11/20/2002
Mark Lowry (there seems to be a plague of Lowrys) writes in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (November 15) that the Radio City Christmas Spectacular was too — Christmassy:
"But to lure spectators of all faiths (and non-faiths) with the promise of an entertaining holiday revue, and then to ambush them with Christian theology, is dated and borderline offensive, especially at a time when understanding of other cultures and beliefs is more important than ever.
"The RCCS creators are wrong to assume that Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians don’t have the same right to holiday fluff that Christians do."
Lowry might have a point if Radio City had called it the Radio City Seasons Greetings Spectacular, or the Radio City Winterfest Spectacular, or Radio City Celebrates Secular Humanism Spectacular.
But no, they called it the Radio City Christmas Spectacular — right there on the sign.
In fact, the Rockettes have been celebrating Christmas as Christmas for seventy years. With a Nativity and everything.
What Lowry’s really complaining about is the violation of the new American "tradition" of secularized Christmas. A whole generation grown up with a public square in which Christmas is simply unmentionable. So naturally Mark Lowry just assumes it’s a civil right. (To e-mail Lowry, click here.)
National Review’s blog reports that Molly Ivins recently dismissed Jonah Goldberg as "some juvenile jerk." (In contrast to our Paul Gottfried, who suspects it was Rich Lowry who dismissed Jonah — albeit for the same reason.)
Jonah Goldberg says that he’s used this dismissive tactic himself, although in his case it was based on genuine ignorance. (He claimed he'd never heard of Antiwar.com’s Justin Raimondo, a considerable feat.)
Searching for an example of Jonah using this dismissive tactic, I Googled "Jonah Goldberg" and "some guy". One of the first ten references was to "Some guy named Jonah Goldberg." Such is fame.
William Bryk has an inspiring story in New York Press [November 20] about an immigrant policeman named Joe Petrosino, who fought the Mafia in its early days in New York. The reason Petrosino was so valuable to the NYPD was that there was indeed a huge Italian crime problem.
"In January 1905, Police Commissioner William McAdoo put Petrosino in charge of a five-man Italian squad. McAdoo’s successor, General Theodore Bingham, expanded the squad to 25 men, renaming it the Italian Legion and promoting Petrosino to lieutenant."
A squad like that wouldn’t be allowed today. Bryk continues:
"In 1907, Congress enacted a law permitting the deportation of any alien found to have concealed a criminal record. Two years later, Gen. Bingham secretly sent Petrosino to Italy with a list of 2000 names [of immigrants suspected of having criminal records there]."
The Mafia found out, and killed him.
It’s always heartwarming to hear of people coming to America, becoming citizens, and being loyal etc. etc. But immigration enthusiasts looking at the last Great Wave of immigration can only see the Petrosinos. They somehow miss the larger picture.
Guess what? There is still a huge Italian crime problem in New York. And there are now several other varieties of immigrant Mob, which are even worse.
Anthony Browne, whose groundbreaking Times (London) article we posted in August, has written a powerful article in the Times today (November 20). The short version: Tony Blair’s government may be cracking down on illegal immigration — but they're going to increase legal immigration massively, on an already crowded island.
Britain must face some home truths about abroad
We do not need mass immigration and a population of 68 million by 2031
Times, November 20, 2002
"It’s a startling reversal of 30 years of policy, it will utterly transform Britain, and yet it has only been spoken of in whispers. The closure of Sangatte [VDARE.COM note: A Calais refugee camp where illegals wait for a chance to sneak into Britain] and tightening of asylum rules may clamp down on bogus claims, but it leaves intact the central plank of Labour’s immigration policy: it wants mass immigration to Britain. Previous Governments had had a rough goal of zero net immigration.
"The Government isn’t honest enough to tell us what level of immigration it wants — it officially has "no view", a cowardly abnegation of responsibility. What we do know is that one minister once said they want 150,000 people a year, the Treasury forecasts at least 150,000 immigrants each year, [Blair Cabinet Minister] David Blunkett has increased the number of temporary work visas (each of which can lead to a passport) to 175,000 a year, and recently legal immigration has been running at about 180,000 a year. "
Notice that the British government has had years of an official goal of zero net immigration — net in this case referring to the fact, well known to VDARE.COM’s readers, that Englishmen have been leaving England for years.
They may not have achieved that. But it’s worthy of note that, while Enoch Powell was demonized after his famous speech in 1968, successive governments quietly passed immigration restriction laws.
Daily Telegraph columnist Robin Page has been investigated by the police for saying that rural Englishmen should have the same rights to march in defense of the right to hunt foxes, etc., as Gay Pride marchers or the Brixton Carnival. (This, by the way is more or less the same view held by the Prince of Wales.)
Mr. Page was held in a cell for 40 minutes. The police said that, if he insisted on seeing his lawyer, he'd have to stay overnight.
"Gloucestershire police confirmed that they had arrested Mr. Page on suspicion of violating Section 18 (1) of the Public Order Act, referring to stirring up racial hatred."
("Pro-hunting writer held in cell after race claims,") By Neil Tweedie
Daily Telegraph, November 20, 2002
The anti-racism speech provisions of the Public Order Act, the kind of thing that’s totally prohibited by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, are wide open to misuse. (Click here for an example.) This is, quite literally, the kind of thing that caused the American Revolution.
Expect more emigration from the U.K.
November 20, 2002
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