by Nomad
As the Republican Party's fading hope, politician Donald Trump has capitalized upon and expanded anti-Muslim tensions and fears. However, as a businessman, Trump has no qualms about making lucrative deals with the very same people he has painted as America's biggest threat.
Total Shutdown
Back in December, the Trump campaign announced in a written statement Republican nominee to be would, as president, demand a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.”
Even for a bombastic man like Trump, those were stunning words. Both sides of the political spectrum were speechless.
In fact, it was one of a series of statements that ruffled some feathers. In November, a month before his announcement, he had said that as president he would "strongly consider" closing down mosques and proposed that mosques in the United States be monitored for terrorist activity.
(In fact, as Trump probably already knows, mosques have been the subject of FBI surveillance and infiltration since the time of Bush. And as a result of this, the federal courts have been wrestling with legal questions about possible rights violations to religious freedom, freedom of association and privacy.)
Scholars also questioned the constitutionality of a "religious test" for immigrants.
Even technically, how would be possible to ensure the accuracy. It only takes one terrorist to tell a fib and Trump's plan is torpedoed. Terrorists, as a rule, tend to be hesitant about excessive self-disclosure.
A lot like Trump, actually.
A lot like Trump, actually.
Nevertheless, Trump's supporters roared in delight and put their hands together. Finally, a candidate was taking the radical Islamic threat seriously, they claimed.
President Obama, Trump has repeatedly pointed out, refused even to use the phrase "radical Islam." Actually, Obama has made it clear why he thinks labeling terrorism according to religious beliefs is a mistake. It was, the president said, "a political talking point. It is not a strategy."
“If we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims as a broad brush, and imply that we are at war with the entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists’ work for them.”
After all, when is the last time you heard a Republican call the KKK- a big time supporter of Trump- a radical Christian group?
