By DEXTER DUGGAN
Assimilation traditionally was a hallmark of becoming American. Old ways and old countries may not have been forgotten, but they were superseded by accepting U.S. citizenship and the united identity that was assumed to bring.
The assimilationist standard, though, often seems set aside today. Mushrooming multiculturalism is pushed forward by those not so fond of the U.S. except as a place to hang their hats for a little bit while knocking down the customary walls around our selfish homes that established our separate existence in the world.
Videos of screaming, defiant illegal aliens demanding that the U.S. dance to their tune more than prove they view this nation as their servant, instead of being a sort of bold St. Peter at the American Gates who determines who’s worthy to enter this promised land.
Unfortunately, one place where assimilation of a negative sort to a new identity seems stronger than ever is among the rulership class in Washington, D.C. The people back in the “old countries” — that is, the congressional districts and states where federal political representatives are elected — are forgotten and their ways ignored when the immigrating politicians arrive in the glittering new world of Washington.
The hometown constituents turn into sort of a dim presence in old photo albums put away in the closet, while exciting new promenades that must be explored stretch before the politicians. Inviting doors into the discreetly lighted parlors of lobbyists and insiders open up every which way. Just take a little sip of this, senator, it won’t hurt you a bit.
Oh, is your head starting to swim? Best lie down for a moment and rearrange your thoughts. Here, while you rest, these copies of The Washington Post and The New York Times will show you how things must be done here. You say the pages adhere to your fingers? It’s better that way. Don’t fight it.
If constituents back home already had their suspicions about what was going on in that flashy city on the Potomac, their fears were more than confirmed when the reinforcement troops for the Republican majority set up their battle stations on Capitol Hill in January.
After seven years of plotting strategies and making promises, and with control captured of both the congressional and executive armies, the Republicans formed their circular firing squads and complained they didn’t like their commander, Gen. Trump. Should they overthrow him?
The long-promised repeal of destructive Obamacare seemed impossible. Turncoat John McCain joined with the enemy to defend the medical monstrosity. Tax reform? Who knows when? Building a wall? Just keep kicking that idea through the desert. All the winning campaign promises became losers at the D.C. poker tables.
How little had changed. Americans may be boiling mad at Washington’s mess, but Democrats would protect it if they had the majority, while Republican leaders, if they just could be inept enough, seemed ready to fumble their majority over to the Dems.
In many ways Donald Trump had been unconventional running for and holding the office of the presidency, but the familiar scent of broken campaign promises was in the air when the administration announced it would wind down the illegal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) over six months.
National conservative radio talk host Laura Ingraham on September 5 played Trump’s own campaign words as he vowed to “immediately terminate” DACA once he got into the White House. Ingraham said Trump should have done this within his first 30 days in office, when he was moving his agenda, not eight months into his administration.
Moreover, Trump emitted shifting signals over whether he’d be content to let Congress address a DACA replacement, or if he’d personally be involved in a solution if Congress didn’t deliver.
It’d be hard to imagine the open-borders hombres in Congress simply voting for a DACA restyle without trying to attach some number of other globalist features, where the U.S. never must be allowed a strong say over how many newcomers invite themselves in.
On the other hand, if Congress couldn’t even repeal Obamacare after seven years to plan, could it quickly do some sort of new DACA as a sudden new item on the agenda?
And if Congress does produce some flavor of amnesty within six months after failing to enact voters’ priorities since January, that’ll show the old way of doing business never went out of business.
Former President Barack Obama had created the unconstitutional DACA with a wave of his magic wand in 2012 after he said dozens of times that he had no authority to do so. Despite Obama’s many lies, he was absolutely right that he lacked such authority — but he finally decided creating DACA would be a useful re-election tool for him.
Obama never claimed DACA was anything but temporary, but to hear the howls from the hordes of special-interest groups, one would think they expected the unlawful program to go on forever. At least Trump was right that a solution should come from Congress, not extra-constitutional end runs.
On her September 5 program, talk-host Ingraham also said that Americans have dreams, too — a reference to non-citizen “dreamers” making their demands on U.S. resources. What DACA means, Ingraham said, is work permits and government benefits for non-citizens.
A guest on her program, Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), pointed out there are no iconic six-year-old “dreamers” any more — they’ve all grown up, and most DACA recipients are in their 20s and 30s now.
A new item suddenly dumped into the Washington stewpot was Trump’s surprise announcement on September 6 that he agreed to a spending deal with the liberal Democratic team of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi instead of his own GOP leaders.
The Axios political news site reported on September 6 that a Republican close to GOP leadership said:
“Dems bluffed their way into total victory. They win the politics of DACA and leverage on debt in the winter. The fate is sealed — DACA will be reauthorized without strings, Schumer has inserted himself into all negotiations in the winter, including tax, spending, and immigration.”
And the Politico site said that just when Republicans were hoping they were back in sync “ahead of a brutal fall (season) of fiscal deadlines,” Trump quickly “cut a deal with Democrats on a short-term debt-ceiling increase opposed by (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
“Just Wednesday morning (September 6), in fact, Ryan had scoffed at the Democratic offer that Trump accepted minutes later,” Politico said. “In the aftermath, Republicans seethed privately and distanced themselves publicly from the deal. They were left to hope that Trump’s collaboration…was a temporary dalliance, and not the new M.O. for the president.”
If Democrats indeed were running circles around hapless Republicans again, it would seem things hadn’t changed a bit after Trump’s arrival in the White House. Even worse, it was Trump helping Dems to outfox Republicans now.
There obviously had been an uneasy relationship between the Manhattan multibillionaire business executive and GOP establishment politicians like Arizona’s Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, who often resented and opposed Trump. What a tragedy they’ll be responsible for if they drive him into the arms of Democrats.
National conservative radio talk host Mark Levin said on September 6 that Trump had “buckled so fast on this debt-limit issue” that even liberal Republicans and McConnell and Ryan couldn’t believe it.
Trump quickly had gone from threatening to shut down the government if he had to in order to secure funding for the border wall, Levin said, to cutting this deal with the Democrats.
Not many conservative advisers are left at the White House, Levin said, urging that Trump’s supporters among the voters get in touch to buck up the president.
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