Congressman Steve King recently created an uproar when he tweeted, “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” He later explained, “You’ve got to keep your birth rate up, and that you need to teach your children your values. In doing so, you can grow your population, you can strengthen your culture, and you can strengthen your way of life.”

Sure sounds reasonable to me. But, as we’ve come to expect of him, finger-in-the-wind Paul Ryan quickly chimed in through his spokeswoman that he “clearly disagrees” with King’s comments and that “he believes America’s long history of inclusiveness is one of its great strengths.”

Later, in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Ryan added, “I’d like to think that he misspoke and it wasn’t really meant the way that that sounds, and hopefully he’s clarified that.” But when asked by CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” to clarify his comments, King emphasized, “I meant exactly what I said.”

Given that he’s proven time and time again that his main objective is to be adored by the criminal left, I dismiss Ryan’s comments out of hand. However, I do find it amazing that so many well-intentioned people completely misconstrued Congressman King’s point as well.

First of all, what King said had nothing to do with race. I don’t know why lefties (and, for that matter, many on the right) can’t let go of the pigmentation thing. As a pretty credible man once said, the real issue is the content of a person’s character, not the color of his skin.

Honestly, now, who would you rather have living in your neighborhood — Nancy Pelosi, Debbie W-S, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Horrible Hillary, Anthony Weiner, Rahm Emanuel, Pocahontas, and Al Franken … or Ben Carson, Sheriff David Clarke, Allen West, Niger Innes, Larry Elder, Condoleezza Rice, Thomas Sowell, and Clarence Thomas?

Not a real difficult choice for most people to make, though a Radical Lefty like Chris Matthews would probably opt for all white folks. After all, that’s what he’s done throughout his personal life, preferring to live in lily white Chevy Chase, Maryland, where blacks comprise a whopping 1 percent of the population. The party of slavery, Jim Crow, and the Ku Klux Klan has a simple motto: “We love blacks — provided they don’t wander too far off the welfare plantation.

Sorry, Dirty Dems, but for those who truly believe in freedom, color has never been an issue. Ditto with religion. I have about as much interest in a person’s religion as I do in the color socks he wears. You can be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or an atheist, yet still be a cultural American.

And that’s why Steve King, a truly great American and one of a handful of honorable people in Washington, made it clear that he was talking about culture when he made his comments. Think about it: How can you expect American culture to survive if you flood the country with people who don’t respect its traditions, don’t speak its language, and don’t have any interest or intention of abiding by its generally accepted code of conduct?

The key word in all this is assimilation. America is a melting pot, not a patch quilt of tribes. The goal of progressives — and Barack Obama in particular — has been to create hatred and division in America by pitting cultures against one another.

And that, in turn, creates weakness, not strength. As I’ve been saying for years, one of the biggest lies ever told is that America’s strength derives from its cultural diversity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cultural diversity is, in fact, America’s greatest weakness.

When the U.S. sent troops across the pond to kick Hitler’s butt in World War II, there were no doubts about the cultural traditions, beliefs, and loyalties of the young soldiers it sent off to war. It’s especially noteworthy that the heroic Tuskogee Airmen — who, of course, were all black — were patriotic to the core. That’s because they were men whose families had long before assimilated into American culture. Which is why their segregated status is still such a moral blemish on American history. But, then, why wouldn’t you expect a segregated military from an autocratic Democrat like FDR?

In the meantime, the Dirty Dems have been plotting to destroy American culture for decades. They’ve had a master plan in place since at least 1965, when Ted Kennedy, of Chappaquiddick fame, sponsored the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, assuring Americans that it “will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. It will not relax the standards of admission.” It was a classic example of The Big Lie, and it quickly accelerated to the point where illegal immigrants streamed across America’s southern border at will.

Then came the radical Islamists from the Middle East and various other peoples who had no intention of adopting American culture. On the contrary, most have stayed true to their native cultures and many have openly stated that their goal is to impose their values and beliefs on Americans.

Which brings me to the Trump Wall. Symbolically, it’s a good thing, but the truth is that it’s totally unnecessary and a complete waste of money. Illegal immigration could be stopped quickly and completely simply by:

1. Enforcing the law and stop pretending that the Constitution guarantees automatic citizenship to so-called anchor babies. It absolutely, positively, does not.
2. Making it illegal to provide social services of any kind — food stamps, medical care (including emergency-room facilities), unemployment benefits, and disability payments, to name but a few — to anyone who isn’t a United States citizen or legal permanent resident.
3. Making it a felony, with mandatory prison time, for an employer to hire any undocumented person. Zero tolerance.

Just these three items alone would put a quick and voluntary end to illegal immigration, though many more rules and laws should probably be added.

Actually, given the fact that the United States is in a state of chaos and $20 trillion in debt (not counting perhaps as much as $200 trillion in unfunded entitlement obligations), I believe the president should halt all immigration — regardless of country of origin — for at least five years, with the exception of highly skilled professionals such as engineers, doctors, and hi-tech experts.

Australia and New Zealand go much further, allowing someone entry only if he can convince authorities he possesses a skill that is not already available in their countries or if there is a shortage of such a skill. Citizenship or permanent residency is right they grant only to those who can convince them that they will be an asset to their countries.

With the above in mind, as the Dirty Dems and their useful idiots on the other side of the aisle continue their push to rip American culture to shreds, the question that not enough people are asking is: Where is it written that it is a legal (or moral) requirement to allow anyone who wants to live in America to do so?

Further, who has the moral authority to judge that letting anyone — let alone everyone — into the United States is a noble thing to do when millions of existing Americans are suffering as a result of crime, inadequate healthcare, a shortage of good-paying jobs, and a staggering debt that the government has piled onto their shoulders without their permission?

It’s too bad that so few Americans are not strong enough, logical enough, or well-grounded enough to not react in a kneejerk fashion every time the Radical Left goes into hysterics because someone dared to put forth a rational, well-intentioned thought.

The words of Simon and Garfunkel mean much more to me now than they did in the sixties: “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” What a great time in human history it was. If you don’t get it, I can’t explain.