WHEN KEY EVENTS INCITE AMERICANS
by
COLONEL DONALD J. MYERS USMC (Ret)
As a rule, Americans are slow to anger, but once they are angered, whatever or whoever caused that anger better stand by for rough seas. The Boston Tea party ultimately was the spark for the Revolutionary War and after years of fighting, we defeated Great Britain and won our independence. The sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor brought on the war with Spain in 1898 and with it our emergence on the world scene as a power. The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 with the loss of many American lives nearly caused us to go to war with Germany, but it took the release of the Zimmerman letter to seal the deal. The Zimmermann letter was a letter from the German Foreign Minister to Mexico. Mexico was having significant difficulties with revolutionaries and Germany suggested that if Mexico became an ally with Germany against the United States it would receive money and after the war, it would get back territories lost to America such as Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. When Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 and sunk seven American merchant ships, President Wilson went before congress sand requested a declaration of war.
World War II started in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, but it took the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 for the United States to enter the war. The North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950 brought the United States in with the United Nations. The Tonkin Gulf attack on U S destroyers in August 1964 resulted in the Tonkin Gulf Resolution that gave President Johnson significant latitude in fighting in Vietnam. What followed was the longest and most divisive war in our history up to that point. The terrorist attack on the twin towers and pentagon on 9/11 aroused Americans like no other time and resulted in the War on Terrorism. There are many other events that have aroused Americans. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I HAVE A DREAM” speech in Washington D. C. is one of them. What is key in all of these events is that there was a target. The targets were generally countries except Dr. King’s speech which was against a system of racialism.
The debate over illegal immigration and what to do about it has been ongoing for decades. President Reagan signed the Immigration Reform & Control Act (IRCA), also known as the Simson-Mazzoli Act, in 1986. This allowed illegals who came to this country before 1982 to apply for amnesty. It also placed more restrictions on employers who hired illegals and supported securing our border. This supposedly would end our illegal immigration problem. Needless to say it did not because we now have millions more here illegally. In addition there are hundreds of cities that refuse to assist the federal government in controlling illegal immigration. They are known as “Sanctuary Cities.” They result in a magnet for illegals. San Francisco is one of them and that is where an illegal who had been deported five times and convicted as a felon seven time murdered a young lady who was walking with her father.
That incident has roused the public and now more cases of illegals who should have been deported but were not and murdered innocent Americans are being publicized. For the first time these Sanctuary Cities are coming under fire and people are asking how can they ignore the law. Perhaps Americans are having another event that causes significant action. If that is so, it is about time. I never did understand how city governments could ignore the law. There is no country that does not make an effort to insure that its borders are secure, because if it doesn’t then it really is not a valid country.
Donald Myers is a retired Marine Colonel and can be reached at dmyersusmc@tampabay.rr.com
For the first time these Sanctuary Cities are coming under fire and people are asking how can they ignore the law. Perhaps Americans are having another event that causes significant action. If that is so, it is about time.
