Keira Knightley

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When I founded The American Conservative magazine 13 years ago–the purpose being to shine a light on neocon shenanigans that led to the greatest American foreign-policy disaster ever—Pat Buchanan and I held a press conference in the Washington, D.C., press club to herald the event. There were reporters galore, and by their looks I knew it wasn’t going to be a friendly session. Buchanan went first and held his own. Then came my turn. A hatchet-faced female hack in the first row asked me if Saudi money was behind me. “I wouldn’t accept Saudi blood money if it meant bedding Keira Knightley,” answered the modern Homer. “What do you mean by that?” “Figure it out, Einstein,” said a rather peeved me. Looks that kill all around. “Are you against immigration?” demanded the hatchet-faced one. “Absolutely against,” said Mr. Moneybags. “But you’re an immigrant,” countered the witch. That’s when Pat stepped in. “Taki didn’t actually come over the Rio Grande…” “How did you come over?” “I came over on my yacht,” said I, trying to raise a snicker or two. No one but no one laughed. Looking like a spoiled braggart is not much fun during a press conference. Worse, the joke got on Hatchet Face’s nerves and she got up and left, taking half the room with her. American reporters take themselves extremely seriously, and their sense of humor is not their strongest point, so taking the Mickey is a no-no, hence one of the reasons I became an absentee owner in no time.

Immigration has become in America and Europe a catchphrase to entrap. When I recently read the Spectator deputy (sigh!) editor’s column two weeks ago about racism—an ignoramus had demanded to know if everyone at The Spectator was a racist because one of its writers questioned the open-door European policy toward migrants (asylum seekers) from Africa—I felt like beating up Elie Wiesel, or some other do-gooder like him. I wish that anonymous friend of the deputy (sigh!) editor’s had asked me whether everyone at The Spectator—or Takimag, for that matter—is a racist or not. She would have gotten an earful and an earache to boot. “Poor Med-faring migrants”—what a crock. As far as I’m concerned, if they’re not part of a jihadi pipeline, they’re sub-Saharans who have absolutely no business coming to Europe. Every single African except the crooks who lead them and have become zillionaires from our charitable contributions wants to leave Africa and come to Europe or America. Does that mean we’re going to let all of them in? As someone said, there are probably more annoying things than being hectored by Bono, but he couldn’t think of any at the time, and I have just discovered the most annoying of them all: being asked if I’m a racist because I don’t want to see Africa transported to Europe.

Just look at the harm these sincere, whimpering types have done. First of all, free speech is now verboten. It is considered as oppressing diversity. PC has become an authoritarian thought code that amazingly claims to stand for tolerance. But just try to suggest that immigration must have some limits, or that all cultures are not equal, and you’ll see how far this tolerance goes. And alas, it’s mostly our fault, well-meaning European Christians turning the other cheek. First we had the suicide of two world wars, then a de-Christianized Europe led by the crooks in Brussels conning everyone about the need for cheap labor and letting in millions upon millions of Muslims. Charles Martel stopped them in Tours, Don John in Lepanto, and John Sobieski at the Vienna gates, but now they’re in and they’re staying. As the duchess who mistakenly walked into a whorehouse said, something’s very wrong here. And another thing: Editorial writers bang on about the hideous waste of young lives lured by the blood-drenched Islamic State. I say to hell with them. If they want to go fight, let’s pay their way, as long as they don’t come back. It’s a free country, ain’t it? Sure, I feel bad about those who pay their last penny to a smuggler to take them to Europe, but what are we doing about the smugglers? Nada. The Turks are openly encouraging them—43,000 immigrants have landed on the island of Lesbos this year alone, driving the Lesbians bonkers—yet we treat the Turkish government with kid gloves rather than cutting off diplomatic relations.