GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States is racist, discriminatory, and a betrayal of American values. It’s also very popular among Republican voters.
Exit polls conducted by ABC News on Super Tuesday show that more than 60 percent of GOP voters in five states favor Trump’s proposed ban. In Alabama and Arkansas, that figure rises to nearly 80 percent. Trump won seven of the day’s 11 state primaries.
That kind of support is generating alarm.
“When you open the door to defining what religion isn’t sufficiently American, does anyone think it’ll stop with Muslims?” says Haroon Moghul, a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. “Trump himself is dangerous as a candidate, but his proposals now open the door to people who are even more dangerous.”
Source: ABC News
Trump first announced his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States last December. In a statement issued at the time by his campaign, Trump promised a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” until the government “can figure out what is going on.” He later reiterated this proposal in the face of public outcry, emphasizing in a speech that his policy of banning Muslims would continue “until we find out what the hell is going on.”
And his position now enjoys widespread support, even among Republicans who voted for other candidates. Many of those who supported Trump’s proposal actually voted for his main rival, Ted Cruz.
Even “establishment” candidates like Marco Rubio have gone on record describing discrimination against Muslim-Americans as a “fiction.”
And it’s not confined to the Republicans. A Fox News poll this December showed that even among Democrats there was broad support for the measure — as long as it was not identified with Trump himself. Some 45 percent of those polled favored banning Muslims when the plan was not identified as originating with Trump. When Trump’s name was mentioned however, support dropped to 25 percent.
“When people in positions of power articulate extreme opinions, they make it even easier for ideas on the margins to become respectable,” says Moghul. “In the eyes of some, policies like these could even start to look desirable.”
Considering the fact the federal government CREATED an entire new department, the Dept of Homeland Survellance because there MIGHT be a radical muslim in the US it seems pretty obsurd to bring now bring them in by the 1000s.
I’m really looking forward to the day someone can tell me the difference between a “good” muslim and a radicalized “terrorist” muslim.
Because from what I’ve seen in the last 20 years there are only two types.
Group A are the hard corps Quaran totting, head decapitating and wife stoning variety who are pretty sure they are immune from any other law other than Sharia law. Group A will rape a families children just to make a point. You are either WITH group A. Or you are an enemy.
Then there is Group B. The supposedly, nice muslims. Who haven’t had a visit from Group A yet. Because when they do they will either be in Group A or dead.
After many years of intense study, of intense scrutiny, I have had to come to the generalization that ‘conservatism’ is another form of ‘schizophrenia’ that should be included in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States”. …because they are all fracking insane!
We have been bombing Muslims for over twenty years now. Some of them were bound to get upset eventually. So now we are involved in a jihad, a Holy War or struggle. It doesn’t matter, if America is secular, the jihadists aren’t.
Also, I object to the idea that anybody who wants to come to America can just wander across our borders. Coming to America is a privilege, not a right. And that privilege can be suspended for bad behavior. People forget we are still at war. We are still under emergency measures enacted after 9/11. When the situation gets normal, the policy can normalize.
“When people in positions of power articulate extreme opinions, they make it even easier for ideas on the margins to become respectable,” says Moghul. “In the eyes of some, policies like these could even start to look desirable.”
We are on the cusp, again! We have already seen this happen in history and more recently with torture, kidnapping, extraordinary rendition, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, drones, denial of judicial process, black sites, assassinations, invasion, mass surveillance, not to mention a host of serious domestic problems and authority gone mad with no oversight or redress. These are all now passed off as acceptable and yes, even desirable.
But, not so long ago all these things were considered un-American, un-civilized, at least as far as the general population was concerned at a society level. They were denounced and castigated as the actions of banana republics, failed states, tyrants, despots, ‘backward’ nations, uncivilized peoples and megalomaniacs. Yet, in fifteen years they have all been embraced, woven into the fabric of culture and society, movies have even been made glorifying them, implicitly approving of them.
I never thought I would be living what I had read in history books unraveling in real time, seeing morals and ethics and society and culture begin to collapse and so very quickly, under the weight of fear, pettiness, abuse of power. And something as American as apple pie, ‘Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses…’ , all but dust and derision.
People say it’s fear, safety, security that fuels this. But that is no excuse. There is nothing more inexcusable than singling out people for hate and denying them dignity and the right to a dignified life based on religion, color, race, nationality, gender , whatever difference. Nothing more inexcusable and inhumane than torture or inflicting suffering and misery on others. Nothing more inexcusable and indecent than being careless and cruel about another’s life and future. Nothing that bodes more ill than the fear of masses whipped into deadly passions against others by a ‘leader’. And no excuse for that either, we have countless lessons in history we could learn from.
“True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure – the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.”
What is America’s character. Today ‘Ugly American’ is being successfully marketed, sold and snapped up as a badge of honor by millions. How deep are we in it?
The US has been a xenophobic nation since 911. “American values”, if interpreted as “liberty and justice for all”, are not represented by that attitude. But I believe what really matters to most Americans these days is “security and safety for me and mine.” The rest of the world can drop dead, aye?
A systemic condescending superiority complex is killing the GOP party. Mitt Romney, SUP with that! Who let the dogs out! TRUMP’s GPO opponents are now attempting to control GOP voting members rights because they do not agree with these voters choices. The GOP discrediting lies and witch-hunt smear attempts to destroy TRUMP and control voters must be called to account for their un-American actions. This is America! In America the peoples’ voting choices must prevail. American voters’ rights and choices must always be protected, respected and never ignored or challenged.
America is not a dictatorship, at least not yet anyway! Voters’ choices are Americas’ choices. Americans are lucky to live in a country where they can agree to disagree. This is the essence of freedom and it must be protected. Every American and every honorable candidate must say NO when corrupt campaign strategies are used to control voters and discredit innocent candidates. Thank you, Donald Trump, and every honorable candidate, for running for President and offering informed voters choices and a path to a better America for ALL Americans!
Don’t panic; lighten up; if you can’t have fun with it, have a little faith; American voters know exactly what they are doing.
TO DO LIST: Build another wall to keep Americans refugees out of Canada. Canada will pay for it.
“…….This is America! In America the peoples’ voting choices must prevail. American voters’ rights and choices must always be protected, respected and never ignored or challenged……”
Or challenged? Just because we vote doesn’t mean we are not idiots.
Gee, I wonder how anyone could be hesitant to authorize mass migration from Muslim countries…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-women-idUSKCN0W51O9
I mean, if we can give Google and Facebook a few million more in profit by avoiding all the unpleasantness associated with integrating American entry-level computer science graduates into their curriculum, then having Pakistani-Americans inform us that preventing domestic abuse or using DNA to investigate a rape are un-Islamic would be a really small price to pay for that desirable social goal, no?
There do exist those Muslims who are against these unreasonable and unjust rulings.
See this editorial by a newspaper from that country: http://www.dawn.com/news/1243393/sheranis-remarks
See also some of the readers’ comments.
There are in fact progressive currents within Islam. And if they are not mentioned, one will be presenting a distorted picture of the world of Islam, which is not monolithic and in it are all kinds of ideas floating around.
That said, it is also true that those Muslims who have progressive ideas about Islamic law and want to reform it, have a much better chance of challenging the religious and political orthodoxies in the Western countries, especially in the U.S. and Canada, which provide a lot more freedom of speech than many Muslim countries do, where it would be dangerous for these Muslims to express the ideas and interpretations of Islamic law that go against the orthodoxies.
Therefore, the reformation of Islam, which a lot of our non-Muslims friends would like to see, has a much better chance in the Western countries, especially the U.S., than it does in many of the Muslim majority countries.
It is from the West that a reasonable Islamic law that is appropriate for our times will rise from the West, and will effect the Muslim world.
Muslim countries, like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and others, are not safe for the Muslims to re-examine the sources and interpret them in many areas in ways that make sense in today’s world as they’ll go against the orthodoxies that have a stranglehold on the Muslims.
Muslims who grow up, and live, in the West develop a much better sense and appreciation of what the West has accomplished through their first-hand interactions with the non-Muslims, and many of them learn a keen sense of questioning long-held views, while those who grow up in Muslim majority countries often behave like frogs in a well, oblivious of the world around them, with a narrow view of life and what Islam has to offer.
Granted there are exceptions, but I am seeing Muslims — scholars and non-scholars alike — questioning long-held views on Islamic law, such as the severe punishments, and offering alternate interpretations.
Though they are explicitly stated in the Quran, these Muslims nevertheless feel that their objectives are more important in today’s world than their literal applications today.
This type of re-examination of even the primary source of Islam — the Quran — is almost impossible to do in Muslim majority countries, where a person’s life can be in danger for simply asking for a review of key issues in public.
In summary, the West offers the best environment for many Muslims to re-examine Islamic sources and draw from them interpretations that are appropriate for our time, for such a re-examination requires freedom of speech, which the West offers a lot more than the Muslim countries do, and challenging the orthodoxies, which would be very dangerous to do in Muslim majority countries.
Hopefully, these progressive interpretations will have an effect on those Muslims who live in Muslim majority countries.
It is possible that the Prophet of Islam (S) may have predicted just that. In a tradition, he foretold that Islam would become alive (or revived) among the poor; however, the root word for ‘poor’ also means ‘West’. So some read it as ‘West’.
Bad foreign policy also plays a role.
We do business with dictators and monarchs in the Middle East that perpetrate human rights abuses against their own citizens, then those same “allies” scapegoat the United States – blaming us for their bad leadership then some of those mistreated citizens attack us.
Years ago heard a great metaphor on a news show as to one of the causes of 9/11 – essentially it’s like a neighbor who mistreats his dog and ignores the problem, then the dogs gets loose and bites us – we all act surprised.
This is Republican foreign policy that created this. Obama didn’t create this policy.
Those Americans who agree that building walls and banning Muslim immigrants and specifically identifying Mexicans as “rapists” is helpful to America and our national security, deserve Donald Trump as their president.
These attitudes are fear-based…and have nothing to do with patriotism, freedom, liberty and justice. And polls show that most of those who fear the most are self-proclaimed Christians. Most of Trump’s supporters are bigots and racists…and most of those are white Christians!
What are these people so afraid of? They fear Muslims and blacks and Hispanics and gays. Why? Are they afraid their God won’t protect them?
Frankly, there is no human being more dangerous to America than a fanatical, fundamentalist Christian. There has never been a group in all of human history more blood-thirsty, more murderous, more treacherous than fundamentalist Christians.
Donald Trump is not going to be POTUS. His values are far from mainstream America. He has managed to get about a third (on average) of Republican votes in the primaries. Which means that two-thirds of R voters voted for someone else.
In the general election, there will be Democrats and Independents…and very, very few of them would vote for Trump. And clearly, many of the two-thirds of R voters who have supported other R candidates will not vote for Trump.
The major accomplishment of Trump’s campaign has been to identify how many Americans ARE bigots and racists. White supremacy groups have increased their memberships dramatically since Trump’s campaign began…and the number of hits on their websites has quadrupled. Trump appeals to all that is just plain bad in these weak, fearful, unpatriotic Americans.
Trump is a catalyst for fear and indecency…that is all he is. And any American who supports him should be ashamed to have sunk so low.
Do GOP voters realize that the 2nd Amendment (gun rights) is tethered to the immigration issues?
If you ignore the U.S. Constitution on things like immigration and torture, the 2nd Amendment is dead also – it’s a package deal, you can’t have gun rights then ignore the Constitution on immigration and torture.
The U.S. Constitution is a package deal – not a Chinese menu – you take all of it or none of it!
Mr. Hussain
It would be interesting if the same pollsters questioned people in Europe about Muslim refugees and migrants – and the large enclaves of Muslim immigrants now residing throughout Europe. We know, for example, that several thousand European Muslims have joined ISIS (to murder mostly Muslims). These people are clearly opposed to democracy of any sort let alone western democracies – and many are a threat after they return to their home countries from Iraq and Syria. We also know that many Muslims have not integrated well into European societies and that there are serious cultural differences between the home countries of the migrants and western culture – especially pertaining to women.
You would think that the unfortunate reaction to North African and Middle Eastern migrants and refugees came out of nowhere without any basis for the fear. Americans (westerners) are simply racist and bigots. That’s the perpetual Greenwald story line. We know that terrorist attacks – like Charlie Hebdo – have been conducted by Muslims living in Europe opposed to free speech. It does not take a rocket scientist to see how some cultural differences lead to fear of the people migrating to the west – especially among women. According to the New York Times:
“……….The tensions simmering beneath Germany’s willingness to take in one million migrants blew into the open on Tuesday after reports that scores of young women in Cologne had been groped and robbed on New Year’s Eve by gangs of men described by the authorities as having “a North African or Arabic” appearance…….hundreds of young men broke into groups and formed rings around young women……”
This has altered Merkel’s ambitious immigration plan. The German press attempted to cover this up for obvious reasons. Of course, that strategy does not help the women where migrants end up settling. Additionally, covering up the truth can never be good for alleviating fears especially if the cover-up is by the “free” press (this story never covered by the Intercept). At least one of the murderers responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack and the attack on Jews in Paris entered European soil with refugees. ISIS indeed has threatened to send fighters with the refugees, and Russian bombings in Syria have increased the flow of refugees to the west. According to General Bradford testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee this past week:
“…….U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove said the Islamic State extremist group is ‘spreading like a cancer’ within this mix, ‘taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations and our own’……in a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, said Russia’s actions in Syria have ‘wildly exacerbated the problem’……”
If people are not concerned, then they are not normal. By the way, for those of you who receive their news only from the Intercept, Russia is supplying and funding a war in eastern Ukraine and carrying out bombing missions in Syria in which hospitals have been targeted.
“……..Moscow insists these attacks have been aimed only at fighters from ISIL and other “terrorist groups” such as al-Nusra Front. But monitoring groups, including the Violations Documentation Center and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, say thousands of non-combatants have also been killed or wounded. Amnesty International and others have said the bombings may be war crimes…….”
Ah Racism, maybe the overused term in our vernacular. What exactly, is racist about not letting Muslims into our country? NOW – before you flip shit, lets chill. This entire talk about Muslims and the borders started because of what is transpiring in Europe regarding the mass exodus of migrants through the balkans and into Western Europe. Trump himself has stated that we have destabilized and created a mess with our policies in the Middle East. I dont think ANYONE who reads the intercept would disagree with that statement.
SOOO…
You have migration occurring at and alarming rate and those people coming from all directions. What are we to do about this situation? When the Administration wants to allow refugees from other nations to come here? BAD IDEA. I DONT LIKE IT!!! NOT ONE BIT. SO, how do you create a filter thats capable of sorting out the wheat form the chaff sotospeak? ANY policy is going to be thrust by the media as xenophobic. With that having been said, he must have figured that he could appeal to a wide base of people by using the strategy of just out and out banning Muslims.
Is it not fair? Sure, its not fair, ill agree with that whole-heartedly. Life isnt fair. You want CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN, you shouldnt have voted the Establishments puppet on a string into office in the first place, because what Bush did bad Obama did WAY worse pertaining to the Middle East, and were it not for those policies, Trump would have NEVER needed to make such a statement in the first place.
And he keep in mind, his quote was “until we figure out what the hell is going on…”
Also, he said this in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks. Had our covert national security establishment not false flagged that operation (there is a ton of stuff that doesnt match up about that whole story) he would have never made the statement.
STOP USING THE WORD RACIST, STOP IT! Its not even applicable read a dictionary.
That’s fantastic!
If you’re going to have an immigration policy, it’s all about letting some people in and keeping others out. Why not base it on cultural affinity? Especially when there is a plague loose in Islam, a pattern of terrorism and destruction that respects few national borders. It is one thing – a very noble, kind of anarchistic thing – if you say let’s not have any borders, let’s open up the country to the world and tell the police to bugger off and not ask who anyone is. That might be beautiful and it might actually even work but it’s not an option on the table. The options we have with a given immigrant quota are to let in Muslims who are going to be a constant issue at places like Arlens, or let in people whose beliefs and activities are on average more familiar.
You’re confusing U.S. foreign policy with Islam.
this reply just made my week…. :)
I like how the media pretends that trump followers are upset about lower wages!
Nonsense.
His poll numbers went up only when he spewed vicious racist stuff. And he quickly figured that out. And started doubling down on bigotry. His refusal to denounce the KKK is a shrewd political move in a GOP primary. Trump knows his costumers very well. About 30% of the Right are full fledged Nazi-sympathizers. The GOP satisfied this group only indirectly and dog whistles. but now they found an unapologetic candidate who fully campaigns on racist platform. Ban Muslims! YEEEAAAH!! Mexicans are rapists! YEAAHHHH!!!!
Pat Buchanan is excited! David Duke is excited!
The GOP are attacking him on the wrong issues.. This 30% of Nazis of the electorate don’t care about small government or planned parenthood. They care that he will be a racist president who will repeal the civil rights act, expel mexicans, build a wall and bring back slavery. Only when they doubt his commitment to these strange values, will they drop him. Now, 30% or so may sustain him in a primary but it will fall far short in a general election. This is why he will lose in a landslide because fortunately the Nazis comprise only 30% of the entire US population.
you should write for the onion. i couldn’t stop laughing at your ludicrous argument.
Trumpetal are overlooking the fact 1) how come no muslims allowed but muslim oil is allowed, 2) you have to pay for the oil– as you are expected, so muslims can live in their own countries and homes, 3) ask yourself what you are doing differently from a few centuries ago, 4) notice where the US goes creates problems big enough to drive people from their millenial homelands says something we need to correct–Iraq etc, 5) the US is purposefully bringing muslims here–it is not the other way around!
omg he doesnt wanna completely ban all muslims forever. he said we should temporarily ban until we can properly vet them. that was following all the murders in california.
Trump isn’t the problem; his FOLLOWERS are the problem. The Republicans aren’t in danger of losing their party, they’re in danger of losing control of the voters they’ve nurtured and relied upon for decades. This is WAY scarier than any individual politician. I would gloat, but I and my children are likely going to pay the price for all this.
OUR children are going to pay the price from Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama letting the banks, the DEA, the FDA, Rx, military complex, run roughshod over this country. Trump scares you? Where have you been?
I feel your pain.
Blame whomever did 9-11 for the hatred.Of course its a long twisted by Zion story,the whole post ww2 CIA disaster,but in a day of terrorism by Muslims who are about the only immigrant group to come to America and kill(attempt?) Americans for being Americans,caution is in order.
Trump is the only candidate to say he’ll be neutral re Israel Palestine.
He has gone out on a limb(a strong one btw)to voice support for them.That limb is being hacked at by the ziomonsters daily.Give him a break.
Your nationalism is creepy… I’m American and “Americans for American’s” is eating away at our constitution and making the world a MUCH more dangerous place.
I support equality for everyone. Not just America. Cause what we do to a person in the world can be done to me.
Trump advocates war crimes…… “Give him a break” …. Please. You sound like you’re defending Mussolini. A man whom Trump seems to admire. (It doesn’t bring me comfort to watch the possible future president of my country, the world’ most powerful army, and MY LIFE quote the man who made my family flee their country two generations ago. WHILE ADVOCATING FOR WAR CRIMES ALREADY DEEMED ILLEGAL BUT DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW)
The man doesn’t respect human life or the law. Why the hell would he respect us?
A. Hitler did not come up with the “Final Solution” those that worked for him did.
Hitler himself was “antisemetic”. His pronouncements against Jews and other minorities paved the way for a much more sinister group of people to join his inner circle. They came up with and executed the genocide of the Jewish people in Europe in the 20th century. This is what will happen with Trump and to America. The World will watch in Horror !