John at Powerline recently posted a video of a barely-controlled ruckus between Fatah and Hamas that took place last month on the steps of the Minnesota Capitol. That's right. Not in Gaza; not in Ramallah; not, for Pete's sake, in London, but outside a state seat in our nation's heartland.

"How," John wonders, "did Minnesota get to the point where its state capitol can become an outpost of a terrorist organization from the Middle East?"

He leaves the pointed question hanging, concluding: "Until a few years ago, I wouldn't have believed it possible."

Observation and belief aside, John's question is one we must force ourselves to answer. We indulge in the the rhetorical pause of endless contemplation at our peril. A few years ago, a Fatah-Hamas rally on the steps of US statehouse would have been unheard of, unthinkable, unimagineable. How, expanding John's question, did the nation get to the point where it can become an outpost of jihadism from the Middle East? 

The answer goes straight to the heart of a feckless, mindless US immigration policy that has permitted, if not fostered, the root-and-branch transplant of the culture of sharia and jihad from the Middle East to the US. Proponents of this culture, as we see in the Minnesota Fatah-Hamas video, are increasingly achieving what may be thought of as critical mass. Which means we are increasingly seeing this new-to-America and uniquely Islamic culture expressed and manifested publically. The spate of pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah demonstrations that took place in the US recently are only the vocal, political form of this trend. 

The question is, who will speak of the perils to Western liberty that are posed by the import of Islamic culture? Silence on this matter--silence on current immigration policies in general--ignores not only on a dire matter of national security, but national destiny as well. Merely wondering how it all happened becomes an abdication of responsibility. We need to make sure it doesn't continue to happen. Otherwise, the culture of sharia and jihad will grow.

It's not easy. Between the operational paralysis of the quietly concerned and the intimidation tactics of the avid multiculturalists, immigration is un-discussable. A disgraceful New York Times editorial recently slandered Marcus Epstein, executive director of the immigration restriction group American Cause, as having "white supremacist" views simply for opposing (in the mildest terms) the transformative multi-culturing of America due to massive and unassimilated immigration. Such buzz-word hysterics are calculated to villify and marginalize the opposition, and thereby eliminate any and all debate. As far as the vast, broad and all-enveloping mainstream is concerned, these tactics work.

And so we watch, open-mouthed, Hamas-Fatah rallies on the steps  of the Minnesota Capitol and wonder: How did that happen?