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Ron Stoltz: Building Higher Walls
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My thanks to Steve for the chance to guest blog. Reaching back to early March, I was struck by a NY Times piece by David Brooks entitled "It's Not Isolationism, but It's Not Attractive" on March 5, 2006. His thesis was that the US is not isolationist, but the Arab/Muslim world has set itself aside as the exception in today's world. Exceptionalism aside, Brooks used the phrase "crescent menace" (at least he didn't capitalize it) to sweep all of the Arab/Muslim world into one overarching threat. The phrase brought back memories of the "yellow peril" and the "red tide", not to mention the "evil empire". I did check as to whether this phrase has gotten traction since then, but didn't see much on the Web. My point is how easy it is to construct clever catch phrases, ones that if incorporated into the popular lexicon can become exceptionally damaging. Lets hope that this one doesn't have legs.
Brooks suggested that the US needs to wall off the crescent menace. While he didn't indicate a physical barrier, I wonder whether the current enthusiasm for a fence/wall on the US southern border is a surrogate for walling off the crescent menace. In checking with my friends and relatives in the "angry white man" community, I found a lot of confusion about terrorists crossing the border mixed in with illegal/economic immigrants. More straight talk and data about suspected terrorist transiting our borders would be helpful. It's disturbing how walls seem to be the answer to so many problems.
Ron Stoltz is a national security enthusiast working at the intersection of technology, policy and politics.
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Reader Comments (5) - post a comment
While I appreciate that you are writing about the catch phrase, did you really need to use it twice yourself after saying you hoped it didn't get legs?
Brooks must be getting paid by the WH group or getting his writting points from Daniel Pipes who has been trying to get all Muslims and Arabs deported and banned from entering the US since way back...can't have any challengers to the zionist political lobby now can we...
Freaks like Brooks are so obvious...
But I have an idea...let's start deporting people according to their ancesteral history in this country......the Indians would get to stay of course since it's their land anyway, then the descendents of the original settlers, then the descendents of those who actually fought in the American Revolution, and any whose ancestors served in any US wars...the rest have to leave...this of course would include most of the war mongers and security experts and talking mouths like Brooks, Pipes, Feith, Wolfowitz, Cambone,Luti, Perle, Kristol, Libby, Rumsfeld, Cheney and about 98% of all the think tankers, all of AIPAC and the AEI...they all have to go....all the Jews go to Israel, all the Arabs go to Arabia, all the Asians go to Asia, all the Mexicans go to Mexico, all the Cubans go back to Cuba..yep deport them all...problem solved.
By accident of birth I would get to stay, and I suggest Brooks and his ilk keep their passports handy, they may need them for a quick escape.
Gads Carroll, they would have to ship me out in pieces to about 15 different countries. My only request is that my brain gets to go to the same place my genitals do.
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