A REMARKABLE DISCUSSION – AT 11:03 A.M. ET:  Mitt Romney opened a can of worms in Israel when he commented, rather blandly, that culture may have had much to do with Israel's survival and success in many areas. 

Romney was immediately attacked as a racist, even though his observations have been made many, many times, and reflect the pretty obvious notion that culture counts.

Now the Boston Globe, an anti-Romney paper, prints a piece in which the son of a scholar Romney often cites supports the Republican presidential candidate's arguments.  The Globe, which is owned by The New York Times, is to be commended for printing this article, which undoubtedly is causing fainting spells among a good chunk of its readership: 

WASHINGTON – The son of historian David Landes -- whom Mitt Romney has been citing since 2005 to back up his argument that some countries are more economically vibrant because of their cultures – says that both him and his ailing father generally support Romney’s views.

David Landes, author and former Harvard professor, had a stroke and is unlikely to respond to controversy over Romney’s analysis of his work, according to his son. But Richard Landes, a history professor at Boston University and author himself who is currently spending time in Jerusalem, provided a statement Friday morning to the Globe that is largely supportive of Romney.

He said he was speaking on behalf of himself and his father.

“As Romney himself has pointed out, Israel illustrates the sufficiency of culture alone: a country with no natural resources, an economic backwater even in the Ottoman Empire, it rose to the top of the developed world in a century,” Landes wrote in an e-mail. “The Arab nations, on the other hand, illustrate the necessity of (a certain kind of) culture: even those with vast petrodollars still have among the least productive economies in the world.”

And...

The Globe on Friday reported on Romney’s views, and how they have been informed by David Landes’s book, “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.” Romney has been quoting from the book since 2005, using it frequently to explain his economic and social world view.

“The multiculturalism movement must be unmasked for the fraud that it is,” Romney wrote in his 2010 book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.” “There are superior cultures, and ours is one of them. As David Landes observed, ‘Culture makes all the difference.’ ”

As we've noted in pieces at Urgent Agenda this week, Romney is on the button.  We see it in our own country all the time.  We see it in cultures, and in subcultures.  There is nothing bigoted in saying this.  Indeed, cultures must change and evolve if they are to survive and prosper.

There was a time when some educators believed that new immigrants to America could not be taught, that they would become a permanent underclass.  It was a legendary educator in New York City, Julia Richman, who proved them wrong.  She emphasized an American culture of accomplishment, building on the cultures of the immigrants.

The multicultural establishment, which has already done enormous damage, will continue to spread its propaganda that all cultures "have their own validity."  Well, maybe there's a little bit of truth to that.  But many cultures also have their downside.  Avoiding the downside is a legitimate objective of educators, leaders and scholars.

Romney remains right, but he will have to put up with the cries of "racism," and "intolerance," and "insensitivity."  After all, what else does the political left have these days?

August 5, 2012