Whether a recent thread on the Oak Ridger’s message forum, or an article last week in the Rocky Mountain News, it appears that many in this country have come down with a serious, irrational fear of people they perceive to be “foreigners.”

From the forum, I had the distinct feeling that some Oak Ridgers think that anyone who speaks with a Spanish accent, or works in a Mexican/Chinese restaurant, is an illegal immigrant. Jacket, SingingAtom, and ORHS73 represented the voices of reason: the reality is that, at least in this area, we have no reason to believe that “most” foreign-born people are illegals. Actually, we have every reason to believe that “most” are not, and those who do not have the proper documentation are very likely working and putting money into our local economy.

The situation in Colorado is even more distressing:

A seventh-grade geography teacher at Carmody Middle School in Lakewood was suspended with pay Wednesday after he refused to take down foreign flags displayed in his classroom.

A geography teacher isn’t allowed to display flags of countries his or her students are studying?? I think we were tested on it. Our own National Laboratory — a US Government facility — has a huge wall displaying the flags of scores of countries represented in their employee and user population.

Someone needs to do a little thinking about what has happened in the past, following the rise of nationalism in various countries: think Germany, Japan, etc…

No, I’m not comparing Bush to Hitler. I don’t think this one is his fault; I think it’s our own, and each of us who doesn’t stand up to it is guilty of allowing our country to head down a very risky path with a predictable outcome.