Observation on recent Obama statement
Apparently the president has likened the Syrian refugees to the pilgrims.
Of course, everything is politics with him, and he doesn't let the facts confuse him. I don't think his timing is so great, but I'm generally go going to give him a pass on this. Those folks have actually gone through worse, in some ways, than the pilgrims ever thought about going through. Anglican England wasn't kind to dissenters, but usually didn't behead them.
The difference, of course, is that the pilgrims came to a wilderness to struggle while the refugees are coming to the most affluent country on earth and will benefit from government programs (that some citizens don't get to benefit from). But the native Americans of the time were probably more welcoming (thanks to Squanto, who had been educated in England--it's a great story) than some of the people here will be to the Syrians. On the other hand, there probably weren't any jihadists hiding in the bunch who came in 1620. One bad apple spoils the bunch, or so they say.
So, the lesson: be careful about your analogies.
Of course, everything is politics with him, and he doesn't let the facts confuse him. I don't think his timing is so great, but I'm generally go going to give him a pass on this. Those folks have actually gone through worse, in some ways, than the pilgrims ever thought about going through. Anglican England wasn't kind to dissenters, but usually didn't behead them.
The difference, of course, is that the pilgrims came to a wilderness to struggle while the refugees are coming to the most affluent country on earth and will benefit from government programs (that some citizens don't get to benefit from). But the native Americans of the time were probably more welcoming (thanks to Squanto, who had been educated in England--it's a great story) than some of the people here will be to the Syrians. On the other hand, there probably weren't any jihadists hiding in the bunch who came in 1620. One bad apple spoils the bunch, or so they say.
So, the lesson: be careful about your analogies.
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