1389, 843, And The Historical Illiteracy Of Immigration Enthusiasm

Recently, Condoleezza Rice revealed a foolish failure to understand what the Battle of Kosovo means in Balkan politics:

“I mean after all, we`re talking about something from 1389. 1389! It`s time to move forward. And Serbia needs to move forward. Kosovo needs to move forward.”

“The War Nerd” (Gary Brecher) was suitably scathing about this ignorance in a woman who is, after all, U.S. Secretary of State.

Well, how about 843?

News is finally making it into the MSM that Silvio Berlusconi`s victory in the Italian elections was partly due to a patriotic reaction against immigration, especially in the north, where the quasi-secessionist Lega Nord made significant gains. Paul Belien has posted an excellent article on Takimag, noting not just the MSM`s reluctance to acknowledge the immigration issue`s power, but also that the intense spirit of local autonomy closely allied with patriotic immigration politics from Belgium to Rome is part of a political tradition tracing back to the Middle Frankish Kingdom, created when Charlemagne`s empire was partitioned by the Treaty of Verdun in 843.

Curiously, nearly twenty years ago, on the one occasion when I met my namesake, the then-retired British diplomat Lord Brimelow–no relation, I hasten to point out to those who remember his role in forcibly repatriating Cossacks and Yugoslavs to certain death after World War II–he was reading a book open at a map of the Treaty of Verdun`s results. He commented that it revealed fault lines still working in European politics.

What this means is that the effects of America`s post-1965 immigration disaster could well be felt for a thousand years. Immigration enthusiasts are historically illiterate – where they are not actually evil.