‘It’s called reality’
November 27, 2007
Posted in today’s Globe and Mail (2007-11-27)
________________________
‘It’s called reality’
DAVID H. WILKINS
November 27, 2007
U.S. Ambassador to Canada — “Paranoia anyone?” Lawrence Martin asks regarding U.S. and Canada security measures (Paranoia Anyone? Seeking An End To The Security Excess - Nov. 22).
Mr. Martin cites as “paranoia” our diligent security at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa - measures designed to protect both the U.S. and Canadian employees who work inside and outside of the building.
Certainly Mr. Martin recalls the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies of the East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. Those attacks (linked to al-Qaeda and before the administration of George W. Bush) killed hundreds and injured thousands of other innocent people. Perhaps Mr. Martin will recall the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia?
Does this summer’s terror arrest that thwarted a major bombing of JFK International Airport in New York remind Mr. Martin this is an enemy who does not rest? Sept. 11 was just six years ago; 3,000 innocent civilians (including 24 Canadians) murdered in cold blood.
Paranoia? No. It’s called reality. And developing and implementing security measures to thwart the enemy who promises to strike again and often is called common sense.
An American Conversation on Immigration
July 15, 2007
by Jeffrey Sewell
Today, America finds herself in a bit of conundrum. Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty are feuding over immigration. Lady Liberty, an immigrant herself, continues to stress that America is an immigrant nation and a melting pot of various peoples. Uncle Sam’s blood pressure rises for many wish to give amnesty to those that break laws.
They go back and forth. Lady Liberty quotes the poem which graces her pedestal, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Uncle Sam counters with the Constitution firmly in his hands. He proclaims, Article I, Section 8 states that “Congress shall have power…to establish a uniform rule of naturalization” and Article IV, Section IV states “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion…”
Uncle Sam, gripping the Constitution even tighter, bemoans that the federal government is failing to uphold its Constitutional duties. Local law enforcement is handcuffed for it cannot serve and protect properly. Gangs of illegal immigrants such as MS-13 bring unwanted crime and drugs to streets across America. Their presence is widespread and yet when they commit a crime, we do not deport them, instead we allow them to spread and fester. As a result, our nation is worried and weakened and we have no idea how many illegal aliens reside within our borders.
Uncle Sam continues, dusting off Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia, and then quotes our Third President, who wrote, “Suppose twenty millions [sic] of republican Americans thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the condition of that kingdom? If it would be more turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may believe that the addition of half a million of foreigners to our present numbers would produce a similar effect here.”
Lady Liberty interjects that we are immigrants ourselves and our ancestors came here longing for opportunity and who are we to turn away people looking to work hard. She pulls out a newspaper clipping. It congratulates 325 immigrants, who are serving within the U. S. Armed Forces in Iraq for being made American citizens on July 4th, in Iraq.
They soon find common ground. America is an immigrant nation with laws that must be obeyed. We must continue to welcome immigrants, who come here looking for opportunity and wanting to contribute to our melting pot. And it should be easier for those who choose to come here legally to serve America in uniform to become citizens. However, we must first secure our borders, demand enforcement current federal laws. Enforcing the laws means documentation, detention and deportation of those immigrants, who commit violent crimes and traffic drugs, as they should be deported automatically, while preventing those who wish to disturb the peace and commit crimes from entering our nation in the first place.
This debate is nothing new. It is one which our founding fathers labored over as they drafted the Constitution. The same concerns are present today as they were two hundred thirty years ago. They were feared open borders and gave the federal government the responsibility to protect states from invasion. However, the federal government has failed in their responsibility to protect the borders and the American people and once again we the people are in need of a functional immigration system.
Mr. Sewell is the principal consultant of Sewell Consultancy, a political consulting firm in Lexington County. He is also co-owner of www.SCHotline.com
###
