Bishop Gracida on the Political Hypocrisy surrounding the "Immigration Debate"

Rene Henry Gracida, retired Bishop of Corpus Christi, posted a message on his Blog today aimed at political hypocrites (including most of the members of the USCCB).  Here it is.  Don't miss the video.

https://abyssum.org/2018/07/03/even-after-you-watch-this-video-several-times-you-will-have-to-pinch-yourself-to-make-certain-that-you-were-not-dreaming-invite-your-left-liberal-friends-to-watch-this-video-especially-militant/

Fireside Chat with Dennis Prager: Ep. 40

Robert Spencer: Geert Wilders Puts the Political Elites On Notice

Poland: The Heart of Europe / Polska: Serce Europy

This video is a spiritual message, a visual metaphor for the awakening of Poland and others against Islam and the EU; the map is not an accurate representation by any means. The people in the UK and other European countries are slowly beginning to awaken from their slumber, thanks to countries like Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. In particular, the unprecedented march of Polish citizens this year sent out a powerful message across Europe. The liberal media tried to silence it, belittle its nationalistic value, but thanks to the brave reports from alternative media and individuals, the true spirit of the Polish people shone through.

Poland’s spirit, Poland’s faith, Poland’s humbleness by making Christ King of the nation has awoken something deep, something once lost, something true and honest in the hearts of men as far-flung as the UK. That is why Poland takes priority over Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, etc. Do not take it as an insult; this video represents the spirit and the heart of all countries that have fought for their right to self-determination. You all have the upmost respect from your beleaguered neighbours who are losing their liberty and freedoms from within their own nations, thrown away to appease foreign ideologies that demand suppression of all that we once held as virtuous, only to be replaced by submission, weakness, fear, and cowardly silence. We salute your courage and integrity. And with that Visegrad spirit, it will provide the courage for others to take a stand before it is too late.

Fr. Rutler: The issue is ILLEGAL Immigration NOT Immigration.

                                                                          

FROM THE PASTOR
February 5, 2017
by Fr. George W. Rutler

In the margin of a public speaker’s manuscript was the notation: “Weak point. Shout.” Such is the rhetoric of those who place emotion over logic and make policy through gangs rather than parliaments. In Athens 2,400 years ago, Aristophanes described the demagogue as having “a screeching, horrible voice, a perverse, cross-grained nature and the language of the marketplace.” That marketplace today includes the biased media and the universities that have become daycare centers.

   The recent action of our government’s executive branch to protect our borders and enforce national security is based on Constitutional obligations (Art. 1 sec 10 and Art. 4 sec 4). It is a practical protection of the tranquility of order explained by Saint Augustine when he saw the tranquillitas ordinis of Roman civilization threatened. Saint Thomas Aquinas sanctioned border control (S. Th. I-II, Q. 105, Art. 3). No mobs shouted in the marketplace two years ago when the Terrorist Travel Prevention Act restricted visa waivers for Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. The present ban continues that, and only for a stipulated ninety days, save for Syria. There is no “Muslim ban” as should be obvious from the fact that the restrictions do not apply to other countries with Muslim majorities, such as Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Turkey.

   These are facts ignored by demagogues who speak of tears running down the face of the Statue of Liberty. At issue is not immigration, but illegal immigration. It is certainly manipulative of reason to justify uncontrolled immigration by citing previous generations of immigrants to our shores, all of whom went through the legal process, mostly in the halls of Ellis Island. And it is close to blasphemy to invoke the Holy Family as antinomian refugees, for they went to Bethlehem in obedience to a civil decree requiring tax registration, and they violated no statutes when they sought protection in Egypt. Then there was Saint Paul, who worked within the legal system, and invoked his Roman citizenship through privileges granted to his native Tarsus in 66 B.C. (Acts 16:35-38; 22:25-29; 25:11-12) He followed ordered procedure, probably with the status of civis Romanus non optimo jure—a legal citizen, but not allowed to act as a magistrate.

   It is obvious that the indignant demonstrators against the new Executive Orders are funded in no little part by wealthy interests who would provoke agitation. These same people have not shown any concern about the neglected Christians seeking refuge from persecution in the Middle East. In 2016 there was a 675% increase in the number of Syrian refugees over the previous year, but while 10% of the Syrian population is Christian, only one-half of one percent of the Syrian Christians were granted asylum. It is thankworthy that our changed government now wants to redress that. The logic of that policy must not be shouted down by those who screech rather than reason.
        

John Quincy Adams on Immigration

John Quincy Adams, when he was U.S. secretary of state, in 1819, wrote to a German citizen who was considering moving to the United States, and asked Adams for a job.  Those were the days when a politician could speak the truth without political consequences.  Such a letter today from a U.S. secretary of state would be cause for impeachment to appease the outcry from the Left.  Here are excerpts from the letter as published in today's Wall Street Journal:

Notable & Quotable: John Quincy Adams
‘This is a land, not of privileges, but of equal rights.’

Neither the general government of the union, nor those of the individual states, are ignorant or unobservant of the additional strength and wealth, which accrues to the nation, by the accession of a mass of healthy, industrious, and frugal laborers, nor are they in any manner insensible to the great benefits which this country has derived, and continues to derive, from the influx of such adoptive children from Germany.

But there is one principle which pervades all the institutions of this country, and which must always operate as an obstacle to the granting of favors to new comers. This is a land, not of privileges, but of equal rights. Privileges are granted by European sovereigns to particular classes of individuals, for purposes of general policy; but the general impression here is that privileges granted to one denomination of people, can very seldom be discriminated from erosions of the rights of others.

Emigrants from Germany, therefore, or from elsewhere, coming here, are not to expect favors from the governments. They are to expect, if they choose to become citizens, equal rights with those of the natives of the country. They are to expect, if affluent, to possess the means of making their property productive, with moderation, and with safety;—if indigent, but industrious, honest and frugal, the means of obtaining easy and comfortable subsistence for themselves and their families. . . .

To one thing they must make up their minds, or, they will be disappointed in every expectation of happiness as Americans. They must cast off the European skin, never to resume it. They must look forward to their posterity, rather than backward to their ancestors; they must be sure that whatever their own feelings may be, those of their children will cling to the prejudices of this country, and will partake of that proud spirit.

"Every officer impeachable by the laws of the country, is as liable, twenty years after his office has expired, as he is whilst he continues in office, and if such is not the case, if an officer could thus ward off the pains of impeachment, what would be the value of the provision… ?” 

 John Quincy Adams

Thomas Sowell: The Cult of Multiculturalism

Dr. Thomas Sowell, writing today, on National Review Online, discusses the remarks made on the subject of multiculturalism by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and adds his own views (which he has not been shy about sharing over the years) on the subject.

The Cult of Multiculturalism - Thomas Sowell - National Review Online

Some clips:
"We kidded ourselves for a while,” Chancellor Merkel said, but now it was clear that the attempt to build a society where people of very different languages and cultures could “live side by side” and “enjoy each other” has “failed, utterly failed.”

This is not a lesson for Germany alone. In countries around the world, and over the centuries, peoples with jarring differences in language, culture, and values have been a major problem and, too often, sources of major disasters for the societies in which they coexist.

The absorption of millions of immigrants from Europe into American society may be cited as an example of the success of multiculturalism. But, in fact, they were absorbed in ways that were the direct opposite of what the multicultural cult is recommending today.

VDH: Illegal Immigration and the Federal Non-Response

Yesterday on the Pajamas Media Blog, the Classicist, Victor Davis Hanson posted a piece entitled: The Truths We Dare Not Speak About Illegal Immigration.

"We are in revolutionary times when the law is a malleable thing, its validity predicated only on its perceived social utility at any given moment.

This is how nations are lost."

Actually, Walls Do Work.

Someone tell President Obama that Israel made walls work in both Gaza and the West Bank, because the Israelis and their elected officials wanted them to work.

The U.S.A.:ILLEGAL HEAVEN

Politically Progressive Police Chiefs

Now comes the Police Executive Research Forum, the estimable "think tank" of mostly Left leaning police chiefs from large cities, to weigh in on the new Arizona Immigration Law (wouldn't you love to know how many of these "think tankers" actually read the law?). You can guess (before reading the article from the Washington Post) what position on the new law they took. Hint: they met yesterday with Eric Holder at the Justice Department.

The Washington Post article discussed the opinions of these "apolitical" chiefs of police about the new law. Some of these police professionals are from cities far removed from Arizona, and most are obviously ignorant of, or apathetic to, the problems caused by illegal immigrants in Arizona. Neither condition, though, kept them from speaking out publicly against this perfectly legal action by the Arizona legislature, which happens to be supported by 70 percent of Americans throughout the country.

Try as I might, it was not possible to ignore the ignorance of these pretenders, and I felt compelled to submit the following comment on the Washington Post's website:

OceanKayaker wrote:
It sounds to me like the police chiefs referred to in the article are a lot more political than the elected sheriff Joe Arpaio. It's especially telling that the chief of Montgomery County is against the Arizona law. It was his department that allowed the trespass and harassment of one of the county's citizens last Sunday, by a mob from the SEIU that arrived on the scene in 14 school buses (according to news reports). Then one of his captains tried to explain to Megyn Kelly of Fox News that they (the Montgomery county police department) could not arrest anyone because none of their officers witnessed the trespass or harassment. Their response time to that crime, by the way, had to be measured by using a calendar. Are there no Frank Rizzos left in big city police departments? When police chiefs start talking more like politicians than cops, we're in trouble. 5/26/2010 4:00:12 PM
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In case you're unaware of the travesty in Montgomery County last Sunday, it happens that Nina Easton of Fortune Magazine lives next door to the home of the victim of the trespass and harassment, and had the courage to write a column about the event. You can read her column here. It seems to me that the chief of the police department that failed, so utterly, to handle the situation in its own jurisdiction last Sunday should not be seeking attention two days later by criticizing the efforts in another state to properly address a pressing problem within its borders.

Here's a wild guess: In an all out attempt to stem the growing tide of popular support for the Arizona law, the administration reached out to this group of political law enforcement "intellectuals" and sought their backing for its totally political stance against the will of the Arizona people.

Final Post on Calderon

(Click to enlarge)

It's Time This Hypocrite Went Home

IRONY is a term with which this man is obviously not familiar.

Wonder why he (or somebody) chose CNN, with an almost microscopic viewership, for his only interview during his visit.

Build the Damn Fence!

Alec Rawls, who writes the Error Theory Blog (link on the right) posted these videos documenting the infiltration of our country by Muslim terrorists through our porous border with our good neighbors to the south.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Large numbers of Muslim terrorists coming over the southern border

Evidence documented by WSBTV in Atlanta. The whole country needs to see this:

Please click on each link, and then click on the speaker symbol at the bottom of the video to increase the volume.

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/23438021/


http://www.wsbtv.com/video/23438712/

Our Anti-American Congress

It would be difficult to object to the first minute and a half of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's speech before a joint session of Congress yesterday, but I take exception to his comments thereafter about the new Arizona Immigration Law. His harsh criticism of the right of the Arizona state legislature to pass a law that has overwhelming support not only in Arizona but throughout our entire country is worse than bad manners; it is absolutely insulting. His actions and words, though, pale in comparison with the actions of the Democrats in the audience who stood and applauded his ignorant statements about the Arizona law. Calderon obviously was not the only one in the room who had not read the Arizona law.

Every member of Congress and every administration official (Nancy Pelosi, Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano, and Ken Salazar most prominent among them - Joe Biden at least hesitated before standing up) who stood and applauded the disparaging of our great state of Arizona by the president of a failed country should be ashamed - but I'll bet they're not.

Calderon: Another Non-Reader

That's Mexican President Felipe Calderon displaying his ignorance of Arizona's Immigration Law much as did our attorney general and our secretary of homeland security recently. When one is wedded ideologically to an agenda, it is simply not necessary to be acquainted with facts. Such a one can just make them up to suit the agenda. These three public figures had no problem criticizing the new law even though they had not read it. Both Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano have admitted they hadn't read it before speaking out loudly, and Calderon either didn't read it or he's a god enough liar to become part of our current administration.

Here's a great letter that has appeared elsewhere on the Internet that a lot of us wish we had written.

♣ Letter to Obama, Moving to Mexico
Submitted by InnerG on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 08:57
in Current Events
[Contributor: Daniel W., Phoenix Director: Minuteman Civil Defense Corps]

Moving to Mexico

Dear Mr. President , U. S. Senate and Congress:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my husband's health, and I would like to ask you to assist me. We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico , and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.
We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here.

So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:
1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. All Mexico government forms, printed in Spanish, need to also be printed in English.
4. I want my kids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.
5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school.
7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico , but, I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.
13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say a critical thing about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who come to the U.S. from Mexico . I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help.
Sincerely,
U.S. Citizen & Taxpayer

As you probably know, President Calderon is visiting us at the moment, and today at The White House he and our president made a joint appearance, which the White House probably will call a press conference even though no respectable member of the press would label it that, since they were not permitted to ask many questions. Here's President Obama in a short clip from earlier today (click at bottom right to listen).



Got it! Since we're not defined by borders, why build a fence?


H/T: jwrenn

Our Anti-American State Department III

Comes now Scott Johnson, of Power Line Blog, into the debate with the Anti-American Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, with this post in which he attaches a letter to Posner from Arizona Senators Kyl and McCain.

To compare in any way the lawful and democratic act of the government of the state of Arizona with the arbitrary abuses of the unelected Chinese Communist Party is inappropriate and offensive.

There is no place for moral equivalency in democracy and human rights policy. The United States is the world's leader in defending the rights of all people. Someone in your position should be proud to proclaim that.


Indeed!

Prior posts on this subject are here and here.

Our Anti-American State Department II

In case you missed it, John Hinderaker of Power Line Blog was on O'Reilly last night discussing his piece on Power Line on Sunday, which we posted here yesterday. This story can not get enough attention because it shows clearly the anti-American posture of the Obama administration. Please share it with friends and family.

Our Anti-American State Department

John Hinderaker (photo above) of Power Line Blog posted a blistering rebuke yesterday of Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, who has been meeting with the Chinese about Human Rights.

Posner said in addition to talks on freedom of religion and expression, labor rights and rule of law, officials also discussed Chinese complaints about problems with U.S. human rights, which have included crime, poverty, homelessness and racial discrimination.

He said U.S. officials did not whitewash the American record and in fact raised on its [sic] own a new immigration law in Arizona that requires police to ask about a person's immigration status if there is suspicion the person is in the country illegally.

What an idiot! China murdered millions of its citizens who opposed the government's Communist policies and allows most of its people little or no freedom. We, on the other hand, enforce our immigration laws. No, wait--actually we don't. That's why Arizona had to take a shot at it. Oh, by the way, Michael Posner, you clueless moron--China actually does enforce its immigration laws.

Told you it was blistering. You can read Hinderaker's whole post here.

Here's a photo of the "clueless moron" whose talent for moral equivalence is mind boggling.

Jonah Goldberg: Is Arizona's Law Wrong if it Works?

Here’s President Obama on the law’s ramifications: “You can imagine, if you are a Hispanic American in Arizona — your great-grandparents may have been there before Arizona was even a state. But now, suddenly, if you don’t have your papers and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you’re going to be harassed. That’s something that could potentially happen. That’s not the right way to go.”

In the president’s (flawed) scenario, that hypothetical Hispanic citizen will be “harassed.” What does that mean? It means he will be asked to prove his citizenship, which he will obviously be able to do. He won’t be tried, convicted, and deported; he will be inconvenienced. Indeed, under the more realistic scenario, he will be pulled over for a traffic violation and asked to offer his driver’s license (his “papers”). And that will be it.

Meanwhile, imagine you’re an American kid of Chinese ancestry. Given your SAT scores and GPA, you should be able to get into, say, the University of Michigan. But because of Michigan’s race-based policies, you’re turned down because you’re not black or Hispanic. That’s not just inconvenient, that’s a lifetime loss. You’ll never be able to go to that school. Period. Similarly, being turned down for a job you deserve because of your skin color is a real loss. Being questioned for a few minutes about your immigration status may be inconvenient, or even feel insulting. But, beyond ruining your day, you’ll be fine.

Here's the whole article from National Review Online:

Is Arizona Law Still Wrong If It Works? - Jonah Goldberg - National Review Online