GOP Vixen

Caption this!

Japan's Junichiro Koizumi tangos with Richard Gere. Surely celebs make good "Caption This!" targets...

Terrorists embrace nice furniture

Very happy to see that journalist Jill Carroll is free. Every time they've been replaying her interview with Baghdad TV, one comment keeps striking me:

"I had very good treatment. They never hit me. I was kept in a safe place with nice furniture, plenty of food."

Hey, as long as the furniture was nice.

But this could be an indication of a deeper trend. Considering three people were killed in a 70,000-person stampede at Ikea in Saudi Arabia in 2004, could it be that terrorists envy our furniture more than they hate our values?

No wonder bin Laden's been able to stay in his cave for so long -- he probably found a swell deal on La-Z-Boys.

GOP Vixen's one-year anniversary!

Actually, it's the one-year, 15-day anniversary, as GOP Vixen was launched on March 15, 2005. So I forgot my own anniversary.

And what have we done in that year? 1,336 posts, 2,477 comments, 225 trackbacks. Whew!!

I'd like to thank guest authors Dirty Harry and Dan (aka Wordluf, aka Gay Patriot West), Poet Laureate Cheryl Rhoads, and fellow bloggers with whom we've exchanged links over the year. Also a big thanks to K-Lo at National Review for linking to GOP-V so much. And a huge thanks to the readers who offer such thoughtful, entertaining and sometimes annoying (let's be serious, eh?) comments!!

Can't stress enough how this blog has brought something absolutely delightful into my life...

Grading Bush vs. Reagan's legacy

Last week, Bruce and Dan over at Gay Patriot graded President Bush on how good of a job he's doing fulfilling Ronald Reagan's legacy. Their conclusions were as follows, as detailed by Dan:

"1. Vision/Optimism (A-) In a number of speeches, the president has put forward a positive vision for this nation, particularly its role in the world, just as Ronald Reagan did. And while he has not made him optimism as manifest as did the Gipper, he has made clear that we will win the War on Terror and that better days are ahead for all Americans.

2.  Communicating that Vision (D+/C-) I favored a higher grade because some of the president’s speeches have been first-rate, lacking only the Gipper’s velveteen delivery, but the president’s press shop, particularly under Scott McClellan, has been lacking. The president needs a spokesman who is energetic and optimistic and needs more often to defend the war in Iraq as he did in a series of speeches last November. A good communicator W can be, but the Great Communicator he ain’t.

3. National Security (A-) Like Ronald Reagan, George W. recognizes the paramount importance of national security and has done an outstanding job of taking the war to the terrorists rather than having them bring it home to us.

4. Foreign Poicy (A-) Especially with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, the president has worked to build and strengthen alliances and promote democracy and freedom around the world.

5. Free Trade (B/B+) While the president signed the Central American Freed Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and has negotiated trade treaties with a number of nations, in his first term, he imposed tariffs on imported steel (which he repealed at the end of 2003).

6. Domestic Spending/Size of Federal Government (D+) While the president’s last three budgets have shown some fiscal discipline, cutting spending and eliminating federal programs (hence the plus in the grade), he has yet to veto a single bill, particularly those laden with congressional earmarks.

7. Federalism (D*)  As the Cato Institute’s David Boaz puts it, conservatives under President Bush “have forgotten their longstanding commitment to reduce federal power and intrusiveness and return many governmental functions to the states. Instead, they have taken to using their newfound power to impose their own ideas on the whole country.”

8. Judicial Appointments (A-) With Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., the president has elevated two outstanding jurists to the U.S. Supreme Court. And like, Ronald Reagan, he has distinguished himself by appointing smart lawyers to the federal bench. He would have gotten an A+ here but for his decision to tap Harriet Miers (thankfully withdrawn) to fill Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat and for naming a handful of duds (including William Pryor) to the federal bench.

9. Leadership/Tenacity (A-) Just like the Gipper, his successor has shown strong leadership skills, occasionally making unpopular decisions because he believes he is doing the right thing. And he has not yielded in his prosecution of the war in Iraq despite the constant carping from his opponents — and even some of his allies.

Overall Grade Preliminary (B/B-)."

Dan then asked a panel of "Reagan scholars" -- including yours truly, who was a kid when Reagan was in power -- to offer our assessments. Here's mine (lacking commentary on the categories that bore me):

1. Vision/Optimism: B
One thing I've noticed in my journalism career is that the majority of politicians would be very little without their brainy cadre of advisers. Unfortunately, I feel Bush drifts toward this area, whereas Reagan could always swim (powerfully) on his own. Reagan, as we know, was driven by powerful conviction, and especially by the attempt on his life: We know that he forged a special bond with Pope John Paul II as the two were shot six weeks apart in 1981, and Reagan felt he had been spared for a reason. It can safely be said that the pope, Reagan and political soulmate Maggie Thatcher brought down the Iron Curtain and changed the world.

Does Bush feel similar conviction in the War on Terror? Yes. But his vision to get from Point A to Point B is often cloudy, or at least conveyed so. Culture clashes have hampered public perception of Bush's assertion that the Muslim world wants freedom and democracy -- i.e., people protesting the Muhammad cartoons insisted no such freedom of speech should exist. It's easy for us to overthrow -- and the Iraq war was absolutely the right move -- but the vision for what he exactly wants over there needs to run a little deeper, because Iran and Syria are next door and pissed. The vision has to be more complex, more concrete.

It should be noted that Bush has had to deal with the most virulent left in a long time, maybe because their appetites had been so whetted by Clinton and suddenly their pacifiers had been snatched away. Bush weathered the election challenges from Gore (Fla.) and Kerry (Ohio) with grace, and I don't recall him getting bent out of shape over continuous "stole this election" cries. That gives him points for living optimism rather than just talking about it.

2. Communicating that vision: D+
There has not been one State of the Union or even speech to senior citizens where I have not cringed in anticipation of what googly soundbite would come out of his mouth, or see if he'd accidentally smirk while talking about global destruction. He's had a few golden moments, like post 9-11, but has never been able to connect with people on the plane that Reagan did. His tendency to stick with abstract catchphrases to explain complex issues (i.e. "We're freedom-loving people" -- yes, we know that) also sinks him.

One of the biggest opportunities he's missed is connecting with the Hispanic community, though his election numbers there were pretty good. I had high hopes for him in this area, because this is a group that is largely leaning right yet the Dems still think they're in their pockets. He should utilize the Spanish-language media more (like the network, er, run
by a conservative!), particularly when conveying his immigration plans (whatever they are this week). (Let me throw in my theory here that a GOP Hispanic could clean Hillary's clock in 2008!)

3. National Security: B
The good news -- whether or not the left cares -- is that we haven't been attacked again since 9/11. And it's not for a lack of trying on the Islamists' part. However, Bush is letting the border turn into a labor issue when he needs to be as fervent about it as he's been on other matters of national security. You have drug runners and gangs who are experts at getting across the border and can be easily bought. About 10 percent of the 400,000 caught in the first two months of this year illegally crossing the border had criminal records. Immigrant-rights groups are successfully painting border security as racism or a civil-rights issue; the administration needs to play tough and pull the focus right back where it needs to be -- national security.

The argument that he has caused more terror groups to form is baseless -- Bush did not create Islam's war on the West, but inherited the battle. He has been hampered more on terrorist-rights issues (notice how sarcastically I said that) than Reagan was ever given
grief by Americans during the Cold War. Yes, people were freaking out over the arms race, but now you have elements who brand national security tactics demonic and would rather sacrifice security to spare some al-Qaida lackey getting sleep deprivation.

4. Foreign Policy: B
Bush has made or maintained some good alliances in the critical Gulf region. He's been criticized for being in bed with the Saudis, but Saudis have been regularly conducting shoot-to-kill raids against al-Qaida, as attacks have taught them that they're targets too.
He's made good appointments in the form of Powell and Rice, but has made some befuddling prioritization choices. Granted, he has targeted Islamofascism as Threat No. 1. But one wonders if Reagan would be lending more attention to the current communist/neo-Marxist regimes, particularly when a Bolivarian dingbat like Hugo Chavez strikes up an alliance with Iran, or China engages in stall tactics in regards to Iran's nuclear program.

5. Free Trade: B

6. Domestic Spending/Size of Federal Government: D
On taxation, he has been firm on cuts. But on government programs and spending, he suffers from a syndrome that plagues politicians from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Antonio Villaraigosa -- wanting to please all of the people all of the time. It ain't gonna happen. You have to make cuts, and ripping off the band-aid will emit even more squeals now after
years of program padding.

7. Federalism: D

8. Judicial appointments: A-
Roberts and Alito have both been excellent choices, and campaigning for them was pretty airtight as well. Bush's major slip with Miers was that by nominating her it simply served to enhance criticism that he plays favorites with cronies, as she wasn't exactly qualified. (And her constant deer-in-the-headlights expression didn't help, either.)

9. Leadership/tenacity: C+
This is a difficult one. Much of leadership is the team you put around you, and I think Bush has made quite a few good appointments. As far as taking the bull by the horns, being decisive and kicking ass, though, I have always thought Cheney is stronger and more tenacious than Bush. I believe that serves to strengthen the administration as a whole, but there have been a lot of times when Bush could have stepped forward and let everyone know he was in command of a situation. With Reagan, you never felt like Bush Sr. was in charge. You felt like Reagan could single-handedly smack Gorbachev upside the head --
then Reagan impressed you with what an amazing man he was when his old USSR nemesis became his friend. But the GP lads do make a good point that he hasn't
wavered on Iraq.

Overall grade: C+

'South Park' slams George Clooney's Oscar acceptance speech

... and dug at environmentalists and San Francisco liberals! In all, a tour de force in "Smug Alert!" -- the second episode of the new season.

In the episode, Kyle's dad buys a hybrid car (called a "Pious") and starts getting environmentalist ego, putting fake tickets on all the gas guzzlers. When the rest of the town gets angry at him, he decides South Park just isn't enlightened enough and moves the family to San Francisco. Stan misses Kyle and tries to lure the Braflovskis back by encouraging everyone to buy hybrids. After Stan writes and performs a "gay little song" about ecofriendliness, everybody buys hybrids. Then local weather officials freak out because South Park is becoming covered in smug generated by smug eco do-gooders. This combined with the No. 1 smug region in the nation -- San Francisco -- will soon be combining with the smug front generated by George Clooney's Oscar acceptance speech and forming a destructive smug storm. Cartman, upset that Kyle isn't around to pick on anymore, goes into San Francisco -- he swore he'd never go into the city of dirty hippies and liberals -- in a contamination suit, secretly rescuing the Braflovskis from the smug storm that wipes the City by the Bay off the map. Meanwhile, in South Park, the town makes Stan crush all hybrids to try to lessen the effects of the smug storm. The town barely survives, having learned its lesson about becoming smug hybrid drivers.

The best part -- as the George Clooney smug front moves over Arizona, it's full of sound bites about Hollywood being the first to fight AIDS, Hollywood being better than everyone else, etc.

"Smug Alert!" reruns on Comedy Central at 10 p.m. tonight, Friday at 11:30 p.m. and Sunday at 11 p.m. Watch it!!

Will pope's cardinal picks have political repercussions?

Whaddya know, it's time for my weekly Los Angeles Daily News column! Pope Benedict XVI just elevated 15 cardinals, and two of them come from volatile regions that are hostile to democracy and human rights -- and hostile to the church. One is more outspoken than the other. Both may be at the right place at the right time to take a stand and put real pressure on their countries' despotic leaders. A snippet:

"Cardinal Joseph Zen scares the bejesus out of the Chinese government.

One of 15 cardinals elevated by Pope Benedict XVI, Hong Kong's Zen was curtly warned by China's foreign ministry against mixing religion and politics.

'Why would you appoint someone who doesn't support communism as a cardinal?' asked Liu Bainian, the vice-chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the state-sanctioned faux church that doesn't recognize the Vatican. 'Is it like Poland? Didn't the church play a big role in Poland?

'If China's bishops were all like him then it would be dangerous like Poland. Bishop Zen is widely known as an opponent of communism.'

Zen, who openly champions political and religious freedom and has called on the government to 'tell the truth' about the Tiananmen Square massacre, is certainly taking the criticism in stride. 'I am over 70; there are things that will be hard to change,' he told reporters in Hong Kong.

Millions of Chinese still loyal to the Roman Catholic Church face harassment, fines or labor camps. China, which kicked out the Vatican's ambassador in 1951, wants a say in the appointment of bishops (interesting request for an atheist regime). The Holy See remains a diplomatic ally with Taiwan.

Will Zen as cardinal play a similar role in battling communism as Pope John Paul II did? There are too few Chinese Catholics to alone topple the government, but inspiring figures who rally people to freedom transcend religion. This is not the only authoritarian regime targeted in the pope's cardinal picks, either.

Newly elevated Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela, 'strengthens the voice of the church in dealing with radical left-leaning President Hugo Chavez,' Matthew Bunson, editor of The Catholic Almanac, told USA Today.

Chavez has been no less than a hell-raiser in a 96 percent nominally Roman Catholic country. A man who verbally smacks down the clergy, he has called the church a 'tumor' and claims Jesus was a socialist. ..."

Read the whole thing! It's slightly more appropriate for Lent than my "South Park" column last week (which was picked up by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Salt Lake Tribune...).

The Surreal Life: Arab League

I have a great idea for the next season of "The Surreal Life," the VH-1 reality show where B-celebs like Sherman Hemsley and Mini-Me are thrown in a house together. Wouldn't it be a hoot to watch members of the Arab League live "Big Brother" style? You have Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, left, Libyan frootloop Moammar Gadhafi, right, Syrian bad boy Bashar Assad, second from right, trying to get along with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, third from left. Add Mahmoud Abbas begging for money, and it's must-see TV!

French protest having to work

I've never gotten the point of labor strikes. Here the workers are trying to tell the employer/government that they're the best workers ever and worth more money/benefits/vacation/et al, then they stand around in the street all day. I will prove I'm a worthy worker by not working! This, of course, tends to backfire, as we saw in the Southern California grocery strikes a couple of years back: It wasn't very hard for stores to hire new workers and train them to scan Cheerios.

Basically in France, a million are protesting (take that, U.S. immigration demonstrators!) because they think employers shouldn't be able to fire them. Add having to do good work to their grueling 35-hour workweek, month or two vacation... err, it's a bitch!

But The People's Cube says it better than I could:

"The new 'must work for money' rule, introduced by the French government, has precipitated huge street demonstrations in Paris, as student and labor leaders rise against the specter of capitalism, worried that its emphasis on hard work and personal responsibility will ruin their most cherished cultural values of government dependency. At the famed Sorbonne University, protesters vandalized cars, bus shelters, and shops, including a McDonald's restaurant. Rioters, crying 'Vive la Révolution,' absconded with a statue of Ronald McDonald and later beheaded it with a makeshift guillotine.

'The new jobs contract is a slap in the face to our youth,' an indignant student activist told us as he filled an empty wine bottle with gasoline to make a Molotov cocktail. 'Every French child grows up dreaming that the government will give him a non-demanding job that'll pay for his future spacious apartment, month-long vacations, and dinners at Maxim. Now our dreams are shattered! Who can blame us for being angry? I'd like to look that person in the eye and torch his car.'

... Most French intellectuals agree that the 'work for your money' rule is an insult to French culture, claiming that the very survival of the legendary French work ethic may be at stake. 'More work, personal responsibility, and efficiency are all dangerous signs of encroaching Americanization,' says the head of the philosophical department of the French Academy of Sciences. 'We are happy to see so many young people today in the streets, willing to defend our traditional way of life based on idleness, arrogance, and corruption.'

Labor Unions maintain that the new law erodes the worker's right to attend nail salons, keep trysts with mistresses, and sit in cafes drinking coffee during work hours. 'If our government and employers think they can force us to earn our pay, we'll teach them a lesson they won't forget,' says UNEF leader Bruno Julliard. 'First, we'll call for a national day of strikes on March 28. Then we will surrender to Belgium. The Belgians have better labor laws, and many also speak French, which makes them the next most civilized country on earth.'

Economists argue that, in terms of labor productivity, a national strike in France would be indistinguishable from a regular work day. ..."

Read the whole thing -- oui!

Cohen: Unfathomable Zealotry

Richard Cohen had a great column in yesterday's Washington Post. A sample:

"What strikes me about the threat to execute Abdul Rahman, the Afghan who converted to Christianity, is not that Afghanistan remains deeply medieval and not even remotely the democracy that George W. Bush would like it to be, but that with the exception of the (largely) Christian West, the rest of the world has been mostly silent. The Americans have protested, the Brits have protested, the Vatican has protested and so (I assume) have some others. But if there has been a holler of protest from anywhere in the Muslim world, it has not reached my ears. That is appalling.

The murder of a person for his religious belief ought to be inconceivable. It is something we in the West stopped accepting hundreds of years ago, and while Americans and others continued to kill on account of race deep into the past century, the right of the government to take a life on account of religion has not even been argued in the longest time. We are way beyond that.

... The groupthink of the Muslim world is frightening. I know there are exceptions -- many exceptions. But still it seems that a man could be killed for his religious beliefs and no one would say anything in protest. It is also frightening to confront how differently we in the West think about such matters and why the word "culture" is not always a mask for bigotry, but an honest statement of how things are. It is sometimes a bridge too far -- the leap that cannot be made. I can embrace an Afghan for his children, his work, even his piety -- all he shares with much of humanity. But when he insists that a convert must die, I am stunned into disbelief: Is this my fellow man?"

Read the whole thing!

Incidentally, Al-Jazeera has a story about the pissed off members of the Afghan parliament, particularly as Italy is ready to offer Rahman asylum.

Immigration protests, student walkouts and some words of wisdom

It's been an interesting few days in Los Angeles. On Saturday, even traffic on the Westside was in a crunch from the half-million-strong downtown protests against the Sensenbrenner immigration bill; cars drove on the 405 flying Mexican flags. A United Farm Workers march on Sunday tied up more traffic. And on Monday thousands of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District alone ditched class to protest:

"... Motorists were left in gridlock as youths marched down Sunset Boulevard, Melrose Avenue, Laurel Canyon Boulevard and other major thoroughfares.

At one point, protesters marched onto the Hollywood Freeway in downtown Los Angeles and two sections of the Harbor Freeway, downtown and in San Pedro, briefly halting traffic.

Students in Orange County briefly blocked the Riverside Freeway and Santa Ana Freeway in Fullerton, waving Mexican flags and tossing a rock that smashed the window of a CHP cruiser.

... The demonstrations became violent in some areas. In San Diego County, two dozen protesters were arrested in Escondido after refusing orders from police to disperse. Two patrol cars were reportedly vandalized.

In Riverside, a peaceful student protest unfolded downtown as six youths and one adult were arrested across town after scuffles with police clad in riot gear and carrying nightsticks, authorities said. After following students throughout the city and calling for them to disperse, officers confronted the group. Students responded by hurling rocks and bottles at police."

Another heartbreaking bit from the Daily News:

"... Bob Levine said students from San Fernando High stole an American flag from the porch of a Pacoima business. Levine said he hung the flag after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

'I feel just awful,' Levine said. 'I took care of that flag every day since 9-11.'"

The truth is, most of these kids couldn't correctly detail House Resolution 4437 if you asked them about it. From the L.A. Times:

"... Some students said they did not know exactly what the bill said but believed that it was part of an anti-immigrant movement taking hold nationwide.

'We just walked out because we didn't want to be at school,' said Diana Hernandez, a senior at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. 'But we also believe [the legislation] is wrong.'"

The Times says that campuses will be on lockdown today. Other stories today had school officials saying they were going to turn today's events into a constructive lesson, inspire discussion, blah blah blah, but I have a better idea: Learning about life means learning there are consequences for your actions. Thus, every student who ditched should have to pay the school district those state funds lost due to their absence on Monday. (Though in a district with a 25% dropout rate, who would've showed up anyway?)

The truth is, most of these demonstrators aren't looking for a sensible border security policy but open borders. And here's another fact, from a Reuters story:

"... The Border Patrol has intercepted over 400,000 aliens trying to cross the border in the first two months of this year, compared to around 100,000 a month -- 1.2 million -- last year. About 10 percent of those caught had criminal records."

Let me tell you, as a native Californian who grew up immersed in Mexican culture, it is not pleasant to be labeled somehow racist for desiring tighter borders. As someone who went to college with many Latino activists who desired "taking back" California for Mexicans, I cringe as I see some of those folks stirring up the masses. Is there some sort of organized Mexican-American War revenge movement? No. But they're stirring it into a racial conflict that, for Americans who grew up with Mexican culture in the border states, doesn't exist.

Border security is not just about immigrants, either, but drug runners. It's about massive quantities of meth and coke and heroin and pot being smuggled up, and border residents living in fear, not knowing which of their neighbors have been paid off by drug runners and too scared to call the cops. It's about a guy who planned to blow up LAX being stopped by a sharp U.S. agent at the Canadian border. It's about vicious gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha composing plans to pick off Border Patrol agents. It's about not knowing exactly who is coming over that fence. This is a dangerous situation, and trying to turn it into a racial issue only obscures the real reasons for border security and makes the border that much more dangerous.

Well worth reading is "An Open Letter to Illegal Mexican Immigrants" by Father Jonathan Morris, who was on Neil Cavuto on Monday. (You may remember Father Jonathan from his coverage as a Fox News contributor at the time of Pope John Paul II's death and the subsequent conclave.) Read the whole thing, as my excerpts don't capture the whole flavor of the letter:

"... I want you to know we Americans know the present system is a hypocritical one. Our visa procedures in Mexico are so slow and demanding that you prefer to risk your lives in the desert than wait in line. After all, your cousins have told you our talk is bigger than our stick. We promise you work if you survive the trip. And you don’t feel guilty. You know the most powerful country in the world could find you and send you back, but it doesn’t really want to. When local and federal agencies turn a blind eye to companies that employ you, they are telling you that what you do is not so bad. And you recognize the government’s inaction as tacit permission to stay and work.

This system is bad, and we’re working on it. But now my attention turns to you. We saw your Mexican flags wafting in the winds of Southern California this weekend — as hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest of legislation that would make illegal crossing a felony, build a wall to keep you out, and criminalize Americans who help you once you’re here.

Friday you imposed a 'thank a Mexican day' in Georgia. Tens of thousands of you chose to defy your bosses and take the day off. The boldest among you rallied on the steps of the Georgia Capitol and, of course, you brought your flags with you. Compatriots in Phoenix had their own Latin party — the red and green could not be missed.

And all these flags make me cringe — both for Americans and for you.

When you wave them, or wear them, you send a signal. But trust me. If you want compromise to the polarization I’ve described above, if you want a rectification of a hypocritical system, this is not the signal you want to send. You have to understand, we Americans are funny about flags. Do you remember the months after 9-11? We donned the stars and stripes on our houses, cars, trees, and lawns. In those months of horror, our penchant for red, white, and blue had nothing to do with ethnicity. And their ubiquitous presence meant much more than national pride. You see, my Mexican friends, the American flag is for us a symbol of national unity. Let me say that again — it’s a symbol of unity.

And unity is what we need. Unity of mind, and unity of heart. Oh, unity of mind, that reminds me. Learn English. When we see your placards and hear your chants, if we don’t understand them, we get mad. You know by now that we Americans aren’t so good for languages. We can’t roll our 'R’s' and when we try, you laugh and we turn red — another 'gringo' thing, I know. When we go south of the border, we sometimes forget to bring dictionaries and guide books, as if the whole world should speak our tongue. Tell your family members living in Mexico to test us. They should go ahead and speak to us in Spanish. Don’t let us forget we are visitors, guests in a foreign land. But when we are at home, make sure we know it. We don’t demand Oxford English. Just show us you are trying to be one with us. That’s part of unity of the mind, an important step for unity of the heart.

Here’s another hint for unity, this time all about the heart. Say 'thank you,' over and over again. I know you have lots of reasons to complain, but you also have great motives for gratitude. Taking part in this status quo of immigration hypocrisy, means we often use you and abuse you. The temptation would be to do the same to us. When you get sick and go to the hospital, we take care of you, and that costs a lot of money. Not all Americans are rich, you know. When we see medical insurance skyrocketing, and city hospitals in bankruptcy, our attention and outrage turn on you. It’s the Mexicans! And to some degree, we are right. Illegal immigration puts a great burden on our social services. You don’t pay full taxes and you send your money home.

But our principles are even stronger than our anger. We are going to take care of you when you are in need. Thank God, it’s still part of the American way. But please, just say 'thank you.' Let people know with an attitude of gratitude that you are visitors, guests with only tacit permission to work in a foreign land. It’s part of building unity of the heart. ..."

As I said, read the whole thing.