A NOT SO PRESIDENTIAL SOLUTION Anything for a headline

Posted on 12/08/2015

In a bizarre statement made on the anniversary of Pearl Harbour, Donald Trump has called for a “complete and total shutdown” on Muslims entering the US. Trump's campaign manager says the proposed ban would apply not just to those seeking immigration visas, but to tourists entering the country as well. Trump may be considered by some to be a joke, but it's a grim joke and perhaps he should just be returned to his tower.

Trump's statement comes a day after President Barack Obama used a prime-time address to warn against discrimination. The statement issued by Trump, the leading Republican candidate for his party’s 2016 presidential nomination, said, “Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims (sic) of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.”

A spokeswoman for Trump confirmed the authenticity of the statement. So, Trump is calling for a total ban on visitors to the US based on no criteria but religion. It is repulsive, offensive and reprehensible that anyone, much less an educated (Wharton) and supposedly knowledgeable international businessman - a man who is running for president of the United States - would make such a call.

But Trump has made a career of outrageous statements. That’s fine when you are building your brand and your business, and making a name for yourself. What is not fine, is this call to arms of the racist, the gun-loving, the assault rifle protecting, NRA defending, bigots who believe that all Muslims are radical extremists and that all the millions of Muslims around the world are supportive of ISIS and its ilk. That is simply not true. What is worse is that in all likelihood, Donald Trump does not believe it to be true.

Trump seemingly has an addiction. A media addiction. Like a junkie who will do anything for his fix, Donald Trump will say or do anything to see or hear his name in the media. What makes him dangerous is that he is appealing to not just the lowest common denominator of racist bigots but to that tiny spark of uncertainty and fear that lies in so many of us. The fear of the unknown, the fear of what we do not understand, the fear of those who think, look or believe differently from ourselves. That is his appeal. His statement is so sublimely ignorant of immigration laws and what such a ban (if it could ever be put in place), would do the economy and to tourism revenues, that it defies belief a presidential contender, even given overblown campaign rhetoric, could actually express it is astounding. Does Trump even begin to realize that the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar (just for starters) are Islamic countries? Does he intend Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airlines be banned from flying to the US.

Experts on immigration law and policy expressed shock at the proposal Monday afternoon. The New York Times quoted Nancy Morawetz, a professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law, who specializes in immigration, “This is just so antithetical to the history of the United States,” said “It’s unbelievable to have a religious test for admission into the country. “I cannot recall any historical precedent for denying immigration based on religion.”

The NY Times also quoted Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of law at Cornell and a prominent authority on immigration, as saying putting the policy into practice would require an unlikely act of Congress. “Should Congress enact such a law, he predicted, the Supreme Court would invalidate such a restrictive immigration policy under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. “It would certainly be challenged as unconstitutional,” he said. “And I predict the Supreme Court would strike it down.”’ Whenever other Republican candidates overtake him in opinion polls, as has happened this week, Trump reacts by making outrageous statements or attacking either the President or his own fellow Republicans. He has drawn applause at rallies for his calls to monitor mosques, and his suggestion for a database for Muslims in America. He has impugned the character and loyalty of President Obama suggesting there was “something going on” with Obama that Americans were not aware of. And of course it’s not just Muslims. In his “I wanna be president and I’m very rich” speech announcing his candidacy, Trump said he would build a wall to prevent Mexican illegals entering the US. A wall. Didn’t the world rejoice as the last “Wall” came down. And years before that, didn’t the US join the UK and Canada in the fight for freedom – especially for freedom of persecution based on religion. Donald Trump is a man who has apparently become obsessed by his own celebrity. He has hawked his name around the world, to grow his brand while at the same time cheapening it. He is quick to take the credit for this or that global business to which he has whored his name – and when it fails he is even quicker to disclaim responsibility. While Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy, he has filed four business bankruptcies. That, according to Bankruptcy.com makes Trump the top filer in recent decades. All the Trump bankruptcies centered around casinos he used to own in Atlantic City. They were all Chapter 11 restructurings, which lets a company stay in business while shedding debt it owes to banks, employees and suppliers. Trump claims that successful businesses file for bankruptcy all the time. He has claimed that “every person that you read about on the front page of the business sections, they've used the [bankruptcy] law." Typically, that is simply not true. Fewer than 20 percent of public companies with assets of $1 billion or more have filed for bankruptcy in the last 30 years, according to data from Bankruptcy.com and S&P Capital IQ. And even if it were true – is that how he would run the economy of the United States? When things go bad put the country into bankruptcy and restructure. Get a reality television show, be a star and distract everyone. Okay all done. Next. Countries don’t work that way. The United States is a country of ideals, principles and compassion. It is a generous country, which has famously opened its borders - and its citizens their hearts - to immigrants who have needed shelter and sanctuary. In return, the vast majority of those immigrants have repaid their adopted homeland with their talents and hard work.  Many are now proud and successful second and third generation Americans. Trump’s divisive, distorted, muddled, jingoistic views have no place in a great country. He will not “Make America Great Again” as his slogan promises. Donald Trump wants to win the presidency by any means he can and if he has to divide the country to do so - he will. He is not making America great – he is making Americans fear and hate. That is not what Americans are. That is un-American.