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Jewish World Review May 24, 2010/ 11 Sivan 5770 Libs Stand Tall --- For Mexico By Arnold Ahlert
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"It introduces a terrible idea using racial profiling as a basis for law enforcement. I agree with the president (Barack Obama) who says the new law carries a great amount of risk with the core values that we all care about are breached." -- Mexican president Felipe Calderon addressing joint meeting of Congress in the House of Representatives, May 20, 2010
 "(WOLF) BLITZER: So if people want to come from Guatemala or Honduras or El Salvador or Nicaragua, they want to just come into Mexico, they can just walk in? (FELIPE) CALDERON: No. They need to fulfill a form. They need to establish their right name. We analyze if they have not a criminal precedent. And they coming into Mexico. Actually… BLITZER: Do Mexican police go around asking for papers of people they suspect are illegal immigrants? CALDERON: Of course. Of course, in the border, we are asking the people, who are you? BLITZER: So in other words, if somebody sneaks in from Nicaragua or some other country in Central America, through the southern border of Mexico, they wind up in Mexico, they can go get a job…CALDERON: No, no.
BLITZER: They can work. CALDERON: If-if somebody do that without permission, we send back-we send back them."-- The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, CNN, May 20, 2010
"In the 21st century we are defined, not by our borders, but by our bonds."-- President Barack Obama, addressing Felipe Calderon, May 19, 2010
At one point in my life I worked in advertising, which is all about something called "branding." Truly successful branding is that which clearly defines a particular product or service so clearly that the consumer thinks about that product or service by its brand name above all other considerations. For example, most Americans say "Kleenex" with realizing that they're really referring to a paper tissue that could be called anything. Last Thursday, Mexican president Felipe Calderon came to our "home court" and had the unmitigated gall to criticize Arizonans--as well as a substantial majority Americans nationwide--for their attempts to stop the flood of illegal aliens coming into the United States. Illegals coming from, or coming through, Mr. Calderon's home country. Democrats stood up and applauded Mr. Calderon's speech, including Homeland Security Czar Janet Napolitano and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, both of whom recently admitted they haven't even read the Arizona statute. Memo to Republican National Committee: this is the branding opportunity of a lifetime. Mr. Calderon whacking decent Americans and being cheered by leftist Democrats is an election-year dream come true. What could be better than a thirty-second commercial showing the power center of a bankrupt political party taking the side of a shamelessly hypocritical foreigner over their fellow Americans? One could even envision a voice-over announcer asking the ultimate brand-reinforcing question: Are Democrats the political party you want representing American interests in Washington, D.C. after the November election? It's a commercial that ought to be made--and then run every day of the week in every state from now until election day. Subsequent commercial spin-offs should include Barack Obama's above quote, and quotes from Mr. Calderon's schizophrenic double-standard regarding immigration law, as evidenced by the above remarks he made in his interview on CNN. In fact, some judicious juxtaposition of Calderon's House remarks and those made at CNN--along with a comparison of Mexican and U.S. immigration laws--would make it stunningly clear how contemptuous the American left, their ruling elites, and their fellow world travelers are of ordinary Americans. It would also demonstrate the breath-taking hypocrisy of liberals who support Mexico's immigration laws, despite the irrefutable fact they are far harsher than those for which the same liberals are hammering Arizonans. As for president Barack Obama: we are defined by our borders, sir. If we weren't, there would be no need whatsoever for millions of law-breakers to cross them. And in case you hadn't noticed, Europe is learning a terrible lesson about attempting to substitute faux "bonds" for genuine "borders." Bureaucratic one-worlders, with a conceit quite similar to your own, believed they could paper over--literally, with a currency--vast differences in language, customs, and culture. They, like so many leftists across the globe, believe people are nothing more than cannon fodder for the collectivist ambitions of the self-anointed elite. These elitists are utterly contemptuous of individual wants and needs, or anything else that might interfere with their grandiose scheme. What scheme? The same old scheme that's been attempted innumerable times throughout the course of history: the accumulation of elitist power, wealth and prestige at the expense of everyone else. Whether liberals like it or not, there is an "us," and there is a "them." While we may share common bonds as members of the same species, virtually everything else is defined by the nature of a particular national ethos. It is worth remembering that the North American continent and the South American continent were discovered and built by the same groups of people at the same time. It is also worth remembering that Old World civilizations in Europe and Asia had a "head start" of several hundreds of years over the Americas. If borders are inconsequential, then how in hell did the United States leap to the head of the pack in less than two hundred and fifty years? Why aren't all the other countries who share similar "bonds" as successful as we are? Could it be that American exceptionalism--nowhere better embodied than in those we call the Founding Fathers--makes the ultimate difference? You bet it does. And leftist Democrats--along with some addled RINOS--would toss it aside for "fairness" sake. It's truly amazing how many Americans, egged on by a media which long ago gave up even the slightest pretense of fealty to this country, don't understand the marvel of American exceptionalism. Note the first part that word: exceptional. Synonyms include "better than average," or "superior." The American left, as evidenced by the president himself, believes our exceptionalism is not only unimportant, ("I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism"--Obama) but something for which we owe the world an apology. How do other leftists feel about American exceptionalism? Oddly enough, it was part of the debate which occurred in Texas regarding whether or not it should be included in the nation's history books. Here's some notable quotes: "[T]ravel to any foreign country, and the consensus is: The American idea has become a cruel joke, a blustery and bellicose bodybuilder luridly bulked up on steroids…deranged and myopic, dangerous." --liberal author Joyce Carol Oates "Seems like braggadocio to me, rather than trying to be factual." --Mavis Knight, liberal member of the Texas school board "To think about oursleves as exceptional really is a very narrow vision in a world which is becoming more and more globalized every day. Throughout our history, many of the processes which have shaped American history--industrialization, urbanization, things like that--are not purely national phenomena. And yet we sometimes think that the only way to understand American history is to think about it within the United States…[the pushing Westward of] the frontier, or things that are indigenous to the United States." --Columbia University historian Eric Foner Andrew Roberts, a British historian, offers the antidote to such odious nonsense: "For postmodernists, whereby everything has to be related to something else and nothing is truly exceptional, it's a disgusting concept that America could stand above and away from the normal ruck of history. And of course, it also feeds in very much to European anti-Americanism, especially at this time of the war against terror." "America is not like any other country. It wasn't born like other countries. It didn't come to prominence like other countries. It's not holding its imperium like other countries….It probably won't lose its supremacy like other countries. And so in that sense it is completely exceptional." In a better world, Mr Obama, et al, would be apologizing to Americans for their abject cluelessness. But this is not a better world. It is a world where John Morton, head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced that his agency "may not process" illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona officials. In other words, like so many leftists, he won't enforce the law because he doesn't like it. He should be fired--like anyone else who refuses to his job. The mid-term election upcoming in November is about many issues, mostly related to economics. But Americans should never forget it is also a choice between populating government with people who believe this is the finest country in the world--warts and all--and those who think we are a fundamentally damaged nation requiring a wholesale make-over. Between those who believe in American exceptionalism and those who have contempt for it. Between those who believe in individual freedom, ambition and prosperity, and those who want government to choose winners and losers. Between those who see Americans as the vibrant, dynamic people history has proven us to be, and those who consider us too stupid to run our own lives without their "enlightened" interference. Those are the real stakes in November. Here's hoping a semi-articulate Republican party knows a branding opportunity when they see one. Lights, camera, action. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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© 2010, Arnold Ahlert |
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