I’ll be honest with you.

Certain immigrant groups genuinely bother me — particularly Somalis and many Hispanic communities from South America. I don’t feel the same way toward Japanese, Koreans, or Europeans.

This isn’t about race or skin color. It’s about patterns and behavior.

With Japanese and Korean immigrants, the ones who fail to assimilate and become a burden on society are the exception. The rule is discipline, hard work, and integration.

With Somalis and certain Hispanic groups, the pattern is the opposite — high long-term welfare use, slow English acquisition, resistance to American culture, and the creation of enclaves that reject our way of life.

Even within my own Filipino community, I see this split. Some fully assimilate, others do not.

The real question is: Assimilate to what?

Newcomers should assimilate to America’s Western, Judeo-Christian heritage — the cultural foundation that gave us individual dignity, personal responsibility, rule of law, and meritocracy. This is what makes American Exceptionalism possible.

I judge groups by three clear pillars: Accountability — take care of yourself and don’t live off taxpayers. Assimilation — learn English and embrace American culture. And Allegiance — put loyalty to America first.

If what bothers you about a group is their skin color, then you are racist. But if what bothers you is how they behave in your house — refusing to follow the rules, rejecting the culture, and demanding you change for them — then that’s not racism.

That’s called having standards.

I refuse to pretend these patterns don’t exist just to appear more tolerant. The data is clear, and honesty demands that we see it.

Spine not Knees

A Grateful Immigrant

“On this Memorial Day, we pause before the white crosses and remember: this nation wasn’t handed to us. It was bought with blood by men and women who believed in something greater than themselves.

Left or right, grateful or still learning — today we stand as one. Not in blind celebration, but in solemn gratitude for the gift they guarded with their lives.

We honor them best by living accountable, assimilated, and allegiant. By choosing spine over knees.

This is our house. Let’s keep it strong.

LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸

(It starts in the spine, NOT on your knees)

These Shirts Show Messages on How We Love America

Made In The USA

USA 250 Wear Yours

Made In The USA

Overall Score: 41/60 (down 0.5 from last week)

Accountability: 8.0

Assimilation: 6.5

Allegiance: 6.5

Permanently: 8.0

Prudently: 4.0

Pragmatically: 8.0

This week’s half-point drop in Prudence reflects my honest take on Iran. I’d rather pay five dollars a gallon and absorb the broader economic pain than allow a nuclear Iran to hold America and our allies hostage. The administration’s pattern of red lines, deadlines, and last-minute delays only emboldens a regime that has American blood on its hands.

Americans will stand behind decisive action. We’re tired of being held hostage by hesitation and misplaced compassion. Strength now prevents far greater suffering later.

I support the President, but I call things as I see them. This score reflects that.

Spine, not knees.

Victor Davis Hanson recently pointed out how often Americans — especially on the left — convince themselves that we can never keep up with our rivals. Whether it was Mussolini, Nazi Germany, Japan, or now China, the narrative is always the same: America is finished.

But the numbers tell a different story.

The U.S. economy produces roughly 31 trillion dollars a year with 340 million people. China produces 20 trillion with 1.4 billion people. That means it takes four Chinese workers to produce just sixty percent of what one American produces.

How is that possible?

The difference isn’t just economics — it’s culture. China is built on conformity, risk-aversion, and inward-looking loyalty. They excel at copying and scaling what others create, but they struggle to produce the truly new and unexpected.

This stands in sharp contrast to the classic American spirit — curious, restless, and willing to take risks. It’s the spirit that turned a man with a modest 125 IQ like Richard Feynman into a scientific legend, and allowed immigrants like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs to build world-changing companies from almost nothing.

This isn’t about intelligence. It’s about mindset. One system fears surprise. The other runs on it.

That’s why the doomsayers keep being proven wrong.

Spine NOT knees.

LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸

A Grateful Immigrant

May 19, 2026

Accountability: 8.0

Assimilation: 6.5

Allegiance: 6.5

Permanently: 8.0

Prudently: 4.5

Pragmatically: 8.0

Total: 41.5 out of 60

This week the score dropped from 43.5 to 41.5. The half-point drops in Allegiance, Permanently, Prudently, and Pragmatically reflect my growing concern with President Trump’s approach to China. While I understand he’s using them for leverage on the Iran situation, I believe China remains our greatest strategic adversary. Their massive debt burden over 300% of GDP gives us real leverage we’re not fully using. Allowing their students and elites to continue coming here while we know the CCP actively steals our technology and embeds operatives feels inconsistent with true allegiance.

I support the President, but I call things as I see them. This score reflects that.

Spine, not knees.

A Grateful Immigrant

Democrats in Virginia just got exactly what they wanted from the Supreme Court.

They knew from the start there was no real federal issue. Their map was struck down for violating Virginia’s own constitution on timing and procedure. The U.S. Supreme Court almost never steps in on a state court interpreting its own state constitution. They knew this appeal was dead on arrival.

Yet they filed it anyway.

Why? Because they wanted a clean loss at the Supreme Court. They wanted to point at the conservative majority and scream, “See? It’s a Republican-led Supreme Court blocking the will of the voters!”

This wasn’t about winning new maps. It was about manufacturing outrage to push their real goal — packing the Supreme Court.

When the system doesn’t give them what they want, they attack the system itself.

No spine. Knees.

A Grateful Immigrant

May 15, 2026

As a grateful immigrant who came to this country for its strength, its clarity, and its promise of security, I watch the current situation with Iran and feel the same frustration many Americans do. We are tired of wishy-washy drama. We want sure-footed leadership that puts American lives first.

Iran started this conflict — not us. Their nuclear sprint, their proxies attacking our interests, their endless “Death to America” chants, and their disruption of global energy brought us here. After 9/11, Americans are not naïve. We know these regimes exploit our decency and use their own civilians as human shields.

Here is the clear, prolonged approach America should communicate to the world, to our enemies, and to our own people:

The Policy: Strength, Not Theater

• No deals. No talks. Only unconditional surrender: complete, verifiable denuclearization, full end to all proxy armies, and no more regional aggression.

• We bleed them dry economically. Sustained naval blockade. Maximum pressure on their oil revenue, their rial, their ability to feed and pay their people. No new shots fired unless they force our hand.

• We will watch them implode. If the Mullahs choose to murder their own citizens to cling to power, that blood is on their hands — not ours. You want to kill your people and destroy yourselves in the process? Go ahead.

• When the regime collapses, we will secure Kharg Island (which handles the vast majority of their oil exports) as a strategic necessity and move on. We will deal only with successors we can accept — those who meet our terms.

• American lives first, always. We will not allow another American to die for Iran’s ambitions. Period. We can support and arm brave Iranians who want freedom, but never at the cost of American blood.

We regret every Iranian death. But the Mullahs made their choice decades ago. They chose nuclear weapons, terrorism sponsorship, and ideology over the welfare of their own people.

Mullahs: Decide.

The clock is running. America enforces its red lines with strength and moves on when the threat is gone. No more open-ended drama. No more weakness that invites abuse. Strength is always followed. Weakness is disdained.

This is not heartless. This is realism. Gratitude demands we protect what makes this country worth immigrating to — secure borders, secure energy, and a government that prioritizes its own citizens without apology.

What do you think, readers? Is this the clear message the administration should deliver? Drop your thoughts below. Let’s keep the conversation honest.

Spine NOT knees.

LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸

A Grateful Immigrant

May 12, 2026

Overall Score: 43.5/60

Accountability: 8/10 (steady)

Border enforcement stays rock solid — zero releases continue, encounters remain historically low. Targeted actions against Iranian provocations show real consequences for those who break the rules. Consistent, no backsliding.

Assimilation: 6.5/10 (steady)

Tight borders and disciplined enforcement give legal immigrants the space they need to assimilate properly into American culture without overwhelming the system. This protects the high-standard host model we value.

Allegiance: 7.0/10 (down 0.5)

The naval blockade continues to deliver real pain to the Iranian regime — that’s clear America First strength. But the messaging has been too cute. Headlines like “Iran reviewing proposals” from Reuters are designed to frame it as America chasing Iran, not the other way around. That’s media spin, not reality. We should be stating plainly and consistently: the boot stays on your neck, the chokehold isn’t coming off. We’re going after the IRGC — not saying how, not saying when, but we are. 47 years of belligerence, killing Americans, and threatening this country ends now. Surrender or face the consequences. Clear conviction, not mixed signals. That’s what allegiance demands.

Permanent: 8.5/10 (steady)

The sustained blockade is degrading Iran’s capabilities month after month. We’re thinking in the right terms — not just managing threats, but eliminating them so evil like the IRGC doesn’t regenerate. Long-term leverage is building.

Prudent: 5/10 (steady)

National debt remains the same structural weakness. No improvement here.

Pragmatic: 8.5/10 (steady)

The blockade is working in the real world — choking oil revenue, sinking their economy, forcing hard choices. Destroying fast boats and enforcing the strait shows results over optics. That’s pragmatic strength.

This week stays flat. The execution on the ground is strong, the blockade is biting, but the mixed messaging hands the media an opening to spin weakness. Spine, not knees. America First means saying it straight.

— A Grateful American

St. Paul, Minnesota

May 8, 2026

LIVE GRATEFUL