RUSH: Rick in Norfolk, Virginia, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s a pleasure speaking with the best political commentator on the scene today.
RUSH: Thank you very, very much, sir. I appreciate that, I really do.
CALLER: I would just like to make a comment about I think one of the main impacts of the Arab upheavals across north Africa, which will result in greatly increased illegal immigration into Europe as we saw this weekend with 6,000 Tunisians landing in Italy and causing Berlusconi to issue a state of emergency —
RUSH: Wait a minute just a second. I thought this was all about freedom. Why are people leaving Tunisia for Italy?
CALLER: Because Tunisians, as all of the other Arabs, see no connection between political rights and the economic basket cases that their countries are in.
RUSH: Right. It was a facetious question. And of course Sarkozy said last week multiculturalism has failed and Angela Merkel said multiculturalism has failed.
CALLER: Well, Merkel said not everybody who doesn’t want to stay in Tunisia can come to Europe. So I think you’re going to see increased right wing parties in Europe do better, anti-immigrant parties. You’re going to have to see some actions by Merkel and Sarkozy on setting up something between Europe and the north African coasts, because the influx will be so tremendous, because with the power vacuum that’s going to exist there, the ability to leave boat people will be somewhat similar to the Haitian situation after the fall of the Duvaliers in Haiti with us.
RUSH: Yeah, but isn’t one of the Duvaliers back? Baby Doc, Grandbaby Doc, Big Doc, somebody’s back there. One of the Duvaliers came back for something.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: Baby Doc.
CALLER: But that’s like 20 years.
RUSH: Two questions for you, because you seem to be up to speed on this. You’re describing a scenario which has refugees from the newly liberated Tunisia spreading throughout Europe, in this case Italy. If things don’t go well in Egypt we can expect probably refugees from Egypt trying to find places to go in Europe and perhaps even here. Who watching this would be very happy about it?
CALLER: Well, first of all, whatever entity is the governments in these places would be happy because the refugees would be sending back money from Europe back to the country so it would be a source of income. So I don’t think whatever entity takes over the legal responsibilities of guarding the ports and so forth and so on would be too against a massive emigration, which would lower the pressure internally in the Arab countries as well as provide some source income from Europe once they get a job.
RUSH: Perhaps. Depends on whether they can get a job. But despite any of that, picture, if you will, a map, draw arrows — Egypt, Tunisia, and wherever else — the arrows represent refugees flooding European states. Who looking at that map would be ecstatic?
CALLER: Well, it will eventually create an intensified Islamification of Europe.
RUSH: Ahhhh. Ohhhh. So there might, we could theorize, be Islamists who would look at a map like that and see success?
CALLER: Definitely.
RUSH: Over, as a result of so-called freedom uprisings in nations from which the refugees are fleeing?
CALLER: Well, it would be a loss of freedom for Europe in a strange way.
RUSH: And you couple that with Sarkozy and Merkel saying multiculturalism has failed.
CALLER: They’re gonna have to go further than that. I mean they have 20,000 troops now in Lebanon doing nothing. They may have to move them somewhere closer to the European mainland.
RUSH: Yeah, but are they actually going to do that?
CALLER: Well, Berlusconi appealed to the European union aid.
RUSH: Berlusconi’s got his own problems. You know, I’m glad you mentioned Berlusconi. You know who’s mad at Berlusconi? Italian women! Italian women are on the march against him. It’s about time. Seriously. They’re marching on Berlusconi as women in this country shoulda marched on Clinton. Now, if you’re a womanizer or a sexist you don’t understand what I’m saying. But I mean here’s a guy who has made objects out of women, he’s objectified them, they’re to be used and tossed aside. And the female population of Italy is saying, ‘You know, we don’t like the impression the world has of our president, the way he treats women and what it says of Italian women.’ So they’re doing their own little version of protesting Berlusconi, coupled with all of his other problems, I mean he might think that could be a big one.
CALLER: Yeah. By the way, the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, is in Tunisia now to discuss the issue of these Tunisians leaving and going to Europe.
RUSH: Yeah? What’s she telling who?
CALLER: Well, who knows. There is some kind of caretaker government there which has —
RUSH: Yeah, but what’s she saying to them?
CALLER: She’s saying you have to stem the flood.
RUSH: Right. (laughing) The fact that she has to go there and say you have to stem this flood illustrates the futility of it all. Anyway, I mean if you’re a poor country, the best thing that can happen is a bunch of people leave your country, best thing in the world that can happen.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: By the way, the news accounts say that the European Union representative is in Tunisia to fast track a trade deal, not to stem the exodus, although it could be going on, we don’t know.