Common Sense 2009

In the 1700s, patriot Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called "Common Sense" which made the case against King George III's tyranny and for the independence of the colonies. Apparently, at some point, the British people recognized the merit of his arguments and honored him with a statue in the city of his birth, Thetford, Norfolk, Great Britain.

One his memorable quotes is, "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." This reminds me of our misguided friends who favor illegal aliens over their fellow citizens. It is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing. Consistent with that idea, our objectives have been to (1) allow the truth to appear about immigration's unarmed invasion and its deadly consequences, and (2) to give precedence to the national interest and the rule of law.

The pro-illegals rebel against reason. They blithely ignore the long-term consequences of the support they provide for the illegal aliens in America. Few have even given those consequences a second thought and those who have gloat about the future when minorities will be the majority and Hispanics will control the political processes of our country. They nod with approval knowing that comprehensive immigration reform, as they define it, will mean 12 million more or less instant citizens and border security that is merely a façade. They clothe their support of foreign interests in ethnocentric, quasi-humanitarianism, disregarding the broader national interest.

We believe in the equality of man; and we believe that religious and secular duties consist of doing justice, extending mercy, and endeavoring to live in harmony our fellow-citizens. Some believe that when you look in a man's eyes you will see a divine spark that proves he is a man not a horse to be treated as a beast of burden.[1] Others question that idea and ask, "Where have you seen this divine spark in operation? Where have you noted this magnificent equality?" No two things on earth are equal or have an equal chance, not a leaf or a tree. Many work all their lives exercising their right to prove that they are better than others through their achievements, the jobs they have held, or the esteem in which they are held by their bosses and their peers. They may not think of it in that way. They may see it only as striving for success.

What really matters is equality of opportunity and justice. Justice is generally defined in terms of the laws which govern all civilized societies, that is the legal system, or the act of applying or upholding the law. Justice can also be thought of as fairness or reasonableness, especially in the way people are treated or decisions are made. In this regard, the fairness or reasonableness with which people are treated is measured against the objective standard of the law, equally and evenly applied. Thus, he who would make his own justice secure, must guard even illegal aliens from a miscarriage of justice; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself. If we do not use the objective standard of the law, the rule of law becomes meaningless and we are thrown into anarchy. Equally to be avoided is the idea that when a law becomes "an inconvenient truth" we simply abolish it or write a new law that effectively undercuts the old to make what was one illegal, now legal. This is the device of cowards.

It is the business of a little mind to shrink from his or her duty and from the loyalty to their country expected of citizens. In their search for some rationale for their dereliction of duty and disloyal behavior, they are unable to obscure that they value common blood over all else without regard to its ultimate cost to the country they profess to know and love. It is an affront to treat this ethnocentric behavior and false humanitarianism with complaisance or any more than outright disdain. It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry into the motivation and rationale of these latter day apologists for illegal aliens. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe.

How can anyone believe that allowing our population to increase without bounds will be a good thing? How can anyone believe that reducing the diversity of immigrants entering will increase our country's diversity? How can anyone believe that finite natural resources can somehow be stretched to serve twice as many people without any impact on the quality of life? These are infidelities that characterize those who favor illegal aliens, open borders and more legal immigrants over the national interest.

It is not a few hardworking illegal aliens that we are worried about; we are defending a country, an idea, a culture, a language and a quality of life. As many as 30 million illegal aliens and their progeny may be waiting for the Congress to betray our country for their own shortsighted, selfish interests. If Congress yields to that temptation, there will be no turning back. If amnesty is passed, the 30 million will use the outrageous "family reunification act" to bring in their large extended families swelling the immigrant ranks to as many as 150 million, many of whom will line up immediately to begin collecting welfare, Aid to Dependent Children, Medicaid, Medicare and even the Social Security the new president has promised them. Within a year, they will have been organized by the radical Hispanic lobby groups and prepared to use the ballot box to take over our country. Already, we see on the blogs, "Voto Latino".

When our politicians wake up to discover what their greed and stupidity have done, it will be too late to do anything. They will be turned out of office and our country will not longer be under the control of the American people. It is this potential outcome that motivates the opponents of amnesty and open borders not the nativism, bigotry, xenophobia, racism or the persecution of minorities and immigrants of which they are often falsely accused in ad hominem attacks. Those are not the features of the mainstream opposition to illegal aliens and excessive legal immigration. They may play some role in the fringe organizations on the extreme left and extreme right. Some would argue that they are features of MALDEF, MEChA, La Raza and the 800 hate groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (based on undisclosed criteria).

The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. In the case of immigration's unarmed invasion, the pro-illegals often inadvertently provide the facts that permit us to reason about the future of our country. For example, they gloat about the expected minority majority. They point out the population and demographic trends that show Hispanics to be the fastest growing ethnic group in America. Others have shown that Mexicans alone account for as many new immigrants as the next ten countries combined. What they studiously avoid is any analysis that would show what this means in terms of our country's future. Victor Hansen has given us a glimpse of that future in his book, "Mexifornia: A State of Becoming". Having lived among Mexicans, taught them, intermarried with them and observed them first hand, Hansen is in a excellent position to draw the obvious conclusions about where we are headed, these are the very conclusions the legal immigration and illegal alien proponents seem incapable of discerning. It is both the direction and the magnitude which are to be taken into consideration. Our country is clearly headed in the wrong direction on immigration and the magnitude of that problem boggles the mind. We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on shortsighted and unwarranted expectations without basis.

When men and women yield up the privilege of thinking and reasoning, the last shadow of liberty and the uniquely American experiment quits the horizon. When we fail to recognize the most elementary facts about our present situation and fail to draw the obvious conclusions, we have abandoned reason in favor of demagoguery. When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. When we plan for posterity, we need to remove our rose-colored glasses and objectively assess what that future nation will be like for our children and our children's children. If there must be trouble regarding immigration and illegal aliens, let it be in our day, that our children may have peace and prosperity and the same quality of life as we have enjoyed. That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. That which we value so little, we will quickly lose.

Again paraphrasing Thomas Paine: these are the times that try the souls of men and women alike. The summer citizen and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from opposing excessive legal immigration and the flood of illegal aliens; but he or she who stands now for the national interest and the rule of law, deserves the love and thanks of all. Those who expect to reap the blessings of America must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. Perhaps in this case time will make more converts than reason but by then it will be too late. The America we know and love will be gone. If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.