G’Day, as they say down under. Today is Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. Glad you could make it. We’re just 15 days away from Christmas. Hope this finds you well.
Today in History:
2007: Argentina swears in its first Female President.
2001: The first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy films is released.
1948: U.N. General Assembly adopts what they call the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Birthdays today include: former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, poet Emily Dickinson, and Ada Lovelace, considered to be the first computer programmer, famous for her work with Babbage’s “Analytical Engine.”
I'll open today's missive with the observation that, for all the complaining we used to hear about "cultural appropriation," we never see complaints about people "appropriating" Islamic culture. I can't imagine why.
With that in mind, I note an interesting article by Gavin Mortimer in The Spectator the other day, which I’m just now catching up to this morning. I’ve long held that Europe is our cultural Coal Mine Canary, so the points Gavin makes are particularly concerning.
Last week the Trump administration expressed its fear that Europe faces “civilizational erasure.” Its concern was articulated in a 33-page National Security Strategy that outlined Donald Trump’s world view and how America will respond economically and militarily.
The sentence that caused the most reaction on the other side of the pond was the assertion that, if current trends continue, Europe will be “unrecognizable in 20 years or less.” Those trends are mass immigration and what conservative French commentators call the “Islamification” of Europe. If Europe doesn’t address these trends, the Trump administration predicts the continent’s “civilizational erasure.”
Indeed, and this is something I’ve been saying for years. The pattern of this thing is well-established.
Arguably, nothing symbolizes the “Islamification” of Europe more than the hijab. In Iran young women risk their lives for the right not to wear one. In western Europe it is almost de rigueur. The hijab is becoming more and more popular among young French Muslims: in 2003, just 16 percent of under-25s wore the Islamic headscarf, a figure that today is 45 percent. Last week one police force in England proudly displayed its new “quick-release” hijab for female officers.
For the moment, British people can still question the wisdom of allowing its police officers to wear hijabs, but the Labour government is expected to soon introduce new “Islamophobia” laws that will criminalize criticism of Islam.
Here we have the classic example of the camel’s nose under the tent flap. For years, governments that have championed “culture neutral” are now demonstrably going well beyond that, to encourage the restriction of the culture that originally gave that government life.
Note that they pass laws about speaking negatively about Islam, but not about Christianity or, for that matter, Judaism. They nowadays even go so far as to put in prison those who point out the fallacies involved with multiculturalism. And certainly, anyone who questions Islam. Let's be clear on this: By definition, this is not only in direct opposition to the concept of free speech, to say nothing of equal justice under the law, but is also nothing short of cultural suicide.
I hasten to point out that to put a new building up, you need to tear down the old one first. Regardless of what Tim Kaine says, our country, and indeed our unique American culture, was founded upon the idea that our rights come from our Creator, not from government.
Clearly, this was on Vice President JD Vance's mind in a recent speech:
🚨 VANCE JUST ASKED THE QUESTION EUROPE IS TERRIFIED OF 🚨
— Charlie’s Voice Rising (@CharlieK_news) December 9, 2025
JD Vance skipped the fake smiles, the diplomatic fluff, the “shared values” slogans…
and went straight for the jugular.
How can Europe pretend it stands with America
while throwing people in prison for what they post… pic.twitter.com/pKKzNjpEUp
I have written in the past and still hold that the collapse of Western cultures is largely being driven by the education of our young being turned over to the various governments. Does anyone suppose that a government that will arrest someone speaking up in defense of our culture is not going to, in its curriculum, attack that culture?
Oh, and our own left is part and parcel of that cultural threat. Consider the words of Sarah Arnold over at Townhall not long ago:
A federal task force established by President Donald Trump has released its first findings, revealing what it describes as systemic government hostility toward Christians during former President Joe Biden’s presidency.The Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, chaired by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, outlined in its preliminary report a pattern of federal agencies targeting people of faith, especially Christians, through regulatory overreach, selective enforcement, and outright discrimination. The report is based on investigations and case studies collected over the past several months.
Among the most glaring examples are the Department of Defense and other agencies’ routine denials of religious exemptions to Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, despite constitutional protections and federal law allowing such requests. These denials continued until the U.S. Supreme Court halted the mandate following a legal challenge from The Daily Wire.
I keep coming back to this foundational truth: Human rights are a cultural construct and make little sense outside of that culture. Can you think of a more effective way to limit the culturally based freedoms we believe in than to override and replace the existing culture and its values under the guise of “cultural neutrality,” using the force of government to do it?
In my writings over the years, I have often worried that nature abhors a vacuum. Increasingly, we are seeing that vacuum being filled with Islam in Europe after years of governments there (particularly, Brussels, I think) pushing the idea of cultural neutrality. Donald Trump is correct, as he stated in his recent security assessment.
The Spectator article seems to agree:
The two main drivers of Europe’s Islamification are mass immigration and the Muslim Brotherhood, the nebulous Islamist organization that President Trump intends to ban. One of Europe’s leading experts on the Muslim Brotherhood is the French academic Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, who requires police protection as a result of her research. She explained in a 2023 book that “their goal isn’t to adapt Islam to Europe but to adapt Europe to Islam.” To adapt to Islam, Europe must first erase its own civilization. Which it is doing.
And I watch Zohran Mamdani with a jaundiced eye. That coal mine canary just keeled over, friends. And in case this isn't obvious, this time it's on our side of the drink.
As if on cue yesterday, our own Robert Spencer pointed out a quote we should be taking with deadly seriousness, because it points up that Europe isn't the only target:
“My biggest regret in life is that Trump will not be alive to witness our full takeover of America”- Somali man claims. pic.twitter.com/aOja6yxHyc
— jim Njue (@jimNjue_) December 6, 2025
Ronald Reagan once told us:
Yes, we face awesome problems. But we can be proud of the red, white, and blue, and believe in her mission. In a world wracked by hatred, economic crisis, and political tension, America remains mankind's best hope. The eyes of mankind are on us, counting on us to protect the peace, promote new prosperity, and provide for them a better world. And all this we can do if we remember the great gifts of our Revolution: that we are one Nation under God, believing in liberty and justice for all.
Those are the cultural values we need to defend, particularly since our European cousins have failed in that task. If we don't change direction very soon, we will follow in their missteps.
Take care of yourselves today, and continue believing in America and its unique culture. We'll see you here tomorrow.
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