There was a time when people came to our shores to find a better life.  To escape persecution and poverty and to build a better life for their children was their goal.  They found Lady Liberty lifting her lamp beside the golden door.

What happened next was that people assimilated.  Their children went to school with other children and learned to read and speak English.  Their names may have sounded different but before long their voices didn’t.  Sure, New Englanders sounded different than those from Mississippi, but they sounded very much like their neighbors.  They became Americans.

I just finished reading Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen’s historical novel, To Try Men’s Souls, which is the story of the George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas night, 1776, and attacking Trenton.  Trenton was guarded by Hessian mercenaries, who were some of the most elite soldiers in Europe.  It was a mismatch beyond belief, but in a last ditch effort, their password that night was “Victory or Death,” and with the element of surprise, they prevailed.  In one passage it mentioned American soldiers of Dutch and German extraction shouting to the Hessians to surrender, in German.  They were probably closer to the Hessians in culture and blood than to their fellow Americans from Boston, but they considered themselves Americans and were willing to die for their country.

The Balkanization of America

Today, we are mired in multiculturalism.  I remember the story of an Hispanic man loudly protesting to his local school board regarding bilingual education to which he was opposed.  “You’re teaching my son to be a janitor!” he said, “I want him to learn in English, so that he can get a job with a future!” 

We should not lose track of our roots.  It is right to celebrate where we came from.  One of the great things about New York is the different neighborhoods and parades that teach and celebrate about where we came from, which is good.  But if carried to the point where we no longer assimilate; where we remain pockets of groups with their own identity and politics, we are in grave danger of ceasing to be America.

During World War II, what if people of German heritage refused to fight against Hitler or for that matter felt a greater allegiance to him than to America?  Some did.  They were tried for treason. What if they were protected instead?  What if their differences were looked at with admiration rather than suspicion?

Fort Hood

Commentators in the news are twitsting themselves in knots trying to disassociate Major Nidal Hasan’s slaughter of 13 Americans from his jihadist proclivities, despite evidence of outright hostility toward America and contact with a radical imam.  It is politically incorrect, to speak of his religion.  The Army Chief of Staff raises concern about negatively impacting the military’s record of diversity, if we focus on anything but a lone gunman who snapped.

But what if there is a larger plot?  What if there is an effort on the behalf of some muslims to purposely not assimilate, to infiltrate the military and become a fifth column within?  Multiculturalism makes it far easier for this to occur because if everyone looks different, no one stands out.  On the other hand, if everyone assimilates, those who speak, act, or plot against America become more obvious.  Again, imagine multiculturalism in the United States in 1943.  You might have whole communities that were German to the core, did not like non-Germans among them and quickly spread the alarm when a stranger approached.  How much easier would it have been for Hitler to build a network of sabateurs?

Kill Multiculturalism Before it Kills Us

We must reinvigorate the idea of assimilation.  Speak any language you want at home; dress any way you want; practice your faith as you please, but where government is involved, we should be treated equally. We should speak one common language for all official business.  If not, where do we draw the line?

In Minnesota in 2007 a public univerity coffee cart was banned from playing Christmas Carols, but public money was being used to install foot baths to accomodate Muslims before prayer.  After the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and now another terrorist attack at Fort Hood, we have to be able to tell the good muslims from those out to kill us.  We must have true peace loving muslims, become true Americans.  We have to engender that we are Americans first, like those early Americans of Dutch and German decent, and not have divided loyalties particularly where the “other loyalty” insisits on killing us infidels.

As the Obama Administration decides on the next block of liberties to be lifted from our lives.  Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel gave his assessment of the financial industry:

“The industry is already back to their pre-meltdown bonuses,” said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. “We need to make sure we don’t slip back to risky behavior where the institutions have all the upside and the taxpayers have all the downside, which is why we need regulatory reform.”

Couldn’t the same be said of the government?  Members of Congress and this politburo of czars and commissars get paid ridiculously high salaries, have expense budgets, gold plated medical benefits, and a nice pension plan (the upside) and we taxpayers have all the downside.  We get one chance every 2, 4, or 6 years to choose between the incumbent and, realistically, one challenger.  And if the incumbent can skate by that one day, as Congressmen have done 85% to 98% of the time in the last 22 years, they are essentially untouchable for the next 2, 4, or 6 years.

Through the power of taxation they can take as much of our money as they want with a stroke of a pen, and what can we do about it?  Write our Congressman?  I wrote my Congressman on an issue of concern and I got a response that I thought was greatly flawed it its argument.  I wrote back a point-by-point critique of his letter and what did I get?  The exact same letter as the first time around with only the date changed.

They can take our money and give it to whomever they want, even if it against our core moral beliefs.  Are you opposed to abortion?  Too bad, the government will take your money and give it to Planned Parenthood.  Show me where in the Constitution the Congress has the authority to pay for abortions.  You save your money to buy a new car so you can also save on gas?  Well, what about your neighbor who is still driving a clunker?  Shouldn’t you now by him a car too? No?  Well, you just did, courtesy of the Obama Administration.

Joe Biden said, with regard to paying more taxes:

“It’s time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.”

Who are the most famous tax cheats you know of today:

• Treasury Secretary — Tim Geithner
• Former Senate Majority Leader — Tom Daschle (D)
• House Ways and Means Committee Chairman — Charlie Rangel (D)
• Withdrawn nominee for Chief Performance Officer — NancyKillefer
• Labor Secretary — Hilda Solis
• Trade Representative nominee — Ron Kirk

It seems paying taxes are optional once you join the political class, but for the rest of us?  Just try it.

Cutting it Down to Size

It’s time to cut government down to size.  It has gotten too big and too arrogant and has its fingers into too many of our pies.  We have got to follow the Constitution and eliminate that which is not included in the powers granted by it to the federal government.  Once we do that, we can probably send Congress home for half the year.  The more time they spend in session, the more trouble they get us into.

I was wondering how long it would take for Barack Obama’s lack of experience or a power base to manifest itself, but it appears the moment has arrived, and the problems keep coming.

His recent announcemnt or leak by his aides that Leon Panetta is his choice for head of the CIA is confounding, to say the least.  Panetta may be a nice man, and a good administrator, but in the midst of the War on Terror who but a rookie would put a rookie as head of the CIA?  Apparently Obama couldn’t push back those on the left who want no one who agrees with the Bush Administration in the post.  Two other potential appointees got hooted down by Obama’s supporters so he had to go with this pick.  The CIA is notorious for not liking outsiders.  Panetta has no intelligence experience, other than listening in on security briefings as Clinton’s Chief of Staff.

Bill Richardson withdraws his name from nomination as Commerce Secretary, due to a gathering scandal.

Eric Holder as Attorney General pick approved pardons for the FALN terrorists while working in the Clinton Justice Department and now he is responsible for prosecuting terrorists.

The Blogojevich scandal doesn’t want to go away and now the Democrats are battling over whether or not they will seat the man appointed to replace Obama in the Senate

We have the Coleman/Franken fiasco in Minnesota; Charlie Rangel under investigation for not paying taxes despite being chairman of the committee that writes the tax laws (Ways and Means); an item in the NY Times about a donation to the Clinton library from an individual who benefited from legislation supported by Hillary Clinton…

How long before the press decides the honeymoon is over?