Wednesday, August 10, 2016

WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF KHIZR KHAN?

At the outset, it should be emphasized that the late Captain Humayun Khan was by all indications an outstanding young man, a stellar scholar at the University of Virginia and and a brave officer in the United States army, who fell at the hands of Islamic extremists in Iraq.  All honor and praise should be rendered to the memory of Captain Khan.

Captain Khan came to the attention of many Americans when an appearance was made by his father, Khizr Khan, at the recently concluded Democratic National Convention.  Mr. Khan, who is supposedly a graduate of Harvard Law School, brandished a paperback copy of the United States Constitution and called certain proposals that have recently been made to bolster the security of the United States "unconstitutional.".  Hearing his assertions, I found it more than a little curious that he should grumble about the constitutional knowledge of others, as I found his own acquaintance with the U.S. Constitution to be lacking.

As pointed out on numerous occasions, there is nothing unlawful or unconstitutional about building a border wall, or, for that matter, limiting Muslim immigration from certain countries that have spawned Islamic terrorism. Those who are not citizens or aliens legally residing in the country but, instead, are seeking to enter have no claims on the guarantees of the United States Constitution.  For example, a Muslim citizen of Pakistan turned down for a visa could not claim religious discrimination under the 1st Amendment, as such a person is not a citizen or a non-citizen lawfully living in the United States.

Further investigation on Khizr Khan reveals that his law practice is devoted in large part to facilitating visas and assisting fellow Muslims with citizenship problems, what one normally would define as immigration law.  It would seem, too, that Mr. Khan has links to two law offices, one in New York and another in the District of Columbia; however, one of those offices proffers no information at all on Mr. Khan.   In attempting to make a case that no immigration restrictions should be placed on Muslims and that a border wall should not be built, could not Mr. Khan be shaping his views by virtue of his own pecuniary self-interest?

There is also the possibility of a great deal of relevance in Mr. Khan's past history as a defender & proponent of Shariah or Koranic law, a system which treats women as inferiors, calls for capital punishment for homosexuals, does not accept the concept of freedom of religion and is, for all practical purposes, a monolithic & authoritarian system of oppression.  Having lived under Shariah law for six years of my life, I can bear witness that it is in no way compatible with a society which bases itself on toleration, diversity and intellectual freedom.  One wonders, then, why Khizr Khan and others of his persuasion would forego residence in Muslim countries where Shariah law is paramount. Is it not possible, dear readers, that Mr. Khan might have clandestine motives for residing in America other than his admiration for American history, culture & values?  Finally, let us hope that Mr. Khan's questionable forays into politics do not besmirch the laudable example of his son, Captain Humayun Khan.

Deo Vindice!

John B. is a retired college and university instructor, dean and provost.


Tuesday, July 26, 2016

SO YOU THOUGHT NULLIFICATION WAS SOMETHING FROM THE PAST? NOT IN "SANCTUARY CITIES"!

Nullification is usually associated with John C. Calhoun (1782 - 1850), a South Carolinian, who served as a congressman, senator, secretary of state, secretary of war and vice-president.  If those of the millennial generation were asked to identify Calhoun these days, it is likely that the great majority would be at a loss. However, I digress.

It was Calhoun's thesis that the states, as equal parties in forging the compact that created the United States of America, should be the judges as to the constitutionality of laws affecting them. Essential to the understanding of nullification is that Calhoun saw it as a means of protecting minority views, in this instance those that bolstered Southern attitudes on states rights and unreasonable tariffs. As many of us of a certain age know, nullification and its ramifications played a part in bringing the United States to the domestic conflict that may be called variously the Civil War, or the War Between the States.

Since more than 600,000 individuals lost their lives in the conflict which plagued America from 1861-1865, with the South coming out on the losing end, one would think that such concepts as nullification would be moot.  And this is especially so, given the Supreme Court decision in White v. Texas (1869) in which secession was ruled out of bounds for any and all states within the Union. However, if you thought nullification was a dead issue, you have another think coming.

At last count, the United States has some 340 cities considered to be "sanctuary cities," that is municipalities which do not cooperate with the federal enforcement of immigration law.  The city in which I reside on the U.S./Mexican border, Brownsville, Texas, is counted among their number; and, for this reason, is home to countless illegals who do not wish to risk encountering Border Patrol agents further to the north.  In a surreal incident last year, illegal alien women in Brownsville held a demonstration, protesting that they could not reach abortion clinics located outside of south Texas, owing to Border Patrol checkpoints on major highways.  But, be that as it may, the sanctuary cities are in effect practicing de facto nullification by their failure to cooperate with federal authorities in the matter of immigration enforcement.

And, yes, dear readers this is a very serious situation.  There are about 4.5 million illegal immigrant drivers in the U.S., most without official driving licenses and insurance.  Representative S. King (N.Y.) estimates that 13 Americans are killed daily in our country by illegal alien drunk drivers.  Do the math. That comes to more than 4,600 per year!  And, please do compare those figures with our losses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Just a few Americans who have died at the hands of illegals
It is difficult to get a full accounting of felonies committed in the U.S. by illegals, largely because of political considerations.  In other words, state authorities do not have the intestinal fortitude to risk the wrath of the federal government, which has exposed Americans to incredible risks by virtue of its lax border enforcement.  Nevertheless, the best estimate is that more than 4,000 murders are committed each year nationwide by illegal immigrants. An internal study by the Texas Department of Public Safety showed that, between 2008 and 2014,  more than 600,000 felonies resulted from the actions of illegal immigrants,  Of those, 8,000 were sexual assaults and 3,0000 were murders.  In the midst of such mayhem, ICE in 2014, released 30,000 criminal illegals with 79,000 criminal convictions back into American society.

Texas has recently assigned additional units of DPS officers to patrol the border in lieu of effective enforcement by federal authorities.  These efforts are greatly appreciated by those of us who live in border towns.  However, it may be a matter of too little too late, for this is a situation demanding the clout and resources of a federal government which, so far, has been derelict in protecting its own citizens.

What can we do?  The answer would seem obvious inasmuch as a start can be made in letting our solons in Washington know that this is a priority issue.  And, finally, we can still vote in America, and we must vote for those individuals who are calling for a safe border and the protection of citizens from the likes of illegal marauders.  And, as for nullification being practiced by the sanctuary cities, it must as surely be disavowed as it was by the horrible conflagration of the 1860's.

Deo Vindice!

John B. is a retired college and university dean, provost and instructor who lives in Brownsville, Texas, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. More information about John B. may be had via his website:   www.johnbarham.com


Sunday, July 17, 2016

SOME THOUGHTS ON TERRORISM: ARE THESE EVENTS NOTHING BUT "TRAGEDIES?"

I can't count the times I've heard the word "tragedy" after an Islamic extremist has slaughtered innocents.  Somehow the word just does not fit the occasion or carry the significance called for.  And I suppose that's because the word could just as well be employed with the occurrence of a natural disaster or, perhaps, within the context of a major accident.  The use of tragedy as a descriptor also belies reality, inasmuch as our popular culture and those who shape it persist in obscuring the gravity of the situation in which we presently find ourselves. Somehow we try to cover it all up with candlelight vigils and makeshift memorials featuring Teddy bears, reassuring ourselves that  what is cruel, sadistic and brutal has not become ordinary and commonplace.  

During the weekend, I became nauseous when I encountered the words of a presidential candidate, who once again, despite Nice and all the other gory manifestations of Islamic extremism, reminded us that we were not at war with Islam.  Why such a simpleton would inflict such idiocy on her fellow Americans is beyond me. 

Yes, it is true that Islam is not a monolithic body, and there are all sorts of interpretations in its belief system. For example, there are Sunnis and Shias; and, among them, are Wahabis, Malakis, Hanbalis, Deobandites, Twelvers, Salafis and many more. But they all fall under the tent of Islam, an institution that at its core is triumphalist, aggressive and expansionist.  And, to be sure, those who are fundamental in their interpretation of Islam accept literally all of the exhortations to violence that may be found in the Koran. Need I say that such individuals usually make good terrorists?

I have related many times my encounter with a member of the Muslim Brotherhood during the time I worked in the Middle East.  Although he was willing to converse with me, he did not give one red cent for what I thought.  His mind was like a brick wall, and there was no way that I would ever be able to penetrate it. So it is with the Omar Mateens, Mohamed Aubdulazizes, Tashfin Maliks and Syed Rizwans of the world.  They are beyond what we consider reality, totally outside those concepts that have been seen as engendering morality in the Western world. 

As for America, our enemies are not dumb.  They have quite properly reasoned that it is much easier to kill Americans in America than on far-flung battlefields.  And why not?  After all, we are preoccupied with racial discord and the really important issues of the day, such as transgender bathrooms. What better time to exterminate infidels!

Many would label their heinous acts as "cowardly."  And, truly, from the Western perspective, their methods are gutless and craven.  However, dear readers, to leave it at that totally misses the point. The psychology of a Muslim terrorist is a psychology of evil.  There, I've gone and used that awful word, which is not much in vogue in America these days: EVIL!  An Islamic jihadist acts from an all- encompassing belief to the point that he cares not for his life.  He cares only for advancing his view of Islam.  In fact, his belief system is so strong that all reason, and even the prospect of pain and total physical obliteration could not alter his intent to kill, maim, destroy and annihilate those who stand in the way of the advancement of Islam.

War has been declared on us, dear readers. Like it or not, we have an evil foe to confront.  Do we continue to allow the purveyors of disunity to diminish our ideals and our resolve?  Will the epitaph for America read that disharmony and discord transformed a once proud and powerful nation into a land of whimpering fools, enabling corrupt and fraudulent leaders to extinguish their freedoms in favor of a 15th century method of mind control and slavery?  Or do we screw up our courage, bolster it with an accurate view of the enemy and strike a lasting blow for the immutable Western principles of individualism, freedom and liberty?

Deo Vindice!

John B. retired after more than 40 years as an instructor, dean and provost in higher education.  He currently resides in Brownsville, Texas, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he lectures on Mexican history, culture and politics.  His views on Islam stem from 6 years spent living in the Middle East.  For more information, you may consult his website:

www.johnbarham.com








Saturday, July 16, 2016

LISTEN UP, AMERICA! THESE ARE YOUR ENEMIES! THEY WOULD LIKE NOTHING BETTER THAN TO SLAUGHTER YOU AND BRING YOU PAIN!

ISIS "Caliph" Abu-Bakr Baghdadi
Despite warnings from high-level American officials, the United States does not appear to be taking seriously looming attacks on the homeland from Islamic extremists.  Lt. General Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency,  testified recently before a Congressional committee that Americans could expect more violent incidents inspired by Islamists in coming days.  Stewart's words were supported by CIA Director John Brennan, who noted that besides 20,000 ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria, there were thousands more in Libya, Egypt and Nigeria.  Furthermore, Brennan asserted that it would defy logic to claim that ISIS operatives were not infiltrating the thousands of refugees seeking "asylum" in Europe.  Anticipating increased Western military efforts against ISIS, FBI Director James Comey predicted a "terrorist diaspora" from the ISIS caliphate that would bring more terrorists to America's shores.

With notoriously short attention spans, many Americans have probably forgotten all about the massacre in Paris at the Bactaclan Concert Hall during November 13/14 of last year, when 130 concert-goers were viciously slaughtered.  French authorities, however, withheld complete details of the atrocity, which surfaced in a French government committee last March, when law enforcement personnel testified of their grisly discoveries at Bactaclan, after the terrorists were overpowered and crushed. Those details finally were finally made public this week.

ISIS Partisans Joyfully Perform the Work of Allah
No, dear readers, in making my point, I shall not spare you the sordid details that caused a seasoned gendarme to cry to God and vomit out his own guts when he saw the sordid results of activities in an improvised torture chamber on the 2nd floor of the Bactaclan Theatre.  There, in significant numbers, were eviscerated and beheaded bodies, with most showing the garish results of genital mutilation on both male and female corpses.  There was evidence, too, that the perpetrators had filmed their barbarities, with the intent of proudly forwarding the video records to ISIS headquarters.

And just what are we up to in America?  Well, Washington blithely moves along, despite objections from several of the states, eagerly anticipating the arrival of 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the summer. But that number is not at all adequate for Mrs. Clinton, who is campaigning for a grand total of 65,000!  And, at the same time, our borders remain attractive crossing points for any all who might wish us ill.

In the name of all that is right and reasonable, dear readers, whatever happened to common sense?  Is it not at all apparent that, at least since 2001, the Western world has been involved in a war for survival?  Will we win this war by ignoring it and announcing to the world that it can be won by diplomacy?  Why would sane people ridicule those who assert that we should be cautious about individuals in our midst who profess their faith in Shariah law?    By our defiance of logic, are we not sowing the seeds of our own destruction?  Was Pogo on the mark with his words, "We have met the enemy, and he is us?" Would that the answers to these questions not be so painful to consider at this stage of our history.

May God protect our Republic!

Deo Vindice!

John B., the author of this article, is a retired provost, instructor and dean in higher education, who lives in Brownsville, Texas, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he lectures on Mexican history, culture and politics. More information about John and his role as an international lecturer may be found on his website:  www.johnbarham.com  Six years of John' s career were spent in the Middle East.



Friday, July 15, 2016

JOHN B'S TAKE ON NICE: I AM SO TIRED, SO DAMNED TIRED OF KORAN-CRAZED MONSTERS WREAKING HAVOC!

THE KORAN: 
SURAH 8, VERSE 60
Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able to gather to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah and your enemies.

SURAH 47, VERSE 4
Therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers, smite at their necks and when ye have caused
a bloodbath among them,  bind a bond strongly on them.

I awoke this morning with news of yet another Muslim atrocity, this one in Nice, where hundreds of individuals had gathered to watch fireworks to conclude the celebration of Bastille Day.  More than 80 persons were killed and many injured as a result of  the nefarious act of a radical Islamist slamming a transport truck like a bowling ball into a crowd of defenseless people.

The regularity of viewing flags at half-mast has resulted in a kind of  flabby acceptance that merely assumes that Western society is fated to experience more and more of the barbarity and evil of Islamic radicalism. For decades, such attacks have been commonplace in Israel.  Now, with 54 million Muslims living in Europe and more and more extremists being admitted into America,  are we simply to accept such events as part of the routine of life, events that we must live with?  Will 9/11 be absorbed into so many other dates of viciousness and murder that it loses its significance and becomes just another day of Islamic excess?  How much more of this sort of savagery will we witness?  Will the bombings of the undergrounds in London and Madrid be forgotten?  How many more San Bernardinos, Orlandos, and Chattanoogas will plague us?

I have time and again reiterated that Islam is now in its 15th century of existence.  It has never experienced anything resembling a Western Reformation or Enlightenment. Consequently, of the 1.6 billion or so Muslims in the world, millions are operating with a 15th century mindset and choose to literally accept the violent admonitions of their prophet, such as those featured in the header for this article.  And, unfortunately, the feeble leadership that characterizes Western society chooses in the name of "progressivism" to allow the Trojan horse of Islamic extremism to be erected in our midst, allowing Islamic butchers to exact their gory levies on innocent people.

In our own country, each horror is met with calls from Washington for investigations which, more often than not, conclude that our racist, bigoted society is to  blame for alienating the Muslim perpetrators.  And then too, while we are at it, let's also blame law-abiding, legitimate gun owners! I'm sorry, dear readers, but did we choose to investigate Pearl Harbor?  How about Nazi atrocities? Did we seek to understand the barbarian minds that brought us Treblinka and Auschwitz? No, we did not.  We set out to destroy the evil, and that is what we should be doing now!

I am also tired of the mental midgets who constantly proclaim that to adequately vet Muslims coming into our country would be a constitutional violation of the first order.  For crying out loud, the guarantees of our constitution pertain to citizens and non-citizens residing legally in the United States!  All others have no legitimate claim on guarantees such as those of the 1st Amendment.  During the World War II era, I don't recall that there was a great ruckus raised over any prohibitions on Nazis entering the country.  And face it, dear readers, Islam is not merely a religion, it is also an ideology which dictates to its adherents literally everything they should do on a daily basis, including personal hygiene, how to have sex, how to order economic activities, how to eat, how to be governed, etc.  In effect, it is a system of mind control as expounded in Shariah law.  In this regard, a recent Center for Security Policy poll showing that 51% of American Muslims prefer Shariah law should give us some pause for reflection.

Those who espouse radical Islam may be our enemies, but our greatest enemies are those who occupy the highest levels of leadership in the Western world and refuse to use common sense in recognizing the growing peril to which they expose us and continue to reject any and all appeals to the contrary. Yes, gentle readers, I am so terribly tired of this rubbish. And I know that you must be, too!

Deo Vindice!

John B. is a former dean, instructor and provost in higher education.  Now retired, he lives in Brownsville Texas and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he lectures on Mexican history, politics and culture.  Six years of his career were spent in the Middle East, where he personally witnessed the excesses of an Islamic monarchy.









Sunday, July 10, 2016

PART 1: LIES, LIES! ALL DAMNABLE LIES! JOHN B. LOOKS BACK AT 7 1/2 YEARS OF DECEPTION

It was September of 2009, and our new president was to give his first speech to a joint session of Congress. Most Americans wished the young president well, and sincerely hoped that, as an African-American,  he could bridge the racial gap and truly "..bring us all together."  However, like a bolt of lightning, the president's speech to Congress was suddenly interrupted as Congressman Joseph Wilson of South Carolina cried out: "You lie!" The general reaction of the moment was that Congressman Wilson was guilty of a serious breach of decorum.  However, upon reflection over the past seven years, Congressman Wilson's hastily shouted words seem to ring forth more with clairvoyance than boorishness; and, indeed,  they might even be taken as a synopsis for the disastrous presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

On October 9, 2009, the quirky Norwegians making up the Nobel Peace prize committee made a bizarre announcement, namely that their prestigious award would be bestowed upon President Barack H. Obama. With the list of previous recipients including the likes of Rigoberta Menchu, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Theodore Roosevelt and Willy Brandt,  many Americans scratched their heads, wondering what President Obama had accomplished in his exceedingly short career to warrant such an honor.  And, indeed, there were many who asserted that the right thing for Obama to do would be not to accept the prize and suggest to the committee that someone with more substantial credentials in promoting peace should be selected in his place.  But, of course, this did not happen, and the prize itself became a symbol of the fraud, deception and deceit of the Obama administration.

Early on, there was much ado concerning health insurance, with all sorts of statistics bandied about. Indeed, most Americans could agree that our healthcare system needed some fine tuning, especially when it came to the portability of policies and coverage being available for preexisting conditions. Coupled with the assertion that the average family would save $2500 annually and that one could keep the doctors that one had previously relied on, support for this area of change began to build. The hoped for savings seemed to go along with President Obama's campaign promise to take on the growing national debt.  And, even more impressive, the promise was made that all proposed  major changes would be debated in open and transparent forums, perhaps even using CSPAN  as a medium to keep all Americans informed.

A story frequently told with regard to the government takeover of healthcare was that the president's own mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, died as a result of not having coverage for a preexisting condition. Subsequently, it was found out that Ms. Dunham did indeed have total coverage for her terminal condition but, instead, was turned down when she applied for disability status.


It was repeatedly stated by President Obama that not one dime of funds associated with Obamacare would ever go toward funding abortions, yet by 2016 there exist 1,036 medical plans signed, sealed and delivered through the auspices of the Obama administration that cover abortions and a multitude of birthcontrol pharmaceuticals.  Consequently, the administration has placed in the cross-hairs of the Department of Justice such entities as the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order devoted to serving the indigent elderly, but whose deeply held religious convictions prohibit providing abortion and birth control coverage for any personnel employed by the order.

An issue that is especially troubling for those of us who live along the southern border is illegal immigration.  Despite not working to provide adequate funding and support for effective border control, President Obama announced in 2009 that he simply did not have the authority to undertake immigration reform by himself. Consequently, thousands of illegal aliens have continued to storm the border and to scatter to locations throughout the United States.  However, by early 2015, the administration was singing a different tune, as it was announced that by executive action more than 5 million illegal immigrants would be exempt from deportation. Federal District Judge Andrew Hannen in Brownsville, Texas, announced that the administration had exceeded its authority and placed an injunction on any plans to stymie immigration law in this regard.  Subsequently, in 2016, the Supreme Court upheld Judge Hannen's action.  This is at least one area in which illegal executive action did not stand.

A point of pride early in the Obama administration was a 780- billion-dollar stimulus package, which was designed to ameliorate the effects of the great recession.  Integral to stimulating the anemic economy were "shovel-ready" projects providing immediate employment for out-of-work Americans.  Looking back, there were never any shovel-ready projects and certainly no shovel-ready jobs. In subsequent interviews, the president admitted as much that all the talk about shovel-ready was much ado about nothing.  Certainly, there were no programs in this administration that remotely came close to the WPA, CWA or CCC of the New Deal.  As a Mexican colloquialism has it:  "No burros, mas helotes!"

Lobbyists, lobbyists and more lobbyists!  And with them comes the metastasizing  cancer of K Street influence.  Certainly, Americans were impressed when Senator Obama announced that if he became president he would not take one thin dime from lobbyists and would not allow any of them to serve in his administration.  But, at last count, there were 12 former lobbyists holding high-level jobs in the administration.  And, all the while, Congressional big shots like Harry Reid and Roy Blunt continue racking up fortunes from influence peddling and placing their children in choice lobbying positions.  And all  those dollars, to borrow a line from Evita, keep  come rolling on in!

How often we have heard President Obama inveigh against the influence of foreign money on American elections!  And, if you believe American politicians do not take advantage of deep foreign pockets, then you've got another think coming.  There is no doubt that foreign funds have flowed into the Obama campaign coffers, and a prime example would be Mexican money streaming from the world's second richest person, Carlos Slim. But, you may say, how could it be that Slim would be able to bypass FEC regulations and distribute his largesse into grimy political hands?  It's simple. Slim and his telecommunications empire have a virtual lock on the so-called "Obama phones," which are distributed to needy people in the U.S., where they are sold as "TracFones."   So all that need be done is to get the money into the hands of American executives running the TracFone/Obamaphone sales operation, and they do the rest.

In 2009, President Obama, on the eve of his Middle East trip, announced that America is the ".. number-1 Muslim nation."  In a 2014 interview with a French journalist, he described our country as a Muslim country.  No, no, no, Mr. President! I lived and worked for 6 years in a Muslim country, and this is not one - at least not yet!  God forbid that we ever become a Muslim nation!  During my excursion into life in the Islamic world, I saw women oppressed, homosexuality criminalized, censorship imposed, religious freedom nonexistent and the brutality of Shariah law implemented on a wide scale.  Perhaps this man's words explain his hesitancy to call a spade a spade, and place the blame for acts of terrorism on everyone but the actors and the religious motivations which drive them. And it is for certain that we all feel much more secure with individuals such as Arif Alikham, Mohamed Elibiary, Salam al-Marayati and Mohamed Magid shaping policy at the Department of Homeland Security and directly advising the President of the United States in lengthy meetings.

Without a doubt, all Muslims are not terrorists, but the great majority of terrorists are Muslims of one stripe or another. In the U.S., Muslims now make up 1.3% of the population, that is to say somewhat over 4 million adherents, but they account for nearly 60% of religiously inspired acts of terrorism. And, with that 1.3% figure, Muslims make up over 9% of individuals incarcerated in state and federal prisons.  Come off it, Mr. President, your intransigence in this regard puts lives in jeopardy!

The Obama administration has consistently tried to claim that Operation Fast and Furious, the infamous AFT gun-walking scheme, which took both Mexican and American lives, was begun during the Bush administration.  It was palpable that former AG Eric Holder was engaged in a cover-up from the word go, but bereaved families have never had their pain laid to rest, owing to a continuing effort to obscure the truth. Instead President Obama continues to excoriate legitimate, law-abiding American gun owners in his push to further empower the government to emasculate the Second Amendment.

The foregoing has been a mere smidgen of the extensive catalog of lies, deceptions and distortions that have wounded this country of ours to its very core. Those who seek the truth merely through the official pablum of this administration see only through a glass darkly.

In subsequent editions, John B. will seek to explore further the duplicitous politics of the Obama years.

Deo Vindice!

John B. has been a dean, instructor and provost through his 40 plus years in higher education. 
Retired, he now resides in Brownsville, Texas, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he lectures on Mexican history, culture and politics.