As befits the city of Sigmund Freud, Vienna has two faces—one sweet and one sinister. Behind the schnitzel and strudel and the opera, lurks the legacy of the Nazis who forced Jews to clean sidewalks with toothbrushes. . . . Now, to the astonishment of many and the alarm of some, the burning question in Vienna’s elegant cafes is, Which face will prevail in the city bellwether elections on Oct 11? . . . But [A]gainst the backdrop of Europe’s refugee drama, the far-right Freedom Party is threatening the Social Democrats’ hold in what may portend a more general rise in populist, anti-immigrant sentiment across the Continent. . . . The Freedom Party’s strident anti-Islam message seems to have struck a chord in [Vienna] . . . whose public spaces now attest to increasing diversity and a Muslim population of 12 percent. . . . [T]he Freedom Party has morphed from its roots of former Nazis to a xenophobic message that it blends with concern for the little guy.” – Rise of Austrian Right Lengthens Shadow of Nazi Era, The New York Times, Alison Smale, 9/29/15
Fact Check: It’s not enough that The New York Times and it writers push the blessings of unrestrained immigration on this country. It has to perform this same service for Europe as well. In the typical fashion of immigration advocates, Smale seems to assume that immigration restrictionists have no honorable or legitimate beliefs. Thus she characterizes the Freedom Party as “strident, anti-immigrant, xenophobic” and strongly tinged with Nazism.
To substantiate her point she quotes Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the party and candidate for mayor in Vienna’s election. And just what terrible things did Strache say? Only this: “We don’t want Islamization of Europe. We don’t want our Christian-Western culture to perish.”
To anyone not dwelling the elitist fever swamps of political correctness, Strache’s statements are perfectly sensible and moderate—and completely legitimate. Europe now faces difficult problems with the Islamic population it already has because European and Islamic values are incompatible in many ways. By standing against further immigration, Strache and his party are trying to prevent this conflict from escalating and perhaps ending in tragedy. This is a worthy and decent objective.
Also worthy and decent is his expression of loyalty to his culture and nation. It is the grossest dishonesty to conflate this sentiment with Nazi aggression and totalitarianism. The Freedom Party doesn’t propose to blitzkrieg other countries; it only wants to preserve Austria’s traditional way of life. To the politically correct this is a very laudable aim for jungle tribes in the Amazon basin, but not for Europeans.
The totalitarian threat Europe faces doesn’t come from miniscule bands of neo-Nazis, it comes from the elitists who run most European governments and the European Union. They are determined to to sacrifice Europe to the gods of mass immigration and multiculturalism. They have no desire to listen to those Smale characterizes as “little guys”—citizens concerned about becoming strangers in their own lands.
European totalitarians do everything in their power to prevent parties like the Freedom Party from gaining traction. They also aim to silence dissent by labeling it “hate speech” and fining and jailing the dissenters. Here in America, thankfully, we still have our constitutional right of free speech. Even so, we too face repression from an establishment committed to mass immigration. Currently we have a president who has ignored the Constitution and—acting as a dictator—proclaimed legal status for millions of illegal aliens.
In both Europe and America, “conservative” elites want immigration for cheap labor, regardless of its impact on native workers. Left-wing elites want multiculturalism to undermine the traditional order of their societies. The resulting cultural and social chaos is a justification they can use to impose their version of order—a cultural Marxist dictatorship.
Journalists in America and Europe often serve the elites’ agendas with articles demonizing immigration restrictionists, calling them Nazis and other unpleasant names. In reality they are patriots who stand for their Western heritage against treason, greed, and tyranny.