BY BECKY FENGER | DECEMBER 21, 2011
In Mark Steyn’s corner
Back to the National Review cruise ...
One of our best imports from Canada is Mark Steyn, who is fond of joking that he is "America's illegal anchorman" when he is filling in for Rush Limbaugh. Steyn is a best-selling author, columnist, writer of National Review's "Happy Warrior" column, and a visiting fellow at Hillsdale College.
And he loves to sing! Along with Jessica Martin, he put out "Making Spirits Bright," his fourth annual Christmas CD. (For all you last minute shoppers, all 12 songs can be downloaded at iTunes or Amazon or ordered direct from the Steyn Store.)
Steyn sat down for an interview last month with Jay Nordlinger, a senior editor for National Review. I wish I could capture here the witty, funny, and delightful tone with which he delivered his insights.
"It horrifies me how unaware people are of how broke we are. We're the brokest nation in history," he stated. "They think Halliburton and Donald Trump are keeping all the money in a box somewhere." He bemoans the fact that we are instituting "Diaper Awareness Day" instead, with the recent push by some politicians to mandate government-funded diapers to mothers of infants.
Referring to a news story about the man who wanted taxpayer money so he could stay in a crib in diapers and feed from a baby bottle, Steyn revealed there were several members of Parliament who enjoyed belonging to an Adult Baby Club. "In London, it's a fetish. In the U.S., it's a disability," he marveled.
Lightheartedly, Steyn said he has a fondness for candidate Michele Bachmann who often quotes from his book, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It. This "the media takes as a sure sign she's flown the coop," he said. She was even photographed reading it to kindergartners. "Is that child abuse?" Nordlinger joked.
Asked his opinion on Occupy Wall Street, Steyn averred that "They're sad. It's the end point of liberalism, running on fumes." He said Pete Seeger, who's 90-ish, went to OWS and sang, "If I Had a Hammer." Steyn shared that the easy-listening crowd love him. He hears from singers Eydie Gorme and Andy Williams who never miss his Rush guest-host spots.
As to the question of immigration, Steyn said mass illegal immigration in the age of welfare is a disaster. He wants to tell Rick Perry when he warns, "Don't mess with Texas," well, someone has, and in record time! To Karl Rove who asks, "Would you want your child picking fruit," he would say, "Yes! Once you've worked on a farm, nothing seems like real work ever again."
Commenting on entitlements, Steyn quoted John Sullivan: "If something cannot go on forever, it will end." With quantitative easing, 70 percent of our debt is bought by the U.S. Treasury. He was shocked that financial newsman Eric Bolling actually pitied Greece since they can't print their own money like we can!
As to the situation in Israel, Steyn said if it were to be destroyed, Europe would say "It's a pity" but would show no anger. Many intellectuals are saying the creation of Israel was a mistake. "The resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe and on every U.S. college campus is one of the most disgusting things of our time," Steyn observed.
Mark Steyn has had more than his fair share of encroachments on his freedom of speech. "The Canadians criminalized opinions in my case," he noted, "and 'expert witnesses' were brought in to discuss whether my jokes were criminal." They sought to ban his books. Even sillier, his own website is banned as a hate site by the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. Why? He had used the word hatemonger on his site. "I wasn't telling folks to log on to www.hatemonger.com," he laughed. I simply used the word.
Regarding the Tea Party, he finds it encouraging. "We are the only country that could do just fine if the government would just stay out of our lives," he said. He shocked the BBC when he pointed out the sub-prime mortgage crisis was entirely manufactured by our government.
Steyn has long warned of Muslim encroachment by means of reproducing themselves at a greater rate than their enemies. Witness the closing of German beer gardens.
This Christmas, we are saddened to learn our State Department announced the razing of the last Christian church in Afghanistan, which, ironically, was paid for by you and me. Bah humbug.
