THE WANDERER, APRIL 20, 2006
JOSEPH SOBRAN'S
WASHINGTON WATCH
The Immigrant "Invasion"
The huge demonstrations of mostly Mexican immigrants
around the country on April 10 have heated up the already
sizzling debate over illegal aliens. As my old mentor
James Burnham used to say, "When there's no solution,
there's no problem." I think this is a case in point.
There is no question of deporting 10 or 20 million
people, legal or not. It's far bigger than a mere
"problem." And whether it's a good thing or a bad thing
on balance, government "solutions" are sure to make it
worse than it would otherwise be.
An analogy: Abraham Lincoln wanted to get rid of
slavery, but only if the former slaves could be persuaded
to leave the country. He was convinced that "the African"
could never live peacefully and in full equality with the
white man in America. And most whites -- probably the
great majority -- agreed with him.
So why didn't the idea of "colonization" catch on?
Lincoln fought hard for it, even during the Civil War,
and many prominent Americans -- Jefferson, Henry Clay,
and others -- also advocated it.
But most whites probably realized it was futile. The
four million blacks in America were reproducing faster
than they could be transported, and they had no intention
of leaving. Lincoln's dream was vain, and he finally had
to abandon it. It was easier to turn slaves into citizens
than to remove them.
Uncontrollable immigration has already changed this
country forever, even if it ceases tomorrow. Some people
want to talk absurd happy talk about it, as if it could
have no unpleasant side effects at all. As Lincoln saw,
even abolishing slavery was bound to create other
hardships. You may think every human being is a gift from
God, but how many do you want in your living room at
once?
But in any case this population change is simply
irreversible, a historical development that demands new
ways of thinking. It is bringing some strains, especially
in the Southwest, where many immigrants speak of
reconquista and want to throw their weight around, and
Mexico's arrogant president, Vicente Fox, seems to
delight in making trouble.
It never seems to occur to him that his own
chronically irresponsible government is what drives so
many of his countrymen north. Checked the peso lately?
Inflation, which impoverishes whole populations, isn't
caused by locusts. Now this odious demagogue professes to
speak as the champion of the people he has oppressed.
They are caught between two lawless bureaucratic
behemoths, alias "democracies."
In a few years this is bound to bring our welfare
state, already overloaded, to a crisis. To me, this is
the most disturbing prospect we face.
But I find it hard to see how any Christian can get
indignant about poor men who leave home to take tough,
low-paying jobs in order to feed their families. I can't
imagine Jesus standing on the border to turn them back.
As for angry talk of an "invasion," it's a pretty
peaceful one, and the complaint comes oddly from
Americans who believe their own country has the right to
invade countries around the world, and not necessarily in
a pacific manner.
Be that as it may, our situation has changed
forever. In effect a whole nation has already crossed the
border, and it's here to stay. It can be cursed,
insulted, and penalized, but not gotten rid of. That is
the great, stark fact that must be faced. It will bring
many problems, some that can be solved, some that can at
least be adjusted to, some that will just have to be
endured -- and probably more blessings than we can
foresee right now.
Now They Tell Us
It now transpires that a secret Pentagon
fact-finding mission reported to the Bush administration
on May 27, 2003, that the two small trailers captured
early in the Iraq war were not mobile "biological
laboratories," as President Bush claimed. Nevertheless,
he insisted, "We have found the weapons of mass
destruction." Yet another pretext for war, punctured.
Tiresome, isn't it? And Bush expects us to believe
him when he says that Seymour Hersh, one of the best and
most honorable reporters of our time, is merely giving us
"wild speculation" when he says this administration is
gearing up for war on Iran. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib,
Hersh has been digging out the stories men in power don't
want us to hear.
From time to time readers complain that I am too
"negative" about Bush. Well, it appears I am hardly
alone: A new WASHINGTON POST-ABC NEWS poll finds 60% of
respondents giving him negative ratings, with only 38%
positive.
So if I sound negative, I can only say, Wait until
you hear from the voters in November. I suspect the
disparity will be even greater. Of course many voters
will just stay home, including disappointed conservatives
who won't have the heart to give the Republicans another
chance. By nearly every conservative standard, Bush has
failed miserably -- often worse than Bill Clinton.
Of course one reason Clinton was no worse than he
was is that he faced a Republican Congress after 1994.
Bush doesn't have that excuse. Like Lyndon Johnson, he
has had nearly everything his way; and like Johnson, he
has been undone by his own power.
Neither party can be trusted; the best we can hope
for now is a return to good old "gridlock."
Easter Tidings
As Holy Week approached, the unbiased liberal media
swung into action with a spate of news stories calculated
to discredit Christianity.
Big play was given to a scientist's surmise that
Jesus was able to walk on the Sea of Galilee because it
was frozen. He was actually walking on ice! I suppose the
real marvel was that the apostles were strong enough to
row a boat through the ice. And apparently St. Peter fell
through a hole in same.
Even bigger play was given to the discovery of the
fossil of a fish with fins that could serve as
rudimentary legs, enabling it to walk on land (or was it
ice?).
This, of course, proves that Darwin was right and
Christian creationists are wrong. Science scores again!
Not far behind was the sensational publication of a
second-century Gnostic Gospel According to Judas,
revealing that Jesus assigned Judas to do what he did, so
it wasn't really a betrayal at all.
Garry Wills has written in a similar vein about
"St. Judas," which I guess means that we can pray for
his intercession now. (How should we word our pleas? "O
St. Judas, secret buddy of the Word Incarnate, despise
not our petitions ..."?) Two thousand years of really
bad press is finally being corrected.
And these were just some of the highlights of what
might be called the ABC News -- Anything But
Christianity.
Happy Easter!
+ + +
"The more trust our rulers demand of us, the less
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