There are 6 comments.

1. Member
   Penfold

   Referring to the refugee march: Guys, I’m afraid that I have to say that I can’t imagine any possible outcome of this situation at the border that does not generate really bad optics. I really dislike that word (optics) but that’s the world we live in. It’s gonna be Trump’s “Kent State” moment, hopefully minus the gunfire. I can see it know. National Guardsmen on one side, flower-carrying children on the other. It’s just not gonna be the American awakening moment you envision. I want to believe you, really I do.

   Oh, and shame on you for not knowing Pat Sajak is a beloved Ricochet regular.

2. Contributor
   Michael Stopa

   Penfold (View Comment):

   Referring to the refugee march: Guys, I’m afraid that I have to say that I can’t imagine any possible outcome of this situation at the border that does not generate really bad optics. I really dislike that word (optics) but that’s the world we live in. It’s gonna be Trump’s “Kent State” moment, hopefully minus the gunfire. I can see it know. National Guardsmen on one side, flower-carrying children on the other. It’s just not gonna be the American awakening moment you envision. I want to believe you, really I do.

   Oh, and shame on you for not knowing Pat Sajak is a beloved Ricochet regular.

   *I knew* about Pat! Todd seems to orbit on a different plane than the rest of us!

   I can see what you mean about possible PR catastrophes. But people are already freaked out at the river that looks like the EU invasion. It might not be bad optics so much as (forgive me) polarizing optics.

3. Coolidge
   Rightfromthestart

   I’ve come to appreciate Vanna over the last several years for several reasons , how many women do you know who managed to look that attractive for 35 years, the same might be said of 71 year old Pat Sajak and never a hint of scandal about either of them. Since the show only tapes in two months there is no need to live in Hollywood , Vanna lives in Myrtle Beach SC and I’m pretty sure Pat lives in the East also. Both were smart enough to realize they had the grestest jobs in the world and to not blow it by going off the rails. 

4. Coolidge
   Rightfromthestart

   The answer to the Mexican situation , bear with me , this was suggested by W.F. Buckley in the past about some other problem . The answer is to declare war on Mexico, that doesn’t mean we start bombing, but it means we have the legal authority to close the border, deport ‘enemy’ nationals, seize assets , stop trade , etc, also Americans who assist in the invasion can be arrested for treason. It would also be a really loud wake up call that we are serious about protecting our country from invasion. I’m reminded of the story of the mule who has to be smashed on the head with a 2×4 just to get his attention. 

5. Contributor
   Michael Stopa

   Rightfromthestart (View Comment):

   The answer to the Mexican situation , bear with me , this was suggested by W.F. Buckley in the past about some other problem . The answer is to declare war on Mexico, that doesn’t mean we start bombing, but it means we have the legal authority to close the border, deport ‘enemy’ nationals, seize assets , stop trade , etc, also Americans who assist in the invasion can be arrested for treason. It would also be a really loud wake up call that we are serious about protecting our country from invasion. I’m reminded of the story of the mule who has to be smashed on the head with a 2×4 just to get his attention.

   I would buy this except for the fact that declaring war requires an act of congress…and our congress doesn’t want to act – especially on immigration.

6. Member
   LibertyDefender

   The more things change, …

   Professor Wax’s problems mirror the controversy that surrounded my University of Texas Law School Professor Lino Graglia in 1997. This column describes what happened after Professor Graglia was asked what – in his opinion – might account for the gap in test scores between blacks and Hispanics on one hand, and whites and Asians on the other hand:

   MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1999
   College Board Study Suggests Lino Graglia Was Right
   By MARC LEVIN AND EDWARD BLUM

   Remember Lino Graglia?

   He was the University of Texas Law School professor who speculated in a widely condemned speech that the large gap in academic achievement between blacks and Hispanics, and whites and Asians, might be attributable to cultural differences in attitudes toward education.” Blacks and Mexican- Americans are not academically competitive with whites in selective institutions,” Graglia mused at a 1997 press conference in Austin. “It is the result primarily of cultural effects,” he concluded.

   In response to those sobering remarks, Jesse Jackson led sixties-style protest against Graglia that nearly shut down the UT campus. Even President Clinton’s press secretary said that remarks like Graglia’s “don’t go down well with the President, period.”

   Talk about shooting the messenger.

   Now comes a report from the College Board, the organization responsible for the Scholastic Achievement Tests the bane of every college-bound high school senior since they were introduced after World War II. One of the factors cited as contributing to the persistent gaps in standardized tests and academic achievement is “cultural attributes of the home, community and school.”

   It seems that Lino Graglia was right after all.

   Even more distressing is the report’s finding that the minority achievement gaps persists across all economic groups: middle-class and upper income blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans lag behind their white and Asians counterparts….

   The administration and faculty of the University of Texas School of Law roundly condemned Professor Graglia for expressing his opinion(!) when he was asked to offer it.

   The administration, faculty, and alumni association have yet to condemn my refusal to contribute as an alumnus.