Let's Not Tell The Neighbours That The Swedish Immigrant Success Story Is A Lie
The poor old Swedes. There they were, minding their own progressive business. Then Donald Trump caught them in his cross-hairs, and the Tre Kronor reacted something like this (https://goo.gl/WqSCag)
They discovered what America discovered last year when Trump had the temerity to break the gentleman’s agreement to not talk about immigration. While average Americans were very concerned about the issues of illegal immigrants, the political class was bent on not listening to them about the issue.
(Because the realities of immigration didn’t support The Narrative of the polite chattering peoples.)
But The Donald flushed them out on the subject. The issue of immigration and a wall to stop it are now engraved on the political graves of Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush and the rest of the GOP choir. Hillary Clinton thought she could finesse the issue in the general election. She’s now tending petunias in her garden in Chappaqua, New York.
This week it was the Swedes’ turn. The policy in Sweden over the immigration crisis brought on by almost two million mostly undocumented immigrants flooding Europe has been to pretend it's all swell..
That’s because the social-democratic narrative says white guilt outweighs any foibles of the newcomers. Ergo, there’s no problem. Pretend that the statistics they produce themselves about a rise in crime aren’t real.
In case anyone gets a little too specific about the rise in assault and rape in Sweden, the police there will harass the whistle blowers with lengthy investigations and charges for hate speech. (https://bluelivesmatter.blue/officer-peter-springare-sweden-migrant-crime/). Immigration is a nasty subject that they’d rather explain away in doublespeak.
Then Trump came along to pick at the scab with comments about immigrant crime in Sweden, delivering a scatter-shot rant about violence in the country. The tooth paste was out of the tube. Even as the Swedes said, ”Nothing to see here”, events conspired against them. On Monday, the Stockholm suburb of Little Mogadishu erupted in riots when police arrested a drug trafficker.
Meanwhile cops who’d squealed to an American documentarian started backing up 100 K/ hour after getting the fifth degree from their superiors. But “nothing to see here”. It seemed a matter of national security to hide reality.
Sweden isn’t alone in ignoring the tensions brought on by increased immigration from lands with little cultural affinity for their new hosts. Denmark (which says it has no immigrant problems either) was discovered to be paying disability grants to immigrants after they joined ISIS.
Suppressing free speech on topics it finds unpleasant is also the hallmark of the Canadian political class. Liberals believe that there’s one immutable truth factory in the world, and that they run it. Fuelled by the unspeakable murders of Muslims in Quebec City, people who purport to be free speech advocates are now trying for ever more stringent laws on what people can say about Islam. That would include any critical comment about Islam.
These champions of free expression pointed to demonstrations at a mosque in Toronto by those opposing Islam. The CBC, Toronto Red Star and its zealots did their pearl clutching thing about harassed Muslims (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/anti-muslim-protest-masjid-toronto-1.3988906). The mayor and city councillors joined the condemnation.
Then it was revealed that the folks at the mosque had called Jews “filth”. (“Purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews!”) This occasioned shuffling of the feet among supporters of hate-speech laws who portray Muslims as plush toys. But no one is talking about backing away from the Liberal's new legislation.
Free speech is not for those with whom we agree; it’s there for those with whom we disagree. For Liberals who can move their lips when they read, here’s a simple rule: “I hate the filthy Jews” is offensive but should be protected as free speech. “Kill the filthy Jews” is a threat and should be criminalized.
It's so simple, but like so much these days, immigration is a gateway drug to progressive worship of groovy folk like Trudeau or Barack Obama. Progressives and their government stooges don’t mind being deceived. They can accept being duped and taken for fools. Just so long as the person doing the deception has a whiff of culture, a natty snap to his trouser leg and a witty sensibility about life's rich ironies.
That’s how come so many of the best people were fished in by fraudster Bernie Madoff. They couldn’t possibly imagine that a man of their own sensibilities with tickets to all the right shows could ever deceive one of their own. The Hollywood swells who regularly lecture the public on virtue. The cosmopolitan sophisticates of the upper East and West side. They knew the scam was rotten, but they needed to belong to the people on the inside.
They can’t bring themselves to say what’s really wrong with Trump. He doesn’t laugh at their jokes. Or condescend to the help. Or sip Lafite Rothschild from only the finest vintages. He’s not one of them. To a vanity factory like the liberal Left, a lack of style might be the greatest sin you can commit.
And if immigration is a way to whack him then let it roll.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy.is the host of the podcast The Full Count with Bruce Dowbiggin on anticanetwork.com. He’s also a regular contributor three-times-a-week to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he is also the best-selling author of seven books. His website is Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com)