The spotted lanternfly is an invasive insect from Asia that feeds on the sap of over 70 plant species, including important crops and trees. It damages plants by weakening them and excreting a sticky “honeydew” that promotes the growth of a black sooty mold, posing a significant threat to agriculture and forests. (As per Gemini AI)


I compare the lanternfly to the destruction of terrorism and the sad destruction of the civil liberties I hold dear.


The lanternfly, if you look at it, is physically beautiful. To kill it feels like the destruction of art.


The killing of Islamic extremism can only be done through military action and the slow decay of civil liberties. That decay is a necessary evil to prevent the evil plans of terrorists to kill, destroy, and take over. Similar to the lanternfly, but not as simple to step on, it must be universally adopted as a threat to freedom and growth.


How can freedom survive when walls, fences, and wars are required in a search for true peace?


How does one counter an ideology so enmeshed in a people that they are willing to sacrifice their own children in order to strengthen their position?
How can a country ensure safety for its citizens when any measure taken is considered an act of apartheid or genocide?


There is no clear-cut answer. Just as the lanternfly must be eradicated in order for the ecosystem to survive, so must Islamic extremists who carry out terrorist attacks as a badge of honor be eradicated in order to promote freedom, peace, and security.
The only way to help your garden thrive is to destroy the lanternflies as they begin to enter that space. You may not destroy the worldwide lanternfly, but at least you will keep your home safe.


Israel has the responsibility and the right to destroy what lives to destroy its home, its people, and its freedom.


You cannot compare an ideology to a living creature; an ideology of hatred, spiced with religious fervor, spreads like a plague among the weak and the lost.
It empowers them in ways nothing else can. It gives the faithless faith. It gives lost souls a direction.


It gives the weak the power to decapitate. It gives the flaccid the power to penetrate walls they could never penetrate.
So how would you protect your people, your children, and your loved ones?

In other words, if terrorists entered your home, how would you respond?