WHY THERE IS NO ARGUMENT THAT WILL EVER SUPPORT GOVERNMENT-SUBSIDIZED REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT
It’s easy to view the refugee issue – which this website exposed many months ago here in our home state – exclusively through the reflexive lens of the recent terror attacks in France. Doing so is natural. And there’s no doubt the national security implications of this debate will be front and center for the foreseeable future.
As they should be …
Seriously: Who wants a repeat of the last time we dropped this particular ball?
But our emphatic rejection of refugee resettlement in the United States (along with other “open borders” nonsense) has always been fiscal in nature. Namely, we do not believe that a nation (or state) drowning in red ink should force those already being pushed under the waves to support additional dependents.
Especially not in a state as dirt poor as South Carolina …
“We explicitly reject the use of federal tax dollars – especially those routed through liberal foundations – to impose long-term obligations on South Carolina taxpayers,” we wrote early-on in this drama. “If faith-based organizations wish to host legal immigrants on their own dime, that’s great – but their activities cannot be subsidized by government revenue. Nor can they be permitted to impose affirmative new obligations on already over-taxed citizens.”
Or to put it another way: Compassion cannot be compulsory – especially when people are already struggling and suffering to subsidize a soaring dependency culture (corporate and otherwise).
“Faith-based compassion is a wonderful thing, but just as one’s religious beliefs shouldn’t be imposed on another without consent … neither should taxpayer obligations based on those beliefs,” we wrote.
Not everyone agrees with us on this point, obviously … in fact as this debate was still simmering we published an exceedingly well-written, well-researched piece from Upstate, S.C. author Emily Conrad which argued against the position we took.
Conrad pointed out that accepting the refugees is not only the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective, but also consistent with the foundational virtues of the American Republic.
“As we look back on our own personal family trees and our ancestors who immigrated to the United States, we see countless narratives of political and/or religious refugees,” she noted.
Indeed … E Pluribus and what not.
Additionally, our founding editor’s wife recently forwarded him an interesting column published in the aftermath of the Paris attacks – one cautioning against the convenient scapegoating of refugees. The piece made several compelling arguments in favor of continuing with the Syrian resettlements, most notably that terrorists typically use other channels for infiltrating foreign countries (like the 9/11 attackers did) and that law enforcement safeguards associated with the vetting of refugees to America has successfully negated the threat to public safety.
The piece also invoked the moral courage angle – a refrain repeatedly invoked by resettlement supporters.
“The lesson of the Holocaust is that we must deal with threats without rejecting our ethical obligations,” the author of the piece, David Bier, noted. “We must not send those fleeing persecution back to their persecutors. The definition of moral courage is to refuse to allow fear to overwhelm our humanity.”
Finally, we were forwarded a positively mellifluous, heartstring-tugging open letter sent to S.C. governor Nikki Haley by Lowcountry blogger Katie Newingham.
“There will always be threats, and fears, and worries, but Americans historically have risen above these anxieties for the greater good,” Newingham wrote to the governor. “Our government was not formed to tie our hands, bounding us to fear, but to provide support and protection. So I make this plea: Empower Palmetto State citizens. Allow individuals the freedom to choose whether or not Syrian Refugees are too great a risk. Some are willing and ready to open their doors and should not be denied this opportunity.”
“Let history show us on the side of grace,” she concluded.
At this point it’s worth pointing out South Carolina’s refugee program has been up and running for some time – even though it is technically operating in violation of a proviso passed earlier this year by state lawmakers. Also worth noting? Haley’s recent “kabuki dance” on the issue doesn’t shut the program down. The governor has merely requested that no Syrian refugees be sent to the Palmetto State – a condition she’s in no position to demand or enforce.
Which is exactly why it was worded in the form of a non-binding “request,” not something more declarative.
Nonetheless, in responding to these well-expressed, well-intentioned arguments in support of accepting refugees we must humbly ask the following question: At what point does embracing our shared humanity and extending compassion to foreign nationals start compromising the sustainability of our own country?
(Hint: Look in the rearview mirror).
Or put another way: If the lifeboat we’re in is sinking (as it most assuredly is) then what on earth do we expect to happen when more weight is added?
Answer: We all go under.
Don’t get us wrong: Individuals or organizations wishing to accept full financial responsibility for the care of certain refugees – especially children – should be permitted to do so (as Newingham suggested). There’s evidence to suggest more good could be done by supporting them in their native countries, but whatever. We have no problem with that – nor do we have a problem with there being some sort of “pathway to status” for some of these refugees once they are here.
Our problem? Telling the poor black kid in the South Carolina Lowcountry – who is already being failed by the nation’s worst government-run school system – that there’s going to be even less individualized attention next year. Or telling the Upstate mother – who is working three jobs just to make ends meet – that one of those gigs is now going to a foreign national, someone whose arrival and subsistence in this country she is subsidizing on an ongoing basis.
The middle class – the engine of growth in this country – is evaporating. How much more strain do we really think the center can take?
Again, compassion cannot be compulsory. As heartless as that may sound, the only moral obligation we see in this equation involves keeping America from sliding into the same third world oblivion these refugees are fleeing.
Which brings us to our final point: One of the best ways to prevent future humanitarian crises is for the United States to give up its failed interventionist foreign policies (which it can’t afford anyway) and refocus its resources on the protection of core American interests abroad. For example, it strikes us as exceedingly crass and hypocritical for politicians like U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham to simultaneously support refugee resettlements and fundamentalist terrorists like the al-Nusra Front.
Seriously: We cannot have a real debate over dealing with the consequences of a problem until we stop doing the things that are creating the problem in the first place.
So … call us heartless. Unsympathetic. Godless. Selfish.
That’s fine …
But like it or not our position is based on compassion, too.
63 comments
If we’re hit it will likely be a homegrown terrorist rather than a vetted refugee. All the known terrorists in France were from there or Belgium. Now that all said- Honduras is reporting they arrested 5 Syrians with stolen Greek passports who were attempting to reach the US by land.
Per the BBC-
Police in Honduras have arrested five Syrians who were travelling on stolen Greek passports and intended to enter the United States by land.
The five men were detained on Tuesday night after arriving on a flight from neighbouring El Salvador, police said.
A spokesman for the Honduras’s special police force, Anibal Baca, said they had been tipped off by Greece about the men’s imminent arrival.
Greek diplomats in Honduras say none of the five speaks a word of Greek.
They were held at the international airport in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.
According to Honduran police, they were planning to travel to the northern city of San Pedro Sula. From there, they intended to cross into Guatemala and then Mexico before reaching the US border, some 2,000km (1,2000 miles) away.
I didn’t know pogo had friends.
Probably the most famous Pogo quotation is “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Perhaps more than any other words written by Kelly, it perfectly sums up his attitude towards the foibles of mankind and the nature of the human condition.
——————————————
“Traces of nobility, gentleness and courage persist in all people, do what we will to stamp out the trend. So, too, do those characteristics which are ugly. It is just unfortunate that in the clumsy hands of a cartoonist all traits become ridiculous, leading to a certain amount of self-conscious expostulation and the desire to join battle. There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand. Resolve then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tinny blasts on tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us. Forward!”—?Walt Kelly, June 1953
—————————-
Pogo the Clown, aka John Wayne Gacy (serial killer)
Mr. Pogo, Japanese professional wrestler
Pogo, a gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo
Ogopogo, a Canadian lake monster
Thanks shifty.I know you are Boz.You used this avatar at TSN. Fits must pay you well? You are a human being in this character.
It is very similar to your buzzman avatar-style wise as you have done this cartoon/graphics before.
Carry on.
huh? ….. ?????
If we could only buy some people for what they’re worth and sell them for what they think they’re worth.
Nope – you are wrong on all counts! It’s just me…..
Well Honduras better have some proof – else they’re edging for some extra DHS cash.
We shouldn’t use taxpayer money to help refugees because while I do think they deserve help, I believe Jesus wants helping others to be done voluntarily.
Donate money to help refugees? No way. Besides, we have people here at home that need help.
Donate money to help people at home? No way.
The comment above, brought to you by Your Below Average Democrat.
I realize saying “fuck poor people” makes me look bad so I’ll just respond to someone making fun of me with a zippy one liner instead of debating the issue.
If you really wanted to debate try not being zippy yourself.
If I could debate something I wouldn’t be Your Average Republican.
I can try being an angry blowhard like Donald Trump. He seems to be representative of Your Average Republican nowadays.
If you want to try being Donald Trump that’s up to you, you already have a pretty good start at being a blowhard.
Looky, Looky..all of a sudden, the Liberals are using Christianity……
You HATE God, remember…you voted him out of your Platform language..
Ain’t NOTHING worse than a creep who lives like a slimy dog most all the time, spitting in the face of Christians..trying to use his Godless religion, to promote filthy Democrat politicians…
Disgusting…
You got that right.We see em everyday on Fits.This article would normally draw out about 300 comments tonight.
They are all hiding as their god Obama has been exposed.
Relevant: LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co0tTeuUVhU
I like this version better.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aLmSRt1MMrw
+10 you are correct. As usual I was in a hurry.
Dang – an upstate and a low country hottie on the same post. But why nothing from the midlands? Not even a Haley shot!!!
There is a tendency of liberals and libertarians to portray human beings as tax burdens or burdens to the environment. They think that there are too many people in the world already. Every baby that is conceived or survives to be born is some how a economic or environmental burden.
Fits thinks immigrants are only dead weight in a sinking boat. More likely they assist in bailing it out and repairing it. History has shown that legal immigrants and in particular their first generation Americans are more productive than are typical Americans. They are more likely to create an opportunity for the poor black kid or Upstate working mom than deny them one.
Excellent write up, however it will be pearls cast before swine.
Few care about budget deficits, the debt, sinking lifeboats, etc.; neither Republican nor Democrat.
It’s not heartless when these people come to this country, squat on property they do not own and use services meant for our own welfare leeches.
Emily Conrad Author.
Some people argue that understanding terrorism as committed by Muslims against innocent people is a problem to be analyzed from the viewpoint of “homegrown,” “imported refugee,” or “foreign visitor.” The terrorists come from all three categories. It has been put forth that some of the terrorist involved in the massacres in France were actually “homegrown,” being from France or Belgium. In the case of 9/11, the terrorists were visitors to this country, just came here and stayed long enough to learn how to kill us. Nidal Hasan, who murdered the soldiers at Fort Hood was actually born in the US, was a US citizen, and Army officer.
So there is a variety of Nationalities, Locations, and family histories. The common thread is a strict adherence to Muslim faith, personal hatred of other religions, and a desire to use violence as spelled out in the Koran as a way to abide by their faith. The origin of the violence, as practiced by most radical Muslims seems to be not a problem of Nationality/Geography, but of a Cultural/Religious nature.
In relating to that problem, I don’t believe there is any reliable way that the United States government can completely “vet” all these Muslims in a way that would assure the public that we are not in danger from some who believe in religious fanaticism. There will be tens of thousands of refugees seeking to come here, and there is a good chance we will get many people who will not present a problem. And there will also be a chance we will get some hardcore, violent fanatics.
The program of importing these refugees should be abandoned, quickly. Send aide to them in their own country and stop this mass migration..
I’m with you on this one.
Boston massacre guys were refugees too. We are at a time of quick retaliatory attacks and asymmetric warfare performed by previously migrated sleeper cells or those soon to join the ranks. I think we are justified in asking for a pause or halt to this immigration.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/18/at-least-15-us-citizen-terrorists-are-also-legal-immigrants/
Establish a big, beautiful, safe zone in the region as Trump advises.
We have been to this Circus before, the Ringmaster is deceitful, the Clowns are not funny, the acts are all smoke and mirrors, and the circus animals can kill you.
Technically their father filed for asylum, different than a refugee. I doubt anyone could foresee what the younger one, a 7 year old, might do in the future. IIRC, the older one was 18 at the time and wanting to box for the US in the Olympics. Doubt that would have thrown any red flags, if they even vet children of adults requesting political asylum.
Based on the spew coming from their mother’s mouth, you have to wonder what was preached at home? Which makes you wonder if their over-arching values aligned or would ever align with the West?
Yeah, thanks for bringing those boys into the mix. Everyone mentioned, so far, have nothing in common except their adherence to radical Islam.
All were from different countries, different native groups, different family structures, again, Islam was the commonality.
The pro-refugee argument is wrong headed weak-ass mush brain do-gooder altruistic bullshit. We don’t need more refugees in the US. This isn’t 1860 or 1900. The poem on the freaking Statue of Liberty is not good law or good policy. We don’t need the “wretched refuse of your teeming shores.” We have plenty of wretched refuse right here already. Anyone who honestly feels like being a “humanitarian” can give their own money to the Red Cross, targeted to help these people where they are. They don’t need to come here. As much as I detest the Donald, he is right on this. Build safe zones in Syria or Turkey or Jordan. Set up refugee camps there. Protect them and equip them. Build them a freaking golf course. They can’t come here. They need to solve their own problems. And no, the US is not to blame for the mess in Syria. The crazy ass Muslims are to blame because their culture is freaking medieval. They have become a curse on the civilized world and we should not have to put up with it. Religion does not have a Goddamn thing to do with it, and if it does, so what? Stop killing each other, stop with the Jew hating thing, stop with the Jihad bullshit. Why tolerate this crap any longer? The US Military has said that they can wipe out ISIS in 6 months. Yes this will result in dead American soldiers and will flatten the Middle East. War is a terrible thing, but we are in one, and the quickest way out is to finish it with an overwhelming show of force. And when the weeds grow back and the snakes come out again, we go back and cut the weeds and kill the snakes. That is reality. Grow up and get used to it.
+ 10,000,000!!!!
Too bad cracker. The USA is, and will remain, an immigrant state. It will not be lily-white for ever. And that’s not a bad thing. Keep crying and whining, though. It pretty funny to watch the hysterics from you tough men ;-)
I bet you don’t even know a single Muslim personally?
In anycase, none of the Paris attackers were Syrian. They were homegrown, French religious fanatics. We already have a problem with white, racist, Christian terrorists we need to fix.
Boy, that is really a convoluted stretch of pure ignorance.
So, let me get this straight, “homegrown French Christian religious fanatics” are the problem?
You are better at creating a “straw man” than Obama.
That is not at all what he said.
France is dealing with “homegrown, French religious fanatics”
We are dealing with “white, racist, Christian terrorists”
You embarrass yourself by showing us you can’t read.
Technically you are correct.
What he tried to do was to misinform about the Issue of the of the the Muslim terrorists:
“They were homegrown, French religious fanatics.”
Absolutely no mention that they were Muslims, and in fact, some were not homegrown.
And then he tried to conflate that with the existence of a totally “made up” terror group in the US:
“We already have a problem with white, racist, Christian terrorists..”
What he was trying to do was to conflate the two issues and create a “straw man” of non-existence Christian extremist.
It is a cheap rhetorical trick that Obama uses daily.
I just eliminated the obvious lies, and called it as it stands.
It was all about a video.
Propaganda works. Sending someone from a foreign country means a lot of hurdles to jump through due to the intelligence groups that infiltrate those organizations. If you can brainwash some angsty boy in his teens or twenties with a few YouTube videos and some hateful rhetoric, the NSA can’t track that. Not unless he’s stupid and fucks up somewhere.
I know the prophet mohammed. I even have a picture he sent me of himself on my desk at work.
https://images.encyclopediadramatica.se/c/cc/Prophetmuhammad.jpg
We also have a problem with racist, black, terrorist advocates like Farrakhan, and our own home-grown population of jihadists in prisons along with the cartel gangs. La Raza, CAIR, and other front groups parading as PC warriors are not lily-white in their tactics either and present as great a problem as they metastasize like a cancer. Let’s just be clear that people who have this level of sociopathy, do not subscribe to any of our Republics’ over-arching values and don’t deserve any Golden-Rule reciprocity.
“The US Military has said that they can wipe out ISIS in 6 months.”
lulz
Someone has a booming black market passport business in Greece.
PHILLIPSBURG, St Maarten — Police in St Maarten have arrested three men, believed to be nationals of Syria, who tried to enter the country on Saturday using false Greek passports after arriving on an Insel Air flight originating in Haiti.
The men in custody arrived at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) around 7:30 pm. They were held by airport immigration after it was discovered that the travel documents they presented were false.
The suspects were turned over to the “Back Office” at the PJIA, which further investigated the documents and determined that the Greek passports the men were travelling with were indeed false. The suspects were remanded in custody pending further investigation.
All these “poor Syrians”, yet they have enough money for fake passports and plane tickets.
Don’t forget the most basic necessity: Selfie stick. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/597632/Migrant-crisis-Syria-selfie-stick-Greece-Kos
ISIS has all but destroyed any legacy Obama – and his fools in the media -could have manufactured.
Obama is asked to choose between America, and savage killers, who hate and slaughter Christians…
Obama chose wrong…but that IS who he is..and he’s too pious to lie (plus he’s not running for anything.)
I notice FITS has a hard time choosing us, too. That tells you EXACTLY who he is…Liberal-Tarians are selfish/self-centered narcissists…They should DISGUST you if you are a decent person.
Radical muslims want to cut your head off, moderate mulsims want the radical muslims to cut your head off,,, the refugees are part of the uma, the first wave.
Give me a fucking break….”the poor black kid in the South Carolina low country who is already being failed by the nation’s worst government run school system….”
News flash, you racist piece of shit, ALL of our children are being failed by South Carolina schools, not just black children.
No matter how much you try to hide your true racist motives by couching the Syrian refugee crisis/resettlement issue i economic terms, you are not fooling anyone except the usual bigots, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, misanthrops aka pogo/grand tango/tarevolution/bible thumper/ernerba,squishy123, et. al., who are all too stupid or otherwise mentally challenged to see through your libertarian bullshit.
Just grow a pair and say exactly what so obviously feel…no Syrians or Muslims in SC under any circumstances.
OK, that’s not a problem for me. NO SYRIANS OR MUSLIMS IN SC UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES !
I even shouted it, just so there’d be no misunderstanding.
Is that better, now?
Check out this video. By your screen name, you might be fine with these self-righteous islamic scum going around and telling people what to do, but I don’t think it will float here. People are rejecting the “lite” version of this silliness as promoted by some Christians and the islamic version is much less acceptable.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ra45nX9JmW4
My thoughts exactly.Great minds think alike(although you are a work in progress RINO :) ).Ole Rashid Turbinhead got the same problem as Muslim Obama-a disdain not only for this country but its people as well.
Well done.
Democrat voters- regardless of color- are the reason we look assbackward and ignorant in some pockets of SC.
In our Conservative-controlled districts, we have world-class students….who perform very well.
Sorry, but that’s just the truth…you want your voters stupid…so they’ll keep electing you.
You’re actually the racist bastard, here.
Excellent.Reads like a poem.
Heartless with reason or a rationalization of prejudices?
I’m all for letting these male-combat aged-Muslim refugees in, AS LONG AS they move next door to you, and any other supporter of their entrance….
Can we agree on that? Yes or No?
Unlike whiny Republicans, I don’t quake in my boots at the thought of mothers and orphans living next to me.
Perhaps the most telling statistic is the ratio of men to women and children in the overall migrant population: 72 percent to 13 percent and 15 percent, respectively, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Given the typical profile of economic migrants, this dramatic disproportion suggests that many men are seeking economic opportunity, not sanctuary from violence.
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424416/give-me-your-tired-your-poor-not-your-terrorists-ian-tuttle
Take a look at the picture in the link and find ONE mother or orphan.
I know. You hate Christians…even if these savages strap bombs to their daughters and kids, it’s lost on totally ignorant fucks like you.
It’s why you need to be STRIPPED of all power, and somebody needs to slap the shit out of your stupid ass…
And: you have NO right to force your ignorance on us.. it’s time to meet your force w/ force…and see how much you’ll suffer for the Muslim gods you worship….
no, your position is based on a profound inability to understand economics, taxation, culture and people in general. but that’s ok. we only read your site for hot rumors and once in while decent insider reporting on the state capitol. so drop your dick and get back to work.
We should like wise stop financing resettlement programs in the apartheid state of Israel.
The founders of this ridiculous site is getting more idiotic than usual. What’s next, a “support Todd Kincannon, our favorite racist, misogynist” fund drive?