Submitted by: P McMillan
Invicta; amor patriae
By E.P. Unum
July 9, 2021
Please excuse the length of this piece entitled "Invicta; amor patriae" (Latin for "Unconquered, for love of country”), but I have a lot to say and there certainly is a great deal going on. I hasten to point out that this piece is solely my opinion but the facts cited herein have been verified to the best of my ability and training, having spent my entire business life in publishing. My hope is that it is read objectively because the issues presented are, in my opinion, very real and very concerning. EPU
For those of you willing to take the time to read this, “Invicta” is Latin meaning “Unconquered”. It is a word that defines America and Americans. As a nation, ever since our founding, we remain unconquered largely because, as Americans, we come together when threatened and have always responded as one. Like any American, I hope and pray that this unblemished record will continue.
Notwithstanding the comments of TV pundits like Geraldo Rivera who say that “America lost the war in Vietnam” and today say “America lost the war in Afghanistan”, America remains an unconquered people. Never forget that.
Not too long ago, however, this unblemished record came under grave threat of collapsing under the weight of the Civil War. Brothers fought against brothers; fathers and sons against each other. Our nation, then a “house divided” almost fell. The cost was hundreds of thousands of lives, Americans, Southerners, and Northerners, dead and, even more wounded. It was the costliest war in American history, an American tragedy. It was a nightmare that became a schism between North and South over the issue of slavery.
Fortunately, we overcame this disaster but not without great pain. For years thereafter we were still a divided house but the differences soon became minimal and were erased as reason overcame prejudice and industry and our nation was rebuilt. We ushered in a new frontier, augmented by discovery and innovation, and used it to make products and services and tap into the bountiful resources that marked our great nation. We made unimaginable advances in science and medicine, and sought to build relationships and conduct trade with other nations, and rebuild our businesses, railways, and infrastructure. In doing so, we harkened to the words of Abraham Lincoln that “a house divided against itself cannot stand” and took great pains to heal the wounds brought about by the great civil strife. But it was not an easy path. The sad thing about the entire experience is fundamentally related to the fact that people refused to listen to one another; to reason with one another. They were too busy shouting at one another and, no one ever learned anything by talking or shouting!
Thomas Jefferson, arguably the most intelligent man to ever serve as President of the United States once said :
“If there are any among us who would alter this Union or change its republican form , let them stand as monuments to the precept that error of opinion can be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it”. The magical word embedded in this historic statement is “reason”.
But, as we know, reason was absent on the floors of the Senate and House of Representatives and in the minds of the people. Hate, a wasted emotion that clouds judgment, filled each speech and led to Americans in the North fighting with Americans in the South. What could be more tragic?
More tragic than the scourge of war is the fact that we have not learned from it. More than 150 years since the end of hostilities that was our Civil War, we are today “a house divided”.
Today, it seems we are standing at the door of yet another Civil War. There is little doubt that we are yet again a “house divided”. Only this time, there is no great moral issue at stake. We are not talking about slavery. We are talking here about American citizens yet again failing to reason with each other.
They go by names like “liberals” or “democrats” and “independents” and or “republicans”; “lefties” or “
Before you start yelling and screaming and firing off hasty Facebook and Twitter attacking this editorial opinion piece, think about it carefully.
I hold several degrees, one of them in History And, I have lots of questions….. and so should you. Let’s look at some recent historical facts:
☆ How did it benefit us as a nation to have protests every single day on virtually anything and everything President Donald Trump said and did?
☆ Why was it necessary to conduct ourselves in such a manner?
☆ How did throwing rocks through business windows during the Inauguration of President Trump on January 20th, 2017 help our nation?
☆ Why were there protests across 30 cities and airports arguing against the President’s decision to enact a temporary ban on immigration of people from known countries who are exporters of terror around the world? The President is legally empowered to take such action. So, what was the basis for these protests? People shouted in the streets that such action is “inhumane”; “not what America stands for” and “disgusting”. Yet President Obama did the very same thing during his Administration and there was not a single protest in the streets of America! What was different?
The mainstream media in America took every opportunity to vilify President Trump largely because he won the election, garnering thirty -one states and a landslide victory in the Electoral College. In doing so, he somehow ruined the plans and prognostications of all in the media and all of the talking heads in radio and television who unanimously predicted that Hillary Clinton would win the Presidency in a victory that would not even be close.
As we all know, the media and the pundits were all wrong. And, on reflection, it seemed they could not stand to be wrong. Adults, Hollywood actors and actresses, teachers, students, and people from all walks of life, were crying in the streets. University professors offered exemptions from exams for those who could not deal with the “tragedy” of Donald Trump’s election. “Hugging” meetings were held with puppy dogs brought in, and crying towels were given out. My goodness, you would think our nation had just suffered some national tragedy!
But, as we know, the fact is there was no tragedy, and no one lost their lives. Disease did not suddenly strike like the Great Plague. What happened? Why the turmoil and upheaval?
The answer unfortunately is that roughly half of our nation has become used to people giving them things without their being earned. Students in elementary, high school, and colleges are given trophies for no real achievement except participating in an event or project. They are being taught revisionist history if they are being taught history at all, filled with liberal philosophy with opinions, not facts. They have been raised with the notion that the world owes them a living. They are used to handouts from the Federal Government who use the opportunity to expand its influence over the people, and, at the same time, expand the role of government!
Let’s look a bit closer
Democrats, liberals, and the media all became incensed and embarked on a campaign to vilify our new President and object to anything he did. The news no longer was the news. It was a daily dose of Trump-hating augmented by a continued diet of rage and lies. Trump’s decision to put America first and enact a temporary ban on immigration from countries identified by the Obama Administration as real threats was met with excessive angst and protests. We were treated to the so-called “Million Women March” ostensibly to protest “potential actions” by the president to change abortion laws and “violate women’s rights”. But, it was nothing more than yet another grand program to protest President Trump personally, and, sadly, extended to unnecessary vile comments about his wife Melania and their son, then 10-year-old Baron Trump. And the “Million Women March”also featured actresses and entertainers like Ashley Judd and Madonna spewing foul language and making threats like “blowing up the White House” not to mention the disgusting pink hats featuring female genitalia. Do you recall these facts?
What did any of this accomplish? Equally, how does any of this help America?
And where are we today in 2021? I submit to you that the schism has widened, and we are once again, and our house is slowly being torn apart!
Today, we have Mayors of cities stating publicly they will defy any action by the government to eliminate “sanctuary cities”. They capitulate to mobs of people demanding to defund police which fosters even more crime. Cities like San Francisco, Portland, Seattle are war zones with escalations in homicides skyrocketing. Chicago, New York, Newark have all defunded police and now crime in these cities has reached epoch proportions.
We have the opening gambit of chaos theory engulfing our nation. Open defiance. How does sheltering known illegal immigrant criminals, often repeat offenders, help our nation? How is that American? That my friends is called stupidity……and it is also illegal. But, what is infinitely worse is that apathy has set in for Americans who stand by and do nothing because they are afraid to rock the boat!
I watched Senator Chuck Schumer (D NY) on TV calling the temporary travel ban enacted by President Trump as “barbaric and demoralizing” and “against everything America stands for”. Mr. Schumer said, while weeping, that he thought he saw “a tear coming down the cheek of the Lady in the Harbor (the Statue of Liberty)”. He of course was referring to the inscription on this glorious statue, given as a gift to us in 1903 from the French which reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door”.
Beautiful words. Like most Americans, my family were immigrants; in my case from Italy. But thousands more came from all across Europe and Asia and the distinguishing characteristic of them all was they came into our country legally and they assimilated into our country.
They wanted to be American citizens.
This is not the case today with many of those coming to our country from Syria, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other nations in South America. They do not assimilate. They want to implement their own traditions and laws. They want nothing to do with America, its laws, and its culture. And they come here illegally, encouraged by our President Joe Biden.
Let’s recall, that President Trump’s ban was temporary until we could do what should have been done in previous Administrations….. develop plans and programs for fully vetting immigrants, especially from those countries and territories who are active in terrorism.
Trump’s action was not a “travel ban” nor was it a Muslim ban” as the media continued to call it. But his action was precisely what we expected of our President and leader. And, he did his job to protect Americans.
Here are some additional facts for those of you who value statistics:
☆ In 1965 we admitted 300,000 immigrants.
☆ Today and for the past decade we have admitted roughly 1.0 million per year, with 2021 on pace to admit over 2.0 million illegal immigrants!
☆ Our foreign-born population is set to hit a record in 2025!
☆ If we are using the overall level of refugees to judge how “American” we have been, 1976, 1977, 1978, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007 must have been horrible Un-American years because the number of refugees in each of those years was less than 50,000.
But, by any yardstick of measurement, our nation has embraced more immigrants than any other nation on earth. But, there comes a time, especially when faced with an enemy we cannot easily identify, this must of necessity be tempered. A nation without borders is no nation at all. Do you believe Russia protects its borders? How about China? India? Why don’t we protect ours?
Senator Schumer may have wept with emotion, which in and of itself, is not a sign of weakness. But I can assure you the Lady in the Harbor did not cry a tear for those immigrants temporarily detained by authorities. Let’s remind ourselves of some facts: During the Trump travel restriction, 325,000 people flew in from foreign territories and only 109 were detained… 9 ended up being sent back and two were detained pending clearance. Where was the problem? Did anyone think we should have sent out a message that we were going to take this action in advance so that travelers could be advised? What would that have accomplished? Remember when President Obama announced his plans and timetable for removing all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Was that wise? Was it prudent?
I’ll tell you when the Lady in the Harbor shed tears:
☆ She cried, indeed sobbed, when she watched helplessly as the Twin Towers came tumbling down, killing 3,000 Americans, men, women, and children, who did nothing but show up for work that morning,
☆ She wept over Orlando, and San Bernadino and Boston and when our Marine Barracks was the target of a truck bombing resulting in the deaths of 241 Marines,
☆ when a disabled elderly man was thrown overboard from the Achille Lauro cruise ship, and over Fort Lauderdale, Paris, and the UK when terrorists attacked innocent people in the streets,
☆ She cries every time she sees our citizens and young people protesting in the streets over issues they have not thought through but are just being led by a corrupt media intent on simply protesting for protest's sake.
And, I cry along with her.
This environment is fertile ground for those who seek to harm our nation and plays into the hands of those who harbor terrorists and seek to destroy us.
A President’s first job is to protect Americans. That’s what Trump did. Why doesn’t President Biden do the same? Our southern border is a crisis that shows no signs of improvement. We had better get it fixed soon.
I have been privileged to have traveled all over this world and have seen the horrors of war and the way people are treated under dictators and religious zealots. President Trump was not a dictator nor was he a religious zealot. Neither was he Hitler incarnate as some people have accused him of. Such rants are a disgrace.
For all of our faults here in America, this is the greatest nation on earth with freedoms millions of people all over the world only dream about. And, as a house divided against itself, trust me, we cannot and will not stand against the kind of enemies we have today from cultures who want to eradicate us and our Constitutional Republic from the face of the earth.
Of course, this will never be accomplished unless we once more begin acting like Americans again and talking to one another to share ideas and experiences. To do what Jefferson exhorted us to do…to reason with one another. That means putting down the microphones and megaphones and supporting our government. It means giving our leaders a chance.
The alternatives are both depressing and ominous. It is not about you as an individual but We the People.
Finally, here is a question for all those protesting in our streets: if our country is so bad, if America is a racist nation founded on racist principles, why are so many people from all over the world seeking to come here, and how many are leaving to go to socialist strongholds?
God bless and keep all of you safe,
Amor patriae, Invicta
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