Question: How can you find the most interesting event on the Berkeley campus?

Answer: Look for the police guarding a lecture hall.

I knew I had arrived at the right place yesterday evening when I saw the long line of people waiting to be wanded and have their bags checked to enter a building, as several police officers stood nearby keeping an eye on things.

Security was tight, no doubt about it, but more importantly, Ayn Rand Institute-sponsored talk featuring Daniel Pipes, Victor Davis Hanson and Yaron Brook was not advertised widely, and as a result did not have dozens of loud-mouthed thugs trying to end the proceedings through sheer chaos. (That was what happened at Nonie Darwish’s talk last October, although the Islam-reformer stuck it out through a rough scene where some members of the audience came to intimidate and disrupt.)

With a shortage of troublemakers and police stationed along the walls, the talk proceeded in calm fashion. The subject was the “Threat of Totalitarian Islam” and was part of a larger speaking tour with a rotating roster. Photoblogger ProtestShooter took some snapshots that showed the low-key atmosphere.

Of the three speakers, Victor Davis Hanson was the most upbeat about our efforts against political Islam, saying that many enemies have been killed or arrested over the last few years. But the military historian who has praised the superiority of the western approach to armed conflict said, “The war is half won, half lost.”

He criticized the State Department for undermining the overall effort by banning the use of accurate words like caliphate and jihad.

There was general agreement that naming the enemy is critical. Otherwise, Washington can cite meaningless statistics about “terrorists” being routed, and we have no idea what has happened.

Free speech in general was understood as being under widespread attack because of political correctness and plain fear. Hanson said that the values of the Enlightenment are being lost in Europe.

A rare disagreement occurred when Hanson favorably compared America to Europe in assimilating Muslim immigrants, to the point where we had less to worry about in terms of jihadist terror erupting here.

Pipes said No, there are small-scale terrorist acts going on all the time in America that do not get national media attention. He noted the trial of Naveed Haq going on now in Seattle for the shootings at a Jewish center in 2006 that resulted in the murder of Pamela Waechter.

There could have been more discussion about immigration and how crazy it is to welcome potential enemies into America, but I shouldn’t complain too much. It’s the first event on campus in a while where I haven’t felt either threatened by political violence or given a headache by left-wing looniness. So everything considered, it was a pleasant and intellectually stimulating evening where I got to hear two of my favorite writers debate a vital issue and even learned a few things.

It was almost like being at a… university.

Giovanni Alemanno, who is a member of Italy’s National Alliance, and who is either a “rightist“ or a “center rightist,” depending on who you believe, has been elected Mayor of Rome.

His plans include defunding Rome’s bloated film festival, and tearing down a really ugly museum, because he feels that Rome isn’t the place for modern architecture. He’s probably right, too. Here is a picture of the Vatican. Here is a picture of the museum.

But the real reason a “right-wing” politician has been elected mayor of a largely left-wing country, that once almost voted itself Communist, is that he’s offered to crack down on crime and immigration. American politicians take note.

The President of the Republic of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, has come to the US to speak to Congress and ask the US to keep all the illegal Irish, rather than sending them back.. (Taoiseach , pronounced roughly “tea-shock” is Gaelic for Prime Minister–Ireland has a weird kind of self-inflicted bilingualism.)

Taoiseach makes case for undocumented Irish in US Congress speech
The Belfast Telegraph

[Published: Wednesday 30, April 2008 - 17:26]
The Taoiseach used his address to the Joint Houses of Congress in Washington this afternoon to make a case for undocumented Irish immigrants to the US.

Bertie Ahern today became the sixth Irish leader to address the Joint Houses. The theme of his address was “Ireland and America - Our Two Republics”.

Bertie Ahern began by emphasising the bond between Ireland and America, and went on to outline the benefits of the new Irish to our country, and the challenges.

“So we’re profoundly aware of those challenges as we ask you to consider the case of undocumented Irish immigrant community in the United States today.

“I hope you’ll be able to find a solution to their plight.”

The Taoiseach then spoke of the contribution Irish immigrants have made to America.

Mr Ahern also spoke about the benefits of the European Union, about the global challenges of poverty, financial decline and climate change, and about the peace process in Northern Ireland.

To huge applause, he said he was proud to be the “first Irish leader to inform the United States Congress– Ireland is at peace.”

Look, I like the Irish–Dennis Day, Bing Crosby, Megan McArdle, whoever. In the history of immigration to the US, I suppose it could be said that Irish immigration has been a blessing–just not an unmixed blessing.

But since Irish immigrants greatest contribution to America have been in the police and the military, perhaps we could convince all these illegals to join the Border Patrol. That way Ahern  could have made a proposal that for each illegal Irish immigrant, he would help deport two illegal  Mexicans. But really, while Irish immigrants might be good as a substitute for Mexican immigration, they aren’t going to be very popular as an (illegal) addition to the immigration problem. Ask Brenda Walker.