The Patriot Post® · Immigration and the Roosevelt Rule

First, let us dispense with all that blather about how many millions of Muslims are “peace-loving” and that Americans should not blame all of Islam for the barbarisms perpetrated by a few of its believers. Certainly one can argue that most Germans during the world wars were peace loving, along with most Russians during the Cold War, most Vandals in the middle of the fifth century, most Aztecs when they ruled in present day Mexico, most Assyrians when they were besieging their enemies, most Japanese when their empire was running rampant throughout Asia — the list goes on. Probably you can throw in any other group that comes to mind, because it can still be maintained they all wanted peace. But only on their own terms.

Second, let’s not pontificate about “Our Shared Blame for the Attack in California,” as a writer for The New Yorker insisted, or, take our cue from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who, in an inspired moment of hyper-grovel, promised to take aggressive action against anyone using “anti-Muslim rhetoric” that “edges toward violence.” This was one day after the San Bernardino carnage, and her first thought was assaulting the First Amendment to prevent hurting the feelings of a potentially aggrieved minority. Okay, maybe that was her second thought; her first might have defaulted to stripping every gun owner in America of the only means possible to prevent massacres committed by insane killers of any persuasion. In short, ignore gun control advocates, especially since so many of them are protected by the guns they want to deny to others.

Third, and most important, apply the Teddy Roosevelt Rule, stated firmly in 1907 by that most illustrious president, about how to treat immigrants:

In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

“Wait a minute,” an objector might say. “Wouldn’t a consistent application of this rule also result in thousands of people who are already here being expelled from the United States? For instance, what about those hordes of college professors and professional America haters? Wouldn’t they all be thrown out of the country by the Roosevelt Rule?”

To which my answer is, “Sure, that’s possible. What’s your point?”