slaps on the wrist, if the democrats take power. The Democratic Party of FDR, Harry Truman and JFK, who's photograph hung on my grandmother's wall for 40 years, is gone, and I would say we are all the worse for it. Howard Dean, Russ Feingold and yes, Hillary Clinton, have replaced the intestinal fortitude of those brave men, with rhetoric and some misguided notion of guilt. The Democratic ruling elite's 'flying monkeys' are the conspiracy nuts living in their parent's basements, who will mobilize at a moments notice to wave signs and chant slogans. I believe in my heart that most of us are aghast at the change which has occurred in the Democratic Party, whatever your political stripe.

The invasion across our south-western border is the other issue that will be neutered by legislation, if not out-right ignored, should the parties swap power. The republicans have done precious little to stem the flow of the largest invasion in recorded history, and the democrats will do less. Each side has their reasons, but both truly just want voters. Already in the more liberal communities it is against the law to confront illegal aliens. Whole cities have set up zones where illegal immigrants are free to live without fear of legal repercussions. Students at Columbia University, one of the jewels of the Ivy League, physically attacked the Minutemen who had been invited to speak on campus. Brandishing signs saying things like No One is Illegal, they chased two military veterans from the stage, men who's only offense was having had the temerity to exercise their right to free speech. Free speech at Columbia is apparently only for the students whose rich daddies gave them a pampered existence, which they now abhor. Spanish speaking Mexicans, who have no interest in becoming American citizens, are conquering large swathes of the American landscape simply through raw numbers. They consider themselves to be Mexicans, send the majority of the money they earn home, while sucking up every morsel the welfare state has to offer. Anchor babies abound and the social services available to Americans shrinks more each day, as the federal and state budgets balloon. The middle class has already disappeared in Los Angeles. With nothing but the affluent, pretty people, and their landscapers, bus boys and nannies left, the city is in dire straits. Somehow this makes us a better, more diverse society, at least if you listen to the far left fringe.

I am no xenophobe. Nor am I an isolationist. I have no desire to institute Fortress America. I do not want my civil liberties extremely curtailed in the interests of security, nor do I want to prevent honest, hard working people from immigrating to our shores. I have been friends with Sheldon, a Sunni Muslim for years. Ace Martinez, a self-styled Chicano, and I were as thick as thieves during my stint in the infantry. I have gotten into more than my fair share of trouble with both these guys and yes, those are their real names. The point is not that some of my best friends are Mexican or Muslim. The point is that what makes us stronger as a people is not our diversity, that just makes us more diverse, and more adaptable. What makes us stronger is our shared love for the country and a desire to be Americans and nothing else. When we grant rights afforded to us by the Founding Fathers onto people who care not for freedom, or American values, it limits us all. When we refuse to acknowledge that we are different-more noble-and that there is nothing wrong with that, we risk losing all that for which so many have sacrificed. We risk seeing the day when the streets will run red with the blood of patriots, apologists, heroes, cowards, conservatives and liberals alike. At that point, it will make no difference what letter is behind your name on your voter's registration card. At that point, we will all be nothing but Americans, and by then it will simply be too late to unite.

The Roman Empire ruled the world for centuries. The Romans did so by ferociously guarding their borders and by demanding that those desirous of Roman citizenship be willing to die to attain it. When they ceased doing those things, Rome was sacked, repeatedly, and soon the barbarians were ushering in the Dark Ages. If you think this analogy is too forceful then you are wrong. We are nearly at that moment in history. We are at the most perilous point in our nation's history, and that includes the darkest days of all the wars we have collectively fought. This does not mean I think we should rule the world. Nor does this mean that we cannot dissent with the current presidential administration, or any other. Dissent is patriotic. In fact, we were founded by dissenters. What is not patriotic is sacrificing the safety and security of the country for political expediency. We simply cannot afford the luxury of allowing people, any people, to receive rights reserved for citizens. If you are not desirous of, in the words of Teddy Roosevelt, "one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people," then there is no room for you in the discourse.

So, what is to be done. These days everyone seems to be able to fix the blame, and sometimes even identify the problem, but no one seems prepared to present a solution. My solution is that first we must construct an impenetrable barrier along our southern flank, and at least a virtual one across the northern flank. We must then pressure the honorable men and women of the US Congress to enact draconian laws regarding the use of illegal labor. If a business or individual is found to be profiting from illegal aliens they should be fined within an inch of existence for a first offense, and bankrupted and jailed for a second. This would have the effect of drying up the labor market, which causes people to constantly risk life and limb to get here, and force those already here to either come out into the light, or go home. The immigration issue would thus atrophy on the vine. We would not need to deport millions, nor would we need to grant them amnesty. Those of us proposing these things must also refuse to be labeled racists by the Social Progressives. The Social Progressives respond to the poll numbers that suggest fully three-quarters of the US population want a fence by saying, "Yeah, well in 1840 three-quarters of the US population favored slavery. Do you support that, too?" Laugh at that comparison, and turn the tables by vociferously accusing the SP community of supporting the near-slavery conditions illegals currently endure. Tell your foe you would gladly pay more for lettuce, or eat less salads if it would spare these poor illegals the indignity of the hardships they bear. Everything has become about race and nothing will change if we allow the Social Progressives to frame the conversation.

The second issue, terrorism, is a more difficult nut to crack. The democratic leadership is correct about one thing: we have created too many terrorists, but not for the reasons they suggest. We have created too many by not killing them fast enough. We must unleash the proverbial hounds of hell upon them, whenever and wherever they proliferate. Iraq is currently a magnet for their misguided jihad. By Al-Qaeda's estimates we have killed 4,000 foreign fighters there. That number should be dramatically higher. If they are going to stream there to fight then so must we. It is time to actively take the fight to them, and stop allowing our troops to be used as political pawns in a game of one-upmanship. If we need more soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines on the ground to effect this change, so be it. There can be no negotiating with thugs who cut the heads off defenseless people, or torture captured American soldiers by dragging them to their deaths behind trucks. You can rest assured the Islamist terrorists are laughing at our political angst over the use of torture, and are smiling to themselves at the "Paper Tiger." The Islamists respect nothing but strength, and it is time we showed the resolve our grandfathers showed during World War II. This will be difficult, and it will require time and the stomach to endure when everything seems bleak. It will require the resolution to remember that, "we have nothing to fear, but fear itself." It can be done though, and only by a truly United States of America.

We must forsake our political jerseys. I firmly believe that 15 percent of the country is made up of crazy, New World Order type right-wing zealots, and 15 percent is comprised of the maniacally apologist, left-wing fringe. That leaves 70 percent of us who have at least some common ground. We must, for now, put aside our social differences and unite to battle the forces who would kill us all. We must table abortion and gay marriage arguments, both of which I support by the way, until we have defeated our common foe. Likewise, the flag burning amendment and affirmative action, positions which I oppose, can wait. When I was an under-graduate at the University of New Orleans, Stephen Ambrose was fond of relating the story of millions of Americans who were against FDR's social policies, but united to fight the greater evil facing them. So must it be now. We must work together, at the grassroots level, neighbor to neighbor and friend to friend, to elect men and women who get it. Then, when the threats of illegal immigration and Islamic terrorism have been vanquished, we can restart the game clock on all manner of social discourse. We can then resume the particularly independent brand of republican democracy that gave our two major parties their names. A specific type of sacrifice is required. We must put the country above ourselves. Winston Churchill once said, "Sometimes it is not enough to do your best. Sometimes you must do what is required." Unfortunately, whether we like it, or not, that time is now.