Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen delivered one of his occasional “temper tantrums” in the 22 November issue, the subject this time being the objections by more than half the members of both Congress and the population, at least according to the polls, to Obama's plan for 10,000 Syrians to enter the country in 2016. Toward the end of his screed, he claimed that the main goal of the terrorists is to “make us afraid.” Well, no. The main goal, as any bright fifth-grader knows, is to kill us. Indeed, for multitudes of Muslims that is the centerpiece of the Koran, the Islamic “holy” book.
Eblen noted a Catholic bishop's statement that it takes up to two years to make the proper security-checks to admit Syrians. The government also uses the 1.5-two-year period. Since it has been impossible to make security checks since at least 2011 (no access to Syrian databases), the Syrians entering in 2015 (92 in Kentucky) and none to be entered in 2016 will have been vetted. So, Eblen is clamoring for Syrians to be allowed entry anyway, no matter who or what they are. Obama says widows and orphans but the betting in this corner is able-bodied well-fed fairly young men, as has seemed to be the case in Europe.
Eblen ran the gamut of alleged U.S. wickedness in this area – republicans, riots against Catholics in 1855, relocated Japanese Americans in the 1940s, the evil gun lobby, KKK Christians, even Timothy McVeigh, good old average American redneck gone bad. He didn't mention the Mexican War, a favorite among U.S.-haters, or the Indian reservations. He mentioned Eisenhower favorably but didn't mention that Ike's gang deported over a million Mexicans not just across the border but by bus, train, and even ship deep into Mexico. Eblen didn't bother to furnish context for the Japanese or Mexicans, for instance, but research is only for straight news accounts, not temper tantrums by the superior self-righteous.
Eblen used the term “fear-monger” to describe the objectors and accused them of speculation that “a few terrorists might slip in.” Only 19 Muslims killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11 while destroying billions worth in buildings, planes, etc. Only two Muslims killed or injured hundreds in the Boston Marathon Massacre. Perhaps 21 Muslims seem like a religious army to Eblen but most people would call them a “few.” Eblen is not a speculator, however, so numbers mean nothing to him. A handful of eight killed all those folks in Paris...just a “few.”
Eblen said most fear-mongers claimed to be good Christians, though he didn't explain by comparison what a bad or even a semi-sweet Christian is. He quoted extensively a statement of the 1.7 million-member Presbyterian Church (USA) that warned against letting a “fearful few drown out compassion, facts and logic.” That church has lost, using that figure, 59% of its membership since 1960 while U.S. population has increased by 78%. Using the current membership figure of the World Christian Database of 2.7 million, it's still lost 52% since 1960. In light of a statement that stupid, the loss is easy to understand. Even the Presbyterians gag, apparently, at such incredible lack of credibility by their denominational oligarchs.
So, assuming that Putin doesn't annex Syria and that ISIS might go away by...let's say 2017, the U.S. might have access to Syrian agencies by maybe 2019 (wild guess) for security checks. Of course, Obama (and compassionate Eblen?) are expecting another 200,000 in 2017, so one wonders where all these refugees will live in the U.S. until they're vetted. Hint: Keep an eye on that new guy next door!
The most telling aspect of this stuff is that it comes from people so caught up in their self-righteousness and so steeped in accusing those who disagree with them of venality that their elitism marks them as either in current academia or kindergarten.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
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