With apologies to Thomas Sowell, some quick takes on recent events:

–Every article on immigration uses the numbers “12-20 million” as the estimate for the number of illegals currently in the United States. How do we know? Did someone conduct an illegal immigrant census–or is it typical “shark frenzy” journalism, as in one source used those numbers and everyone else copied it? Daunting reality: what if 20 million is a low-ball estimate? What if we have 50 million illegal aliens living among us? Something to think about when one hears terms like “anchor baby” and “chain migration.”

–Those who suggest Iraq is a “failure” because Iraqis haven’t organized a fully-functioning government in four years–after 35 years of totalitarian hell–might want to peruse American history. The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, leading to the American Revolution. Our federal government began operations in 1789. For the math-challenged, that is 13 years from the beginning of war to the formation of our own fully-functioning government. That functionality lasted until 1861, when the bloodiest war in American history was fought over four years in order to preserve it. Perhaps a tad more patience with the Iraqis might be in order.

–Any politician who tells you “comprehensive immigration reform” is the only way to achieve border security is not a liar. He or she is an extortionist–and Americans will remember who the blackmailers are in 2008.

–Apologists for the Palestinians are blaming the current bloodbath in the Gaza strip on Israel and the United States. It won’t wash. Muslims are killing Muslims–again–and all the moral relativism in the world can’t hide it. Remind me the next time you see members of a victorious “political party” in either the United States or Israel tossing members of the losing side off rooftops or summarily executing them in the street.

–How serious is the American public at one of the more serious times in American history? The only issue to generate greater public reaction than the jailing of Paris Hilton–was the final episode of “The Sopranos.”

–Ask yourself this question: if you came to this country illegally, and could get a “Z visa” which allows you to stay indefinitely, why would you continue the process of becoming a citizen which might require paying a fine and back taxes, learning English, and staying employed? Only those who breathe the rarified air in Washington D.C. could be so clueless about the reality of human nature. Or are they? Perhaps a “two-tier America”–citizens, and a low-skill low-educated, non-citizen working class is more to their liking. If that sounds somewhat familiar it’s because we’ve been there before–slaves also did many of the jobs “Americans refuse to do.” Are the the words “corporation” and “plantation” interchangeable?

e-mail: atahlert@comcast.net

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