Posted on 05/20/2006 6:10:27 PM PDT by lancer
We're going to get deep and serious here, and I'm going to ask you to reflect on a number of previous articles. We're not going to fulminate against George Bush, illegal immigrant-hiring businesses and the whores in the Senate they pay off, Democrats who see every illegal alien as a potential welfare recipient who will vote for them, or even Reconquista Mexicans attempting to recapture the American Southwest.
No, we're going to get to the heart of the matter and figure out the fundamental cause of the problem. The problem that lies at the heart not just of the immigration crisis, but of so much else, from the destruction of American education and culture to the war with Islamic terrorism.
Let's begin with an experience I had in a small country restaurant in France.
It was just outside of Aix-en-Provence. With me were my wife and our then six year-old son. It was late afternoon and we were about the only customers. The restaurant owner had a Doberman pinscher that approached us seeking a handout. I brusquely shooed him away and he threateningly barked and bared his teeth.
Instantly, I jumped up, grabbed a knife, and went after the dog. I was ready to kill it on the spot, without hesitation. Just as instantly, the snarling, menacing dog metamorphosed into a whimpering critter that quickly scuttled away with its tail literally between its legs.
When a predator smells weakness, he demands submission to his threats. The dog was used to intimidating customers - after all, he was a Doberman - and getting the handouts he wanted. Its owner - with whom I expected to have an argument - laughed instead, and congratulated me on being the first customer he could recall to stand up to it.
I want you to think of that Doberman whenever you see Jihadists and Iranian mullahs smelling the weakness of the West, Palestinian terrorists smelling the weakness of Israel, Marxist university professors smelling the weakness of their students, the fascists of political correctness and multiculturalism smelling the weakness of our culture, Democrats smelling the weakness of Republicans, immigration "activists" smelling the weakness of America itself.
And what is it that causes the odor of such weakness? Fear. Fear of intimidation and physical threat, yes, like with the Doberman. But far, far more often, with people it is fear of something else: fear of the evil eye of envy.
As we discussed in Rejecting The Evil Eye, fear of the envy of others is one of mankind's most deeply primal and pervasive terrors. Thus envy-avoidance is one of the most basic and primary motivators of human behavior. It is the primitive superstitious fear of envious Black Magic, the Evil Eye.
As we discussed in Why Liberals Are Incapable of Defending America, liberals are dominated by this fear. They are defined by a compulsion to appease the envious.
All the great barbarisms of modern times - Nazism, Communism, Moslem Terrorism, are pathologies of envy. All the dime-store pathologies are as well. Such human Dobermans as eco-fascist environmentalists, feminazis, PETA animal rights fanatics, homosexual marriage promoters, race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, gangsta-rappers, all get their strength from the liberals' fear of their Evil Eyes.
But the immigration crisis brings a terrible truth into focus. Fear of the Evil Eye of Envy is not confined to liberals. It is infecting vast numbers of otherwise normal Americans. It has infected the President of the United States.
Thus the current nostalgia experienced by those of us not so infected for a previous president, Teddy Roosevelt.
There is a quote of TR's making the email rounds that you may have seen. It claims to be dated 1907 when he was still president. Actually, it is taken from a letter TR wrote dated January 3, 1919, just before his passing:
In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with every one else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birthplace or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American...
We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.
And in a speech TR gave on February 1, 1916 to the National Americanization Committee, he declared:
Let us say to the immigrant not that we hope he will learn English, but that he has got to learn it. Let the immigrant who does not learn it go back. He has got to consider the interest of the United States or he should not stay here. He must be made to see that his opportunities in this country depend upon his knowing English and observing American standards.
Of course, TR was talking about legal immigrants. One can only imagine his contempt for the weakness of permitting an illegal invasion into America.
I have a special fondness for TR because my grandfather, Lucien C. Wheeler, was Chief of the Secret Service Bodyguard during his presidency. There is a picture of Lucien protecting TR in Chavez in Chile.
But the affection so many Americans have for TR is not just for him personally, and the popularity of these quotes is not just for their truth. It is a longing for those days a century ago when America had no fear of the evil eye.
That's the root desire of conservatives: A self-confident America with a fearless pride and confidence in its values and cultural worth.
In the America of a century ago, if our culture and existence as a nation was hated by some, and the question asked, "Why do they hate us?", the response of most Americans would have been a shrug. "Who cares?" would have been the question in response.
If Columbus was denounced and Western Civilization condemned, it would have been dismissed as pathetic and freakish.
If Mohammedan (yes, that's what they were called then) pirates attacked Americans, they would be hunted down and shot without remorse.
And if Mexico invaded our borders, armed US soldiers would put an end to it (as Black Jack Pershing did with Pancho Villa).
It is no use bemoaning that George Bush is not another Teddy Roosevelt, because America today has a fear of envy it did not have 100 years ago.
If America did not have this fear of envy, it would have the confidence - it would have a president with the confidence - to have Delta Force teams hunt down the "coyotes" smuggling Mexican illegals across our border and shoot them.
It would have the confidence to enforce the laws already enacted making it a crime to hire illegals, allowing police to arrest them and courts to speedily deport them, and denying illegals welfare or educational entitlements.
It would have the confidence, in response to Mexico's complaints, to question Mexico's sanity in making such complaints, and tell Mexico to grow up, get over its inferiority complex, and start becoming a decent honest country.
It would have the confidence to tell Saudi Arabia to stop funding Wahhabi mosques in our country - or else allow Christian churches and missionaries in theirs.
It would have the confidence to effect regime change in Iran and Syria, and see that Hugo Chavez was tragically demised in a plane crash.
It would have the confidence to tell China, Japan, and South Korea that they will extend the same free trade laws to our exports that we extend to their imports.
And most of all, it would have the confidence to regard liberals demanding submission to multiculturalism and political correctness as no different from radical Moslems demanding submission to Sharia Islamic law.
Islam is one big Doberman, one big intimidation trip, nothing but a demand for submission - for that is what it means: "Islam" in Arabic means "submission," the submission of infidels to Moslems, the submission of the entire human race to their god.
And isn't this the same demand of submission the fascists of the left make, that we all bow down to their PC god and beg forgiveness for the sins of America and Western Civilization?
How did we get in such a state? For the crazed irony is that America today should have more moral confidence, not less. 100 years ago women couldn't even vote. America enormously expanded women's rights and rid itself of its hideous Jim Crow laws.
American's have every right to be proud of their country's moral achievements. We need make no apologies to the world. Yet no matter what we do, it is never enough appeasement for the moral Dobermans of the Left.
The story of how we got in this state of envy-appeasement is told in Aeschylus and America. It is this essay that will give you the greatest understanding and perspective on why we no longer have the confidence of a Teddy Roosevelt's America.
The bottom line is that we can regain it. The revolt of grass-roots America against the invasion of Mexican illegals is evidence. We still have the capacity for cultural and national confidence we once had.
The key is the rejection of envy. It is time to say enough: no more fear of evil eyes. It is time for an Oath of Moral Allegiance to America:
"I am proud to be an American. I make no apology, have no shame, feel no embarrassment for America and Western Civilization for its culture, its history, its existence. America is not perfect as it is human, yet its contributions to human freedom and betterment infinitely outweigh its flaws. It is an honor and privilege to be a citizen of such a moral and humanely noble country as America."
Americans of Teddy Roosevelt's day would have been happy to make such a statement. When Americans can do so once again, the root cause of so many of our ills will have been cured.
[Note to dog lovers: The first three years of my life were spent with my grandmother's two Dobermans, Hugo and Frela. They were my protectors and constant companions. They were taught and trained to be respectful and loving. If they had not been, they would be like the one in Aix. Just like people. And for you Doberman aficionados: they don't dock their tails in France.]
Smartass, your brain is layered!! Your smiley looks layered too!
But in this go-round we are not Rome. We are the Germania. Mexico is Rome -- in language and heritage they are Latin when Latin was Rome -- profane, practical, imperial and imperial familia. Rome has finally come to apply the tactics of the goths, the germanic tribes against the modern Federation Germania -- the US.
The laws that exist are not followed and are often foiled by liberal politicians within the states themselves.
How do you explain Alan Alda and John Kerry?
Being an ultra-conservative woman, I would gladly give up my vote if all women would.
I never read the book, but I have seen the movie. The idea of only allowing vets to vote is intriguing, but since power corrupts, it would, like you said, only be a matter of time before the vets became power-mad elitists. And we have enough of those now.
Of course they make far too much sense to ever be acceptable...
Instantly, I jumped up, grabbed a knife, and went after the dog. I was ready to kill it on the spot, without hesitation.
This would have been my reaction, sans knife. I always had a dog as a kid, and I like dogs, but I was raised to believe that I am the MASTER and the dog is the dog, period. Threatening Dobermans don't scare me, they p!$$ me off.
Yeah....imagine, laws which are *gasp* enforced!
I thought so, too. He often hits the mark like that; very big thinker.
"you should be banned."
Thank you, that is very German of you.
In reality, Karl Marx's mind-twisting impact on American society began as early as 1850 when he was hired to write articles about Europe for Horace Greely's New York Daily Tribune, one of America's most influential newspapers. Marx wrote these articles for a ten-year period from 1850 to 1860. Marx also wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 on the subject of abolishing slavery.
Marx's founding of the First International Workingman's Association in London in 1864 led to the founding of the National Labor Union in 1865 as its American version. This brought Karl Marx's formula for class warfare to America that eventually led to the Pennsylvania Coal Strike in 1877; the Railroad Strike of 1877, the Knights of Labor mobilization; the May Day Strike; and the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago in 1886. Even the Boston Police Walkout; the National Steel Strike; the Women's Suffrage Campaign and race riots in 1919 can be attributed to Karl Marx's evil influence. These revolutionary events from 1877 onward are chronicled in Neil Irvin Painter's book Standing at Armageddon: The United States 1877-1919.
Marxism's march through America's newly formed labor organizations was matched as in Germany by newly formed political parties such as the Socialist Labor Party founded in 1877; the Social Democratic Party founded by Eugene V. Debs and others in 1898, and then the Socialist Party founded in 1901. These were all symptoms of Karl Marx's imprint on the American mind, but there were more symptoms to come. In 1912 Colonel E. M. House published a novel in which the hero was "attempting to install socialism as dreamed of by Karl Marx." Colonel House later became President Wilson's top advisor and was involved in arranging the transit of the Marxist revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, from New York to Russia where he became a leading Bolshevik and head of the Soviet Red Army.
"In reality, Karl Marx's mind-twisting impact on American society began as early as 1850 when he was hired to write articles about Europe for Horace Greely's New York Daily Tribune, one of America's most influential newspapers."
Great post. I had no idea and I will save it (with your signature) for future reference.
"http://www.originaldissent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15819"
This is interesting, but I have to make clear that the I really disagree with the overall viewpoint presented.
Here's the key to my disagreement. I will acknowledge that Marx had these ideas, and the people tried to promote them in the United States---as well as the rest of the world---even before the Communists took over in Russia and created the Soviet Union.
It is my contention, however, that the power of these ideas is actually fairly limited---were it not buttressed by the actions of the first Soviet, and now Russian agents throughout the world.
The ideas of Marxism would have been especially weak after the demonstration of their dramatic failure in the Soviet Union under Stalin---and the way Marxism created a complete nightmare.
However, these basic ideas of Marxism---essentially nothing more than a blueprint for destroying Western society---keep coming back again and again. It is my contention that the steady work of Russian agents of influence since 1917 is responsible for the great success of Marxist ideas throughout the world. Of course the Russians agents of influence work hand-in-hand with KGB agents, GRU agents, and at certain points, Russian armies of occupation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.