My neighbor left Saturday’s OC Register on my windshield and asked what I thought of a column there. As soon as I saw Mark Landsbaum’s byline, I almost didn’t have to read it, but I gave the piece that you can read here a once over and I’m amazed by his view of what America is truly about.
The column has these gems:
“The presidential rebuke usually comes as a scolding for doing things that we do precisely because they are things that actually represent who we are. This appears to annoy the president to no end.
Obama recently scolded opponents of his plan to flood the country with Syrian refugees because, he said, “That’s not who we are.”
Of course, he’s wrong. That’s precisely who we are, as evidenced by the overwhelming public opposition to his intention to admit unvetted and largely unvettable foreigners into our nation from places on Earth where anti-American sentiment is rampant. Deadly rampant, which everyone but the president seems to intuitively grasp.
The U.S. has long had policies that limit admission to the country by foreigners based on their nationality, ethnicity and yes, even their religious affiliation.”
…
“Our nation is a place for us and for those we choose to be associated with, not everyone. It’s why we have borders and rules for immigration, which in years past have purposely shown preference based on the origins and conditions of those who wish to come here.
That is very much who we are. It’s, in fact, what makes us who we are. Otherwise, we would be everyone, instead of us.”
It’s time for Mr. Landbaum to pay a visit to Ellis Island and see how minorities of all stripes were treated from the Italians to the Irish to Jews. It’s a black eye for a nation that offers a Statute welcoming foreigners yearning to breathe free and Landsbaum’s statement demonstrates a remarkable lack of understanding of the vetting process for families fleeing violence in a foregn land. And clearly, he hasn’t done his homework on the screening process for Syrian refugees.
Their first point of a refugee’s contact is with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees. The UNHCR refers people to countries based on whether they have any family members there and where resettlement makes the most sense, say U.S. officials. If that’s the U.S., then refugees are vetted by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, and the Departments of State, Defense and Homeland Security. Fingerprints are taken, biographical information is collected. They are then each individually interviewed by U.S. officials trained to verify that they’re bona fide refugees. Refugees from Syria are then subject to additional screening that looks at where they came from and what caused them to flee their home, stories that are checked out. All of this occurs before a refugee is allowed to set foot in the country.
More from Mark:
“Here’s what we are: We’re not stupid. Nor are we suicidal. We are a nation of 300-plus million people who own 300-plus million guns. That’s at least in part because we value life and aren’t about to rely on meddlesome government transformers to protect it for us. Obama doesn’t like that about us. We are a people who can, and do, utter the phrase “radical Islam” to describe enemies who wish us dead, something the Transformer in Chief still is incapable of saying.”
The president has explained why he doesn’t use the term because it grants organizations such as the Islamic State and al Qaeda because the term grants them a religious legitimacy they don’t deserve.
“They are not religious leaders; they are terrorists,” Obama said during remarks at a White House event on countering violent extremism. “We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.”explained why he doesn’t use that term.”
Perhaps Mr. Landsbaum could call the Planned Parenthood shooter the term “radical Christian?” And as far as Americans not being stupid, what do you call those who occupied a federal office in Oregon with guns? Really? Do they believe their “militia” is going to prevail against police or military forces?
And lastly from Landsbaum:
“What we are is wise enough to look at Europe and learn from its decades of indiscriminate acceptance of non-European immigrants, vast numbers of which have zero inclination to assimilate, and countless numbers of whom pose deadly threats because they detest what Europeans are. Despite Obama’s vision and determination to transform us, we are not Europe. Not yet anyway.”
I find it humorous that a writer who constantly promotes “personal freedom” would also promote “assimilation.” Our diversity as Americans is a strength and immigrants are a source of strength. Landsbaum seems more interested in America as part of the Borg Collective.
Let me be the first to say it. Landsbaum is a moron.