United 93: Even-Handed; Two Thumbs Up.

I saw United 93 last night.

It begins with the sound of hushed prayers in a language I assume to be Arabic. The opening scene is one of three or four men in their hotel rooms praying and shaving in the pre-dawn hours. Each is nervous and scared for obvious reasons. But as they make their way to the airport, they seem like any other group of travelers. Sure, they're not locals, not WASPS, but they come across as likable as any group of immigrant-students you might take classes with in a college somewhere. The one who ends up piloting the plane is someone I could see myself making conversation with while waiting to board. Nothing about these men seems evil or malicious. If anything, as the film begins they seem devout, earnest, and good. I had read the film treatment was even-handed in this way and watching it, I kept thinking:

Why not make the bad guys bad? Why not make the heroes heroic? Why be so even-handed?

I know all the best reasons, of course: an even tone is much more appealing to those who are less partisan, less patriotic, less-jingoistic than I. Remember all those journalists who were afraid to wear flag pins after 9/11 for fear their impartiality and credibility would be impugned? (What impartiality? What credibility?) People like that want an even tone, a movie that makes no judgments, that does not "tell you what to think," that just lets the facts speak for themselves. But Hollywood was not obsessed with moral relativism during World War II. Those movies never made Hitler or the Japanese look like America's moral equivalents. Few Cold War films made Soviets look like our equals. So I thought hard on this throughout the short, well-made film.

I enjoyed it very much and recommend it highly. Certainly a must-see. And you know what? It's a must-see for the moral relativist crowd. The even-handed tone works because what the terrorists did was so unspeakably evil it speaks for itself.

And later at home I kissed my sleeping wife and kids, thankful I had not had to make the sort of call made by those on board Flight 93. Then I kept looking around, listening, pacing. Checking the locks and wondering what that noise was I just heard. Turns out the even-handed tone left me as spooked as I have been in a long time. Spooked to know that could have been me, spooked that I would have trusted those guys, spooked that I could look pure evil in the face and not know it until it was too late.

Great movie.

P.S. Opening weekend found United 93 no. 2 at the box office.

Welcome Another Blogger

Guess who started blogging? Several of you know him, but he's using an alias on the worldwide web. (And don't let him throw you off with his description of himself as allegedly "middle-aged.")

I can promise you quality stuff. How do I know? Because unlike most bloggers, this guy was writing and self-publishing fascinating political insights as much as fifteen years ago. Few writers are as precise or as concise as he (the former "newsletter" was on a postcard!).

So he's perfect for the blogosphere.

Visit early and often.

Stone Table Beats Goblet of Fire

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe just passed up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to become the second highest-earning film in the U.S. and Canada--not to mention reaching $200 million in the overseas box office in two consecutive years.

Read all about it.

Sovereign Healer

Sometimes God heals, sometimes He does not, blessed by the name of the Lord.

Duane Miller was healed while teaching on this very topic. A problem with his voice had robbed him of his pastorate and left him broken. His life was in the pit, as his book Out of the Silence explains. But an amazing thing happened at church one day. He was featured on a recent James Dobson. Click here and scroll down to the 4/10/2006 broadcast. Click to listen, then slide the button over to about 11:30 if you want to skip to the tape recording of this dramatic healing. It's really an amazing story.

It happened in 1993 at First Baptist Church. I was there and I will never forget it.

We Will Never Forget.

I had lunch last week with the two biggest movie fans I know, one of whom holds a masters degree in screenwriting from USC. I turned to him:

"So what movies do you like right now?"
"Nothing. All the movies are
horrible. Every studio soliciting manuscripts right now wants 'teen kills
teen--or sleeps with teen, then kills teen--while other teens look on
desperately,' it's ridiculous."
Our buddy (S007) interjected. "Oh, I want to
see that Flight 93 movie."
David agreed. "Oh, yeah. I do want to see that."

Dennis Prager liked it.

Vicente Fox's Double Standard

Just promise me you'll read the article below.

I'll concede: most of us barely understand our American citizenship, we want out of jury duty (a high honor), we rarely vote, and our political loyalties are based more on hype and emotion than reasoned arguments. But generally speaking, locals still understand and contribute to the American system better than immigrants. That's just the facts--it's nobody's fault. (And pardon me, but there's a difference between those seeking political asylum, such as Vietnamese and Cambodians, who happily sever all ties with the homeland and cleave to the open arms of Lady Liberty, and those who go back and forth with the seasons, earning dollars they will go home and spend in Mexico, only to come back the following spring. It's not terrorism, but it's no great contribution to the American cause.)

But those in governance--even Vicente the Fox--do understand certain truths. One is that your home comes first. Jerusalem comes before Judea and the ends of the earth. And there is value in a sense of a national identity. Borders matter, not because of who they keep out, but because they point out the distinctions. Spain once owned the land I sit on, but France owned much more. I don't see the French arguing that this land is there land. Enough rambling.

Just consider this article by Larry Elder.

Democrat, 3-time Governor of Colorado Talks About Immigration

One of my lawyer-friends sent me this 2004 speech by Richard Lamm, three-term governor of Colorado (after verifying on Snopes.com that it was indeed real and over two years old). (All-caps in original--I'm not retyping it.)

I HAVE A PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA

By RICHARD D. LAMM

I HAVE A SECRET PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA. IF YOU BELIEVE, AS MANY DO, THAT AMERICA IS TOO SMUG, TOO WHITE BREAD, TOO SELF-SATISFIED, TOO RICH, LETS DESTROY AMERICA. IT IS NOT THAT HARD TO DO. HISTORY SHOWS THAT NATIONS ARE MORE FRAGILE THAN THEIR CITIZENS THINK. NO NATION IN HISTORY HAS SURVIVED THE RAVAGES OF TIME. ARNOLD TOYNBEE OBSERVED THAT ALL GREAT CIVILIZATIONS RISE AND THEY ALL FALL, AND THAT "AN AUTOPSY OF HISTORY WOULD SHOW THAT ALL GREAT NATIONS COMMIT SUICIDE."

HERE IS MY PLAN:

I. WE MUST FIRST MAKE AMERICA A BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL COUNTRY. HISTORY SHOWS, IN MY OPINION, THAT NO NATION CAN SURVIVE THE TENSION, CONFLICT, AND ANTAGONISM OF TWO COMPETING LANGUAGES AND CULTURES. IT IS A BLESSING FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TO BE BILINGUAL; IT IS A CURSE FOR A SOCIETY TO BE BILINGUAL. ONE SCHOLAR, SEYMOUR MARTIN LIPSET, PUT IT THIS WAY:

THE HISTORIES OF BILINGUAL AND BICULTURAL SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT ASSIMILATE ARE HISTORIES OF TURMOIL, TENSION, AND TRAGEDY. CANADA, BELGIUM, MALAYSIA, LEBANON-ALL FACE CRISES OF NATIONAL EXISTENCE IN WHICH MINORITIES PRESS FOR AUTONOMY, IF NOT INDEPENDENCE. PAKISTAN AND CYPRUS HAVE DIVIDED. NIGERIA SUPPRESSED AN ETHNIC REBELLION. FRANCE FACES DIFFICULTIES WITH ITS BASQUES, BRETONS, AND CORSICANS.

II. I WOULD THEN INVENT "MULTICULTURALISM" AND ENCOURAGE IMMIGRANTS TO MAINTAIN THEIR OWN CULTURE. I WOULD MAKE IT AN ARTICLE OF BELIEF THAT ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL: THAT THERE ARE NO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES THAT ARE IMPORTANT. I WOULD DECLARE IT AN ARTICLE OF FAITH THAT THE BLACK AND HISPANIC DROPOUT RATE IS ONLY DUE TO PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION BY THE MAJORITY. EVERY OTHER EXPLANATION IS OUT-OF-BOUNDS.

III. WE CAN MAKE THE UNITED STATES A "HISPANIC QUEBEC" WITHOUT MUCH EFFORT. THE KEY IS TO CELEBRATE DIVERSITY RATHER THAN UNITY. AS BENJAMIN SCHWARZ SAID IN THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY RECENTLY:

...THE APPARENT SUCCESS OF OUR OWN MULTIETHNIC AND MULTICULTURAL EXPERIMENT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED NOT BY TOLERANCE BUT BY HEGEMONY. WITHOUT THE DOMINANCE THAT ONCE DICTATED ETHNOCENTRICALLY, AND WHAT IT MEANT TO BE AN AMERICAN, WE ARE LEFT WITH ONLY TOLERANCE AND PLURALISM TO HOLD US TOGETHER.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL IMMIGRANTS TO KEEP THEIR OWN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. I WOULD REPLACE THE MELTING POT METAPHOR WITH A SALAD BOWL METAPHOR. IT IS IMPORTANT TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE VARIOUS CULTURAL SUB-GROUPS LIVING IN AMERICA REINFORCING THEIR DIFFERENCES RATHER THAN AMERICANS, EMPHASIZING THEIR SIMILARITIES.

IV. HAVING DONE ALL THIS, I WOULD MAKE OUR FASTEST GROWING DEMOGRAPHIC GROUP THE LEAST EDUCATED - I WOULD ADD A SECOND UNDERCLASS, UNASSIMILATED, UNDEREDUCATED, AND ANTAGONISTIC TO OUR POPULATION. I WOULD HAVE THIS SECOND UNDERCLASS HAVE A 50% DROP OUT RATE FROM SCHOOL.

V. I WOULD THEN GET THE BIG FOUNDATIONS AND BIG BUSINESS TO GIVE THESE EFFORTS LOTS OF MONEY. I WOULD INVEST IN ETHNIC IDENTITY, AND I WOULD ESTABLISH THE CULT OF VICTIMOLOGY. I WOULD GET ALL MINORITIES TO THINK THEIR LACK OF SUCCESS WAS ALL THE FAULT OF THE MAJORITY - I WOULD START A GRIEVANCE INDUSTRY BLAMING ALL MINORITY FAILURE ON THE MAJORITY POPULATION.

VI. I WOULD ESTABLISH DUAL CITIZENSHIP AND PROMOTE DIVIDED LOYALTIES. I WOULD "CELEBRATE DIVERSITY." "DIVERSITY" IS A WONDERFULLY SEDUCTIVE WORD. IT STRESSES DIFFERENCES RATHER THAN COMMONALITIES. DIVERSE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE ARE MOSTLY ENGAGED IN HATING EACH OTHER-THAT IS, WHEN THEY ARE NOT KILLING EACH OTHER. A DIVERSE," PEACEFUL, OR STABLE SOCIETY IS AGAINST MOST HISTORICAL PRECEDENT. PEOPLE UNDERVALUE THE UNITY IT TAKES TO KEEP A NATION TOGETHER, AND WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS MYOPIA. LOOK AT THE ANCIENT GREEKS. DORF'S WORLD HISTORY TELLS US:

THE GREEKS BELIEVED THAT THEY BELONGED TO THE SAME RACE; THEY POSSESSED A COMMON LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE; AND THEY WORSHIPED THE SAME GODS. ALL GREECE TOOK PART IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN HONOR OF ZEUS AND ALL GREEKS VENERATED THE SHRINE OF APOLLO AT DELPHI. A COMMON ENEMY PERSIA THREATENED THEIR LIBERTY. YET, ALL OF THESE BONDS TOGETHER WERE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO OVERCOME TWO FACTORS . . . (LOCAL PATRIOTISM AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS THAT NURTURED POLITICAL DIVISIONS . . .)

IF WE CAN PUT THE EMPHASIS ON THE "PLURIBUS," INSTEAD OF THE "UNUM," WE CAN BALKANIZE AMERICA AS SURELY AS KOSOVO.

VII. THEN I WOULD PLACE ALL THESE SUBJECTS OFF LIMITS - MAKE IT TABOO TO TALK ABOUT. I WOULD FIND A WORD SIMILAR TO "HERETIC" IN THE 16TH CENTURY - THAT STOPPED DISCUSSION AND PARALYZED THINKING. WORDS LIKE "RACIST", "XENOPHOBE" THAT HALTS ARGUMENT AND CONVERSATION. HAVING MADE AMERICA A BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL COUNTRY, HAVING ESTABLISHED MULTICULTURALISM, HAVING THE LARGE FOUNDATIONS FUND THE DOCTRINE OF "VICTIMOLOGY", I WOULD NEXT MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS. I WOULD DEVELOP A MANTRA - "THAT BECAUSE IMMIGRATION HAS BEEN GOOD FOR AMERICA, IT MUST ALWAYS BE GOOD." I WOULD MAKE EVERY INDIVIDUAL IMMIGRANT SYMPATRIC AND IGNORE THE CUMULATIVE IMPACT.

VIII. LASTLY, I WOULD CENSOR VICTOR HANSON DAVIS'S BOOK MEXIFORNIA — THIS BOOK IS DANGEROUS — IT EXPOSES MY PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA. SO PLEASE, PLEASE — IF YOU FEEL THAT AMERICA DESERVES TO BE DESTROYED — PLEASE, PLEASE — DON'T BUY THIS BOOK! THIS GUY IS ON TO MY PLAN.

"THE SMART WAY TO KEEP PEOPLE PASSIVE AND OBEDIENT IS TO STRICTLY LIMIT THE SPECTRUM OF ACCEPTABLE OPINION, BUT ALLOW VERY LIVELY DEBATE WITHIN THAT SPECTRUM." — NOAM CHOMSKY, AMERICAN LINGUIST AND US MEDIA AND FOREIGN POLICY CRITIC.

(Both Governor Lamm and the writer of the e-mail misidentify the author of the book Mexifornia, whose correct name is Victor Davis Hanson -- Snopes.com).

The article on Snopes.com ends this way:

There was no applause.

A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Every discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America — take note of California and other states — to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy are deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.

Below all this is a reply from the Governor in which he responds to those who question whether he ever said such things:

Yes, it is a speech I gave a year and a half ago in Washington D.C. It was a 5 minute speech, and I am amazed and gratified it has received so much coverage.

Don't believe it? See for yourself, here.

Border Problems, School Problems, and What the Two Share.

I began rereading E.D. Hirsch's CULTURAL LITERACY. Wow. He just says it all so much better than I can.

But he got me thinking about the connection between school problems and border problems. At bottom is the principle that a nation survives by passing on to future generations those things that make it great--not only principles and skills, but also content. And our nation is struggling on two fronts: American-born children are not being taught all that they should, and foreign-born immigrants are not being fully assimilated. These two problems are one.

SAT verbal scores are dropping, not because children are not excellent readers but because they are unfamiliar with so much of the material that writers of English expect an audience to know. In other words, while literate in the sense that they can pronounce the words, the kids are illiterate in the sense of understanding their meaning--because they cannot decode the various allusions and references contained in the passage. So years after Dewey, citing Rousseau, convinced American schools and schools of education to teach only skills without regard for content, men like Hirsch have helped educators to remember the importance of shared knowledge. It's the Venn diagram: you can only communicate about things with which both parties are at least vaugely familiar. Schools are realizing they should teach the right books, the most important history, and that content is crucial. And at some point children should pick up not only our nation's shared history, but also a passionate love for its extraordinary and unique greatness: a City on a hill.

The same should be done for immigrants. Not only their children, but themselves--they need to learn not only that America is a land of opportunity (which they apparently knew before they arrived), but they need to be shown why. And there are reasons--it's not just a happy accident. If immigrants could be thoroughly schooled in this culture, if they could be made culturally literate, then most would also become assimilated--patriotically assimilated.

Peggy Noonan has great thoughts on much of this here. (I dig her wandering, right-brained, totally non-lawyer approach. She's a great writer.)