By Ray Cardello for February 20, 2024, Season 24 / Post 45

When I was a school-age child in the sixties, patriotism had a massive influence on our lives—our day started with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Our Father. We will talk about the former today and leave the Our Father for another day. There was no question about participation. Only Jewish kids were allowed to pass on the prayer. Every sporting event started with the anthem, and the sight of Old Glory brought a comforting sense of pride. We were all first or second generation Americans whose grandparents made the dangerous journey across the Atlantic. Europe had been their home, but America had the potential of a better life for their future generations. They were incredibly proud of the fact they came to America to be Americans. Citizenship was a badge of honor. I grew up in a city that was a patchwork of neighborhoods with different nationalities. Each had their own church, specialty food stores, and restaurants. This wasn’t done to isolate people but to allow people, many of whom did not speak English (yet), to feel comfortable in their new home. One thing each of these neighborhoods had in common was the American flag, which could be seen everywhere. The system was working well, but things started to change dramatically in the sixties, and not necessarily for the good.

The change started after the Vietnam War. People from the Asian-Pacific Region, Haiti, and Central America began to emigrate to America and disrupted the demographics and balance in our cities. The significant difference between these immigrants and the post-WWI group was these folks were not here to assimilate. This new group was much more willing to live on the dole. They loved the American welfare and social services, and they were not ready to leave their culture behind. They looked for America to assimilate with them. The new Biden migrants are more like the post-Vietnam era immigrants on steroids. These new migrants, we cannot call them immigrants as they have not come here legally, are not family units but primarily young to middle-aged single men who have their hands out for whatever the Progressive Americans will give them. Free is key to this new group of “Americans.” New terms have been coined for this new block of people- amnesty and path to Citizenship are synonymous with the Obama/Biden migrants. The government is selectively locating these folks into Red states with the hope they will change these Conservative states to Purple or even Blue.

The Progressives are diluting the concept of Citizenship. Starting with an attack on our Sovereignty, Progressives now see us as citizens of the world, not our nation. They write laws that allow these non-American nationals to vote in local elections. Voting had always been the right and privilege of Citizenship, but no longer. The U.S. Constitution does not confer any innate right to vote based on Citizenship, but it does delegate the responsibility to manage elections to states. Cities in some states have seized this loophole and have given non-citizens the right to vote in their town/city elections. Vermont, New York, California, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts are on the list of the states that are changing voting rights. San Francisco has just installed the first non-citizen on their election board. The logic was to allow all members of the community to form the future of San Francisco.

This watering down of Citizenship by Liberals/Progressives does not sit well with any Conservative who loves this country and respects the legacy of those who have died fighting to keep this great country free. This process is part of the mission for those pushing for non-citizen voting rights. That mission is the destruction of America as know her, and they seem committed to their cause.