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COLUMNISTS
TODAY'S STORIES
13.08.2008
Jerome Corsi: Chicken Little

It's beautiful that Jerome Corsi, the author of the bestselling, fact-fudging Obama Nation book the Times profiled today, is also one of the top pushers of the North American Union story -- one of the weirder malevolent-government conspiracy theories out there. Last year, the Boston Globe did a nice piece on the NAU fearmongers and the reality (or lack thereof) behind the theory:

The North American Union is a supranational organization, modeled on the European Union, that will soon fuse Canada, the United States, and Mexico into a single economic and political unit. The details are still being worked out by the countries' leaders, but the NAU's central governing body will have the power to nullify the laws of its member states. Goods and people will flow among the three countries unimpeded, aided by a network of continent-girdling superhighways. The US and Canadian dollars, along with the peso, will be phased out and replaced by a common North American currency called the amero. If you haven't heard about the NAU, that may be because its plotters have succeeded in keeping it secret. Or, more likely, because there is no such thing. ...

If the anti-NAU cause has a prophet, it is Corsi. ... Corsi said in an interview that his belief in the NAU stemmed from his realization that it was the only logical explanation for the Bush administration's refusal to police the US-Mexico border adequately. "I kept asking myself why, six years into the war on terror, was Bush not securing the border?" he said.

To echo Noam's phrasing, that's logic you can believe in!

--Eve Fairbanks

Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 1:00 PM with 18 comment(s)

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adaglas said:

News quiz!  The "Amero" is which of the following:

a)  The proposed name of the currency for the soon-to-dominate-you-life North American Union

b) A god in the Scientology canon, roughly the equivalent of the Greek Apollo, or maybe the Egyptian Horus

c) The latest mid-size SUV from Nissan

d) A minor Green Lantern villain who's, let's say, some kind of evil magician.

August 13, 2008 1:27 PM

blackton said:

Actually, I think that is a good idea. In 50 years America might as well be known as Meximerica anyhow.

And why isn't Bush securing the border? Because business likes cheap, illegal labor.

I love that phrase continent girdling superhighways. Um...they already exist in the US and Canada and are mostly there in Mexico. I drive from Oaxaca to New York in 3 to 4 days.

August 13, 2008 1:35 PM

wgcreeley said:

hahahaha - nicely done, adaglas.

It's the Nissan mid-size SUV, right?

August 13, 2008 1:42 PM

cspencef said:

Somebody's been reading a bit too much alternate history...something like this:

en.wikipedia.org/.../The_Two_Georges

August 13, 2008 1:48 PM

ratnerstar said:

Brilliant, adaglas.   I vote All Of The Above.

August 13, 2008 2:17 PM

bigfish said:

If Corsi is concerned about controlling our borders, wouldn't he be for the NAU?  Think about it.  The two land borders that the US has right now are quite long.  If Canada, Mexico, and the US joined up, then the only land border we'd have to defend would be the one way to the south with Guatemala.  Shorter border = easier to police, right? Am I missing something? If we're really ambitious, we could also take in all of Central America except the eastern half of Panama.  Defending one side of a canal: easy peasy!

August 13, 2008 2:23 PM

jemerk said:

Continent-girdling superhighways, a conspiracy of the big 3 and big oil?

August 13, 2008 2:26 PM

jemerk said:

That is former big 3, now equal to approximately 1.75.

August 13, 2008 2:27 PM

csmiller said:

I'm saving all my Ameros so I can buy a Canyonero.

August 13, 2008 2:38 PM

AlanSP said:

"If Corsi is concerned about controlling our borders, wouldn't he be for the NAU?  Think about it.  The two land borders that the US has right now are quite long.  If Canada, Mexico, and the US joined up, then the only land border we'd have to defend would be the one way to the south with Guatemala.  Shorter border = easier to police, right? Am I missing something? If we're really ambitious, we could also take in all of Central America except the eastern half of Panama.  Defending one side of a canal: easy peasy!"

Right, as any Risk player could tell you.  Way easier to defend Central America than to defend both Eastern United States and Western United States.

August 13, 2008 6:34 PM

Rhubarbs said:

Offhand Green Lantern reference = victory. Well played, adaglas, well played.

August 13, 2008 6:38 PM

austinexpat said:

blackton: What's that drive like?  Any particular sights to recommend?

August 13, 2008 7:09 PM

blackton said:

adaglas and csmiller, hah.

austin, what's the drive like? Well I had pre-schoolers so I didn't concern myself with the sights. Veracruz is nice, the Atlantic coast is pretty.

August 13, 2008 7:40 PM

ironyroad said:

Americans should be against superhighways?  Shock and horror.  You might as well just do away with our republican system and elect Al Gore king!

August 13, 2008 11:24 PM

emigdio said:

Corsi doesn't even get the name right. It's the Organization of North American Nations. Which makes people who peddle this theory ONANists...

August 14, 2008 3:23 AM

bigfish said:

Exactly, Alan!  We need the NAU before a well-trained Papua New Guinean army invades Siam, and it's only a matter of time.  I'm concerned the world won't take notice of its impending doom in time.

On a related note, I have a well-placed source that says that our president is a huge Risk fan and, after winning Afghanistan, he drew the Middle East card and thought "If only I had my armies there, I'd get two extra armies the next time I turn in a set!"

August 14, 2008 9:16 AM

blackton said:

emigdio, I am a proud ONANist in that case.

August 14, 2008 12:06 PM

norval13 said:

If the link to the bulletin boards of the Free Republic bulletin boards are to be believed, he's convinced that all Catholics and Muslims are major enthusiasts of something called "boy bumping."  Sounds like a seriously weird little man.

August 14, 2008 1:22 PM