Mt. Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota south of Rapid City, was completed in 1941.  Carved by Gutzon Borglum, it’s know as the Shrine of Democracy, and as many as two million people from around the world visit every year.  I was born in Rapid City and have seen Mt. Rushmore countless times.  In 2011 I took the photo that accompanies this article.  I’ve never lost the sense of awe and wonder every time I set foot on that hallowed ground, for it gently reminds me that we are connected, past, present and future and that we really do stand on the shoulders of giants.

But what if an enemy threatened to destroy The Shrine of Democracy?  What would we do?  Wouldn’t Americans do whatever was necessary to eliminate that threat and to destroy that enemy?  I’d like to take that for granted, that we would bear any burden to preserve a cultural icon, one of the great accomplishments of humanity that is a mere 71 years old.

What if an enemy threatened to destroy one of man’s greatest accomplishments, the last survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?  What would we do about that?  What effort, if any, would we expend to preserve a priceless monument constructed more than four thousand years ago, a relic and reminder of what may have been the first great human civilization?  If Mt. Rushmore is a priceless monument to the greatness of America, do not the Pyramids of Giza speak to human greatness?  Do they not belong to all mankind?  What would we do?  We will, sooner rather than later, have the opportunity to find out.

I’ve been waiting for this since the fall of the Mubarak government, hastened by Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton whose insipid blatherings about an inevitable Arab Spring characterized by democracy have been conclusively proved idiotic by the takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood, the intellectual, spiritual wellspring of contemporary Islamism.

Michael Burleigh, writing for The Daily Mail on December 23, 2011, bore sad tidings for that Christmas:

For now members of the Nour (The Light) Salafist party, which won 20 per cent of the vote in recent elections, are talking about putting an end to the ‘idolatry’ represented by the pyramids.

This means destruction – along the lines essayed by the Afghan Taliban who blew up the Banyam Buddhas [In March of 2001] – or ‘concealment’ by covering them with wax. Tourists would presumably see great blobs rather than the perfectly carved steps.

This last suggestion was made by Abdel Moneim Al-Shahat, a Nour candidate for parliament. Apart from wanting to do away with this ‘rotten culture’, this gentleman also wants to ban the Nobel prize winning novels of Naguib Mahfouz, one of many great Egyptian writers.

Who, or what, are Salafists?  Burleigh explained:

Salafism means reverting to the mores of the founding generation of Islam, for the close companions of the Prophet were called Salafi meaning ‘pious founders’. Since the last adherent of ancient Egyptian religion allegedly converted (to Christianity) in the fourth century AD, the original Salafists had little to worry about the pyramids and left them alone.

But not their 21st century successors, who also want what they call ‘halal’ tourism, with women told to dress decorously and no alcohol, something pretty general already in conservative Egypt. The Salafists want segregated beaches, which will not go down well with visitors to Sharm el Sheikh.

Of course it matters not to Islamic fundamentalists that destroying Egypt’s tourist industry will plunge an already poor nation into unimaginable poverty.  The process was already underway in December of 2011.  Egyptian hotels and resorts reported drops in occupancy of from 15% to 90%.  Apparently tourists are fleeing the blessings and peaceful tolerance of democracy?

Raymond Ibrahim, writing in Front Page Magazine on July 11, 2012, brings us up to date on the destructive intentions of the Islamists:

According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt’s Great Pyramids—or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi‘i, those “symbols of paganism,” which Egypt’s Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax.   Most recently, Bahrain’s “Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs” and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, called on Egypt’s new president, Muhammad Morsi, to “destroy the Pyramids and accomplish what the Sahabi Amr bin al-As could not…

Why would Egyptians destroy their own heritage?

Much of this hate for their own pre-Islamic heritage is tied to the fact that, traditionally, Muslims do not identify with this or that nation, culture, heritage, or language, but only with the Islamic nation—the Umma.

Accordingly, while many Egyptians—Muslims and non-Muslims alike—see themselves as Egyptians, Islamists have no national identity, identifying only with Islam’s ‘culture,’ based on the ‘sunna’ of the prophet and Islam’s language, Arabic.  This sentiment was clearly reflected when the former Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad Akef, declared ‘the hell with Egypt,’ indicating that the interests of his country are secondary to Islam’s.

It is further telling that such calls are being made now—immediately after a Muslim Brotherhood member became Egypt’s president.  In fact, the same reports discussing the call to demolish the last of the Seven Wonders of the World, also note that Egyptian Salafis are calling on Morsi to banish all Shias and Baha’is from Egypt.

In a move that will likely surprise no one, Mr. Obama has invited Mr. Morsi to visit him in the White House.  Jihad Watch notes: 

The Muslim Brotherhood’s most powerful patron invites the new Egyptian President to celebrate his victory in the U.S. ‘What Jewish Voters? Obama Invites Morsi to Visit U.S.,’ by Gil Ronen for Israel National News, July 8 (thanks to Voice of the Copts):

United States President Barack Hussein Obama has invited his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Morsi to conduct an official visit to the U.S. in September. Deputy Secretary of State William Perez said he delivered the invitation to Cairo during his meetings with the president on Sunday.

This would be the first visit ever to the U.S. by a member of the genocidal Muslim Brotherhood in an official capacity.

Some might be tempted to suggest that carrying out direct diplomacy with Morsi is a stroke of foreign affairs genius.  It is anything but.  Remember that Mr. Obama has snubbed and insulted the heads of state of America’s allies throughout his term in office, and now he welcomes to the White House, with full diplomatic honors no doubt, a high-ranking member of a terrorist organization bent on the destruction of America and American allies, and the domination of the world.  By so doing, Mr. Obama has elevated the Muslim Brotherhood to the same level as the United States in prestige.  This will not go unnoticed among our enemies, and our long-suffering allies.

And the Washington Times reminds us that the destruction and madness are already underway: 

Others plan to bring this same degree of common sense and tolerance to the rest of the world. This week a group called the United Muslim Nations International released a 23-page pamphlet entitled ‘The Global Islamic Civilization: The Power of a Nation Revived’ which outlines a plan for Islamic world domination. The group’s leader, Sheik Farook al-Mohammedi, writes in the plan that ‘Christianity should be destroyed and wiped from the face of the earth,’ along with all faiths other than Islam. He maintains that ‘submission to Allah’ will be the future of the ‘Islamic State of America’ and ‘Eurabia’ and other parts of the world not currently under the sway of Shariah. This type of grandiose vision is certainly nothing new in radical circles, as al Qaeda has been pursuing its global domination plan for years. Although Sheik Farook al-Mohammedi is a lesser-known extremist with a miniscule following who is unlikely to surmount the Caliph’s throne, he’s still dangerous. The best and the brightest likewise scoffed at misfits like Hitler, Lenin and Mao — until the secret police arrived.

Where fanatics hold sway, they implement their plans as well as they can. In dusty Timbuktu, Mali, militants have systematically destroyed tombs and shrines that they consider idolatrous. Eight of 16 ancient mausoleums in the city have been torn apart by local radicals of the Ansar Dine group. Ironically the destruction is taking place at the 14th century Djingareyber mosque, which shows that not even Muslim sites are off limits, if they happened to be erected by insufficiently orthodox Islamic sects.

The world was also horrified this week by a viral video showing a Taliban executioner shooting a burqa-clad woman nine times as a mob of men chanted ‘God is great!’ The woman was allegedly accused of adultery, but may have simply been the victim of a Taliban leader’s jealousy. What the video showed is the rule, not the exception.

But all is not lost, for the Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton, visited Egypt this week.  The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi…

Protesters chanted: ‘Monica, Monica’, a reference to Former President Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affair. Some chanted: ‘leave, Clinton’, Egyptian security officials said…

Clinton ‘stressed the importance of protecting the rights of all Egyptians, including women and minorities’.

Right.  I’m sure that’s number one on the Muslim Brotherhood’s list.

It is difficult for Americans to understand that Muslims who assimilate and peacefully live in America, practicing their faith in the same way that other Americans practice theirs, are not observing the dictates of Islam.  This is one of the primary reasons why democracy is utterly foreign to most practitioners of Islam, which recognizes no separation of church and state.  In observant Islamic societies, the church is the state.  Muslims owe allegiance first to Islam, then to their family, their tribe, clan, and perhaps, their nation somewhere far down the list, if they think of it at all.  Most Muslims think of themselves as Muslims, period, not Egyptians who happen to be Muslim or Iranians who happen to be Muslim.  While there are certainly millions of Egyptians who would oppose the wanton destruction of their national heritage, of one of man’s most priceless treasures, those that oppose them have a stronger argument: they will gladly and brutally kill anyone, Muslim or infidel, to work their will.

When the Taliban destroyed the Banyam Buddhas in 2001, the world expressed strong condemnation, but nothing else, which the Taliban certainly saw as evidence only of the weakness of the rest of the world.  Islamists respect only strength, but even that will not usually stop them from doing what they see as God’s will.  Such people are brought up in a culture of death and proud of it.

The Muslim Brotherhood has long worked to destroy America and turn it into  part of a world-wide Caliphate.  It wields substantial power and influence around the Muslim world and is closely aligned with and supports virtually every Islamist/Jihadist movement in existence.  It is entirely hostile toward America and particularly Israel, yet this organization is now in charge of Egypt, arguably the most important Muslim nation.  It’s credo clearly reflects its beliefs, which underlie everything the Brotherhood does: 

God is our objective, the Koran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, struggle [jihad] is our way, and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations.

Mr. Obama has invited the new president of Egypt, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, to the White House.  There is no such thing as a “moderate” member of the Muslim Brotherhood, so in inviting Mr. Morsi, Mr. Obama has invited one of the most deadly and committed enemies of freedom and democracy, and of America’s allies—particularly Israel—to a sampling of Obamite rhetoric.  Islamists have been less than impressed with Mr. Obama’s blatherings in the past, and there is no reason to believe they will be impressed now.

Mr. Obama has often spoke of himself as a “citizen of the world.”  Shouldn’t such a world citizen be alarmed by the Islamist threat toward the Pyramids?  Shouldn’t he do all he can to eliminate it?  Shouldn’t all of those world citizens/national leaders out there band together to deal with this threat?  Surely the United Nations will band together to stop such desecration of man’s shared heritage?  After all, what’s the UN for if its not to stop genocide, prejudice and preserve the common heritage of man?

They should, but they won’t.  In fact, if the UN follows its usual practice, it will assist in the destruction and blame the Jews.  Mr. Obama will surely drone a teleprompter reading or two when the time comes, but will not use military force—that’s precisely what it would take—to preserve the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  Yet we have been at war since the taking of the American Embassy in Tehran by Islamist “students” in 1979.  Since the advent of the Age of Obama, our national leadership has ignored that reality, refusing even to speak of victory, Jihad, war—of reality– instead inventing idiotic, juvenile euphemisms as if refusing to speak truly descriptive, definitive words will somehow make the reality they represent go away.

Few signs of the war we ignore are more obvious than the willingness of our Islamist enemy to destroy the greatest treasures of man, to return us to pre-industrial, medieval misery.  Imagine a world without modern medicines, science, electricity, Mozart, Beethoven, computers, iPhones, running water, even toilet paper.  Our Islamist enemy can.  They will do whatever is required to attain it and to force it upon us all, and we can’t even admit we’re at war with them.  We can’t clearly identify them.

What are we willing to do to preserve civilization, to have a future better than the present, to ensure the blessings of liberty for our posterity?  Does it start with preserving the pyramids, or does failing to preserve them serve merely as one more obvious clarion blast of our inevitable end?