Phil Klay, a former Marine Corps officer and winner of the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction for his short story collection “Redeployment,” wrote a scathing series of tweets in response to the passage of a House bill suspending the program to resettle 120,000 Syrian refugees.
1. Tremendously upset by attempt to effectively close our borders to Syrian refugees by imposing impossible-to-implement screening standards
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
2. When I swore my oath of office as a Marine officer, I swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
3. The Marine hymn claims that Marines are the “first to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean.”
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
4. You’re not supposed to risk your life just for the physical safety of American citizens
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
5. You’re supposed to risk your life for American ideals as well.
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
6. This shouldn't be a left-right issue. Ronald Reagan, who believed that America was the exceptional nation,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
7. the “Shining City on a Hill,” asked himself during his farewell address from the Oval Office how that Shining City fared, answering:
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
8. "After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
9. “And she's still a beacon; still a magnet for all who must have freedom,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
10. “for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness toward home."
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
11. Millions of pilgrims are hurtling through the darkness, but it’s Germany that has recently been the beacon standing strong and true,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
12. welcoming them home, not America.
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
13. If we want to be the kind of nation that others will follow,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
14. the kind of nation capable of forging strong links in the Muslim world against extremism,
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
15. then we have to behave like that kind of nation. I get that people are scared.
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
16. But it's only during frightening times when you get to find out if your country really deserves to call itself the 'home of the brave.'
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
17. Worth noting that @theIRC does excellent work for refugees, and always appreciates donations. https://t.co/APsnTDe5s7
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) November 19, 2015
Watch Klay read an except from “Redeployment” via Oregon Public Broadcasting below.
[H/T: Matt Miller]
