Preserving American Culture

The problem with writing about Immigration is that there are some very legitimate concerns with immigration. Those who are upset about our current immigration system have a few points in their favor.

And a fair amount of bigotry as well, of course.

Jonah Goldberg's latest article is about the pro-immigration ideas of Ben Wattenberg, and his flawed analogy of America as a Cocktail party, which he relates as follows.

"Imagine you are in a giant ballroom where 1,000 people are gathered for a Washington cocktail party," he'd say (I'm paraphrasing), "and into the room walk three Mexicans. Those three Mexicans represent the proportion of the U.S. population that immigrants add each year. There is little evidence these immigrants are spoiling the party."

I will note, as Goldberg does, that that analogy is a bit inside the beltway. But then Goldberg says this.

The United States isn't some inside-the-Beltway moveable feast where revelers make a living by talking to each other as the prols cater to them. It's a specific place, rooted in specific soil and a specific - albeit open and boisterous - culture. But if we must compare America to a party, there's one immutable fact politicians and business interests ignore: It's our party. We - i.e., the American people - get to decide who is invited and who gets to stay. And the American people - or at least lots of them - no longer trust Washington to check for invitations at the door.

And there it is; Americans should get to keep Hispanics out because they would ruin American culture (noting that American Culture is Open and Boisterous is a short hand for saying he knows we already have a lot of "ethnic types").

I should note that the people he's talking about don't trust Republicans to check for invitations either. That's what makes this issue so important in a way; it exposes the gap between what the Republican Base wants and what the Republican politicians want.